From contemplating a fiery aeronautical death to spraying Spanish wine into my mouth from a sheepskin in the span of 34 red-eyed hours, my first day in Madrid was a doozie.
Okay. Y’all know I fly a lot. Like, dozens of times a year. I’m not the person who gets nervous on flights. I don’t clutch the armrest during takeoff, landing or turbulence, I love looking out the window, and I pretty much have a blasé “meh” feeling about it all. Nothing I can do about it one way or the other, so might as well just surrender control and enjoy it, right?
But that all kind of going right out the freakin’ window after a flight that made even our cabin crew nervous. An announcement over the PA system after touchdown of “Well that was one to write home about” is NOT EXACTLY the way you want your flight to end, for the record. Especially when the plan was to get some sleep on the overnight flight so you could hit the ground running in Madrid after a 7:00am arrival.
Yeah. That, uh… that didn’t happen.
Hurricane Lorenzo
What were the odds that this flight would happen to coincide with the strongest hurricane to hit the Azores, Portugal, Ireland and England in the last 20 years? I’M SO LUCKY! But that’s not all! Lorenzo actually made a few ALL-TIME records! Thanks a bunch, climate change. Let’s count ’em:
“In addition to being the easternmost Category 5 Atlantic hurricane on record, Lorenzo featured the highest accumulated cyclone energy (ACE) index of any Atlantic tropical cyclone on record to the east of 45°W.[20] Additionally, Lorenzo spent more days as a major hurricane east of 45°W than any previous cyclone on record, surpassing Carrie of 1957.[21]“
What’s that all mean in practice? It means our captain missed a HUGE opportunity to bust out the classic “Fasten your seatbelts. It’s going to be a bumpy night.”
It Was a Bumpy Night
I’ve now learned that “moderate turbulence” means you’re going to spend the next three hours terrified for your life while your girlfriend is sitting a full row and two couples away. I may or may not have considered how I could possibly air-swim my way over there in the weightlessness that would occur during our inevitable nosedive into the sea. The captain had to order the flight attendants to take their jump seats at least 10 different times, and often for prolonged periods. I made the horrible (and necessary) choice of getting some wine during one of the brief interludes and then had to chug it before it splashed all over the cabin. It definitely still sprayed the window shade.
I even found myself replaying the scene in Lost right before the plane crashes over and over and over again in my mind – the one where Rose tells another passenger that “planes want to stay in the air” while they’re experiencing pre-catastrophic-disaster turbulence. Cool, brain. Thanks for that.
Survival! Oh, and Welcome to Madrid
So, I guess we must’ve made it, since I’m sitting here in Arlington, Virginia writing this for y’all right now. But Lara and I were a tad bit traumatized. And worse, we hadn’t slept a wink. It was now 7 am in Spain, and we’d been up since 8 am the day before. 17 hours. Not bad, but the full day ahead of us was a daunting prospect. But hey! We’re here to have fun, and sleeping is the WORST thing you can do if you want to beat jet-lag. You absolutely have to stay up until a reasonable bedtime hour. It’s the only viable strategy that will have you feeling human again quickly.
The Madrid Metro System
Is confusing. Mostly because there are actually three separate subway/light rail systems that all use different cards and payment. So you can’t transfer from one to the other without paying again. This is something we did not realize initially. The Metro does not equal the Circular light rail train, and there’s another system out in the ‘burbs as well.
But that said, you can conveniently pay for 10 rides on one card (at a discount), and then use those rides for multiple people at once, which is what Lara and I did. We figured (correctly) that we’d end up using them all over the course of our time in Madrid.
The trains are really clean, really convenient, and run CONSTANTLY. We never had to wait longer than 3 minutes for a train. But they are a little pricey if you’re leaving or going to the airport (a 3 Euro surcharge is added), so keep that in mind when you’re planning out your budget. The cost for the 10 trip ticket is only about 12 Euro.
The AirBnB
Before checking in at our AirBnB at 10am, we stopped for our first cup(s) of European coffee and Spanish churros. I’m obsessed with how cheap great breakfasts are in Spain! Around 4 Euros for insanely good pastry or Spanish omelet and coffee. The little street-side cafe is a cliche in Europe, but it’s a cliche for a reason. I could do that type of breakfast every day for the rest of my life and be content.
For our two nights in Madrid before heading out to the country for a wedding, we stayed at an incredible AirBnB in the center of the old town and right by Plaza Mayor, which is the central toursim hotspot in Madrid. It was perfect. The place was gorgeous, had an incredible view, was right next to everything we could’ve wanted, and only cost $56/night. It was an absolute steal.
Walking Tour w/ Enrique
After checking in at our place, we’d scheduled a walking tour of Madrid for 11 am with Sandeman’s Tours. Tired or not, we weren’t gonna miss it, and I’m glad we didn’t. The tour met in Plaza Mayor, just steps from the door of our 500-year-old AirBnB. Our tour guide, Enrique, was amazing. Funny, really informative, and the next three hours honestly flew by as we wandered the old streets of Centro and took in the sights. I knew very little about Spanish history coming into this trip and found all the information Enrique shared with us to be completely fascinating.
For instance, I learned that Spain was a lone beacon of light during the Dark Ages thanks to the Muslims and Jews who were in power in Spain during that time. And that when Spain was under Moorish control, from 700 AD to 1492, it was the only time in history in which all three major religions (Islam, Judaism and Christianity) lived together in complete harmony. We could learn a thing or two from Spanish history, y’all.
They also only became a Democracy in the 1970s, and yet they’ve made far faster progress on human rights than the US did! But that said, they’ve got their issues too. They had an election earlier this year and still don’t have a President to show for it, so at least we’re not the only country going through some governmental struggles.
Seriously, if you’re ever in Madrid, do a free tour with Sandeman’s and try and get Enrqiue as your guide. You won’t be disappointed!
Tapas Tour
After an afternoon siesta in which we slept for like… 30 minutes, it was time for our Tapas Tour that we’d scheduled earlier in the day. It was cheap – 20 Euro – and you got to visit three restaurants and have multiple dishes at each, including wine, sangria, or our new favorite tinte de verano! ⬇️
Croquetas, breakfast for dinner, fine hams, meats and cheeses, paella, we got it all. And we even met a bunch of really great people! When the tour started, Lara and I were seriously dragging. We’d been up for something like 28 hours by that point. But fast forward to the end of the tour, and as everyone else was leaving to go home, we stayed with an Australian couple, a Chilean guy and a Canadian for hours, buying round after round, before we made our way to a 24-hour churro spot where we got churros and chocolate. We finally made it to bed by 1 am Madrid time, 34 hours after we’d last slept.
An early night by Spanish standards. But a really, really good one.
Want to learn how I planned this trip to Spain? CLICK HERE!
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