Our first full day in Madrid was a busy one. We were surprised at how big Madrid is and how crowded, there are a lot of tourists here in the “shoulder” season with cafes and streets very busy. We started our day at the Madrid EDITION hotel for a site visit and we just loved it – such a cool hotel chain that is part of Marriott. We then walked over to Plaza Mayor which was opened in 1619 and was at the center of Madrid at one time. We decided the best way to get the lay of the land on the city was to buy tickets on one of those hop on/hop off buses where we could sit up in the sun and take all the sites in. The traffic in Madrid is horrible but the bus was an excellent way to see so many things in a fairly short period of time. Lunch was in a little local restaurant where Phil had veal and I had a steak – everything is served with french fries here….very funny! After a short nap we headed back out and sat at a cafe on a busy corner people watching which is a great way to pass the time. Our evening was filled iwth a private tapas tour and our guide Jose was fantastic, he mixed some great history around Madrid as well as the food. Our first stop was at Mercada Jamon Iberico, ham shop that has been in business for 60 years and we were served by a father/son and cousin team. Of course we bought some meat/cheese to go for our train trip to Valencia. Next was an old restaurant where we were served an omelet, mushrooms and small little ham sandwhiches and these amazing peppers. All of the food was amazing and we enjoyed our time. After the Tapas tour we decided to go into a Flamenco show and we were blown away, we learned so much about how Flaemnco is done, it is not people dancing together but instead taking turns with one person singing for all of them. It was a late night we back home to bed and up for day 2 in Madrid tomorrow.
