Hi all! Back from Korea and super drained from work. I don't know when will I ever finish blogging about my exchange or our pre-honeymoon (which we have FINALLY printed out our photobook). Probably by the end of this year? Horror! Work has taken a huge toil on me. All I want to do after work is to rest. No mood to read anything or to gain some new knowledge. My daily routine has to change.
Let me finish up on the weekend in Madrid! After checking off all the must-sees, it was time to just chill and relax in Madrid.
1) One thing you must have in Madrid is CHURROS!
Over the weekend, I went to check out the top two churros place in Madrid:
Chocolateria San Gines
The chocolate is so rich and creamy and not overly sweet. It was the first time I had something like this. Super duper yummy. The chocolatier is the oldest churros place in Madrid. You can see many famous people in the photos who visited the store in the 90s. Stowed in a quiet corner, I thought it wasn't going to be crowded on a Saturday morning (meal times in Spain are muchhhh later as compared to other cities) but I was so wrong. It is almost full. Definitely a must-try in Madrid.
Chocolateria Valor
Valor is also one of the oldest chocolateria. I prefer Valor's hot chocolate as compared to San Gines even though it is slightly pricier. Valor's hot chocolate is less thick and one cup like that is just nice for one. San gines' can get a little too 'jelat'. The standard churros offered at Valor is the fatter one. Maybe cos it's fatter, I find the texture better too. Crispy on the outside and soft within. And!!! It was piping hot when served. Ahhhh. I miss it!
2) In Spanish cities, you definitely don't want to miss out on the tapas!
Casa Labra - oldest tapas place in Madrid, famous for cod tapas!
This place is mainly flooded with locals. From far, you would have spotted people standing around bar tables outside of the shop enjoying their beer and tapas. Since it is famous for cod tapas, I went straight for whatever cod together with white wine. Very affordable and it's nice to dine amongst the locals. The waiters were very curious why an asian girl like me is travelling alone. Hahaha. Very nice and friendly people!
Mercado de La Reina - modern concept tapas place along Gran Via
Definitely the best tapas place I tried in Madrid. Before I travelled to Barcelona, this place has the best batatas bravas. You would think that batatas bravas is only a few fried potatoes and bravas sauce, nothing special. But the sauce is so critical. After Madrid, I kept trying to find good batatas bravas in Andulasia but every others I tried were super awful!!! If I wasn't alone, I would have tried more items. A pity, I only found this place on my last day. Oh! I met Weijie and some SMU peeps at the restaurant. I was soooo happy! I haven't really spoke to anyone for the past 5 days in Madrid and when I see them I totally blabbered non stop. Hahahaha. You can imagine. It was also them who gave me warning about Lisbon's food (being salty and boring).
3) Walk around the bustling city centre on Saturday
Symbol of Madrid
Who says only Singaporean queue for lottery?
Grandest H&M ever. It is decorated to mimic a runway.
Chance upon some advertisement shoot along Gran Via.
Oh. I chilled at Uvepan cafe for 2 days in a row while making my way back to my hostel. There is an old waiter there who is super friendly and homely. He tried to teach me some basic Spanish too. Hehs.
4) Sundays are reserved for family. It's a common practice throughout Europe. Shops will be closed and people usually go for service in the morning and chill in a park for the rest of the day.
I could sit in the park for hours just looking at different families interacting and spending time together in the park. The feeling is so nice! Even though the weather is hot, it wasn't humid so it doesn't bother anyone at all. Just throw on your shades and maybe have some sunblock on and you can really just sit there the whole day and watch the beautiful world goes by. Hope to relieve that moment again one day.
No comments:
Post a Comment