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Our first full day in Madrid started with me – as quietly as I could because Marie was still sleeping – figuring out how to use the knockoff Bialetti stove top espresso maker that passed for a coffee machine in the apartment… Turns out they’re actually pretty easy to use… and they make a decent cup of coffee – as long as you like it very, very strong – as in thick as mud and potent enough to launch rockets strong… After my first sip I realized that the 6 different containers of white crystalline substances stored in various kitchen cupboards and in a canister on the counter were all salt… no sugar… None. So thick, black rocket fuel without sugar it was… I am still trying to figure out why there was so much salt in the apartment but did feel comforted knowing that we could put up a pretty good defence against any malicious ghosts or demons and that we could probably whip up a pretty decent batch of pickles if the occasion called for it…
While Marie continued to sleep, I puttered around for a bit, finished up the blog from the previous day and generally did my best not to make any more noise than was absolutely necessary so as to avoid waking Marie… We’d been pretty exhausted when we turned in last night and hadn’t had the best sleep ever – and unlike most times we travel, we had absolutely nothing planned for the day so there was no reason not to let her sleep. That and I would sort of like to live to see my next birthday…
Marie eventually joined the land of the living around 9am and we enjoyed a leisurely breakfast of yogurt, granola and fruit and then headed out to find Marie some socks and underwear and maybe a clean shirt because her luggage had not arrived last night as we had hoped and sort of expected. When we checked the online tracking system in the morning, it reported that they were still trying to find Marie’s bag so things weren’t looking good for getting it back that day either… Which was going to be a bit problematic given that Marie’s only warm clothes were in her bag and while the weather was forecast to be sunny and clear, it was quite cold… By this point, Marie had been living in the same clothes for more than 48 hours with no idea when – or if – she’d be seeing her stuff again…
Fortunately, Marie had remembered last night that we had delayed/lost luggage insurance through our Avion Visa and had called to find out what was covered. It turns out she was able to go out and purchase any items that she reasonably needed up to a value of $500 and we could submit the receipt to Avion and they’d reimburse us for the purchases. We have to first submit a claim to the airline and see if they will cover the expenses and then, if they say no, we need to submit everything to Avion so it’s probably not going to be as easy as it all sounds but we were assured that we’d eventually get the expenses reimbursed… Things were definitely looking up for Marie… and smelling better for me…
Excited by the prospect of clean underwear and something a bit warmer to wear, Marie set a course (translation, she had me google the nearest shops) and we headed out to pick up some essentials… First up was Lefties – a discount version of Zara that Marie and Caitlin have shopped at on previous trips (Marie still regularly wears the €30 leather jacket she bought from Lefties the first time we were in Madrid back in 2014). Lefties is located a short distance from Puerto del Sol on the Gran Via and is part of what is basically a huge open air shopping mall that stretches many blocks… They have all the familiar stores we’re used to (H&M, North Face, Footlocker, Victoria’s Secret, etc) and a bunch that are unique to Spain and/or Europe… We even found a Tim Hortons lurking around but didn’t go in… After Lefties, we discovered a 5 floor behemoth of a shop called Primark which basically carries every pair of pyjamas ever made (women in Madrid must have a major thing for pyjamas) and pretty much every single beauty product in existence… except deodorant… that would prove to be a more elusive prize… Between Lefties and Primark, Marie stocked up on the remarkably few essentials she’d need to get by with for the next couple of days and then we headed back to the apartment to drop everything off. Along the way we tried a few pharmacies for some deodorant without any luck… We eventually found some in a little corner store style grocery shop… along with some sugar for the rocket fuel I’d be drinking for the next couple of days…
By this point it was sort of mid-afternoon (things take a bit longer when you’re walking to and from your destinations) and it was most definitely time for something to eat. We decided to try the traditional looking Taberna los Chanquetes (red painted doors and windows, lots of wood, pretty much exactly what you’d imagine a tavern in Madrid would look like) just up from our apartment. It was a good choice. I had a plate of homemade croquetes – basically a breaded ball of thick béchamel sauce wrapped around various kinds of fillings… in this case there house specialty fillings included braised oxtail, ham, spinach and prawn, chicken and one other I’ve completely forgotten… Washed down with a nice cold beer, it was a pretty respectable mid-afternoon feast. But it was nothing at all compared to the three course – €11 – lunch special Marie devoured… in her defence I may have helped a little… She started with an ensalada mixta (a mixed salad of lettuce, shredded beets, corn, tuna, hard-boiled eggs) and a basket of warm bread. The people at the table next to us were doing the same menu but had opted for a lentil soup as their starter – it looked pretty good too but was so big and hearty looking that there’s no way Marie could have eaten anything else afterwards… Up next was a plate of delicious – albeit a touch fatty – ribs in a homemade BBQ sauce along with some soggy but strangely tasty french fries. For dessert she chose a rice pudding that was out of this world good (think a little runnier version of the usual stuff we make back home in Canada but add in a delicious citrus note from orange peel and then add a generous dusting of cinnamon). By the time we done, we were both completely stuffed – and commented for the zillionith time that we’d both weigh 300 pounds if we lived in Madrid just due to the amazing bread that is served with every meal it seems…
After our lunch feast, it was time to head back to the apartment for a nap. I think I was asleep the minute my head touched the pillow and didn’t really stir again until almost 7pm… We were both pretty groggy after our nap but managed to drag ourselves out of bed and headed out to do a bit of exploring. We made our way to the Plaza Mayor area and checked out the Christmas Market set up there (it’s pretty tacky but massively popular) and poked our heads in a few shops… It was nice to just wander around a bit aimlessly and to just explore… even if we were doing so with a significant portion of the entire population of Spain I think. From Plaza Mayor we sort of joined the throngs of people milling around and slowly made our way to Puerta del Sol – where the crowds were even bigger. By this point Marie had sort of started looking for a new pair of boots (shoes are a big thing in Madrid and it’s no fault of hers that she was not able to resist at least checking out some of the hundreds and hundreds of different styles of pretty reasonably priced boots) so we popped into a few different stores along the way but nothing really grabbed her… We also poked our heads into a couple of pretty cool old churches at points along the way.
After a couple of hours of wandering around and window shopping, we decided to stop at a local chain restaurant called 100 Montaditos that we’ve eaten at on previous trips to Madrid. It’s not super gourmet food but it’s tasty and reasonably priced… and they do cheap beer better than anyone… So we grabbed a bucket of beers (only 200ml bottles thankfully or making it back to the apartment might have been a bit of an adventure) and radlers and a few appies and tucked into yet more food… We also ordered a couple of salads that tasted better than they probably should have for what is basically a fast food restaurant… The neon green martian-poop sandwich that Marie ordered definitely tasted better than it looked…thankfully… So far all we’ve done today is walk, shop, eat and sleep… Pretty much a perfect start to our holidays… Back at the apartment we checked on the status of Marie’s bag (still looking for it apparently) and called it a night.
