‘I’m mad for Madrid!’

This article was originally posted by Bev Malzard of Travel Gal Travels and was republished with permission.

It seems that travellers are mad for Spain at the moment, and why not, with cities brimming with history, aromatic with the scents of flowers and amazing food, and the time-honoured hospitality of this grand old country that is so much more than the sum of its parts.

Following is a short trip down memory lane from a couple of years back and a short but sweet 48 hours in Madrid.

Arriving in Madrid at the pleasant end of a summer day, we drove along tree-lined streets and were delivered to the hotel Villa Magna in the elegant Salamanca barrio (precinct). This is the time when jet lag kicks in, but it was too exciting being in a new city and it was the afternoon – lunch time, yay.

This is how the eating frenzy began. First stop was a five-minute walk from the hotel to the beautifully restored and beloved Platea Madrid. The old art deco theatre has had new life breathed into it and has become a fragrant complex of tapas bars, Michelin-starred restaurants and snack bars with rustic market-style décor. A cooling ale and a plate of patatas bravas (fried chunks of potato with spicy, paprika-ridden tomato sauce), small bites of battered cod and some succulent slices of jamon iberico… I was hooked.

An early dinner eschewed. This was the funny part of the trip – our timing was not always conducive to being ‘hungry’. Breakfast isn’t a big deal here. Coffee and a little pastry maybe, or two coffees. Lunch is anytime between 2pm and 4pm and, if you’re on a schedule, you’ll find yourself having dinner within a couple of hours after a banquet of a lunch.

After a quick change in my room and a serious count of the threads in the cotton sheets, we were off to nearby Tatal, a fancy restaurant owned by Rafael Nadal and Julio Iglesias (both of them stood us up for a shared plate). The restaurant started filling up and by the time we left at 10pm (early by local standards) the place was packed with well-dressed patrons – and on a week night, too.

The following day was a series of long walks through the beautiful Buen Retiro Park, a visit to the famous Museo Nacional Del Prado to view extraordinary paintings and sculptures by Spanish artists (Goya, Picasso and Velasquez, just to name a few), shopping for espadrilles, finding just the right cake for afternoon tea and a final jaunt around town on a Tapas Tour – a definite must for food lovers.

Ah, Madrid, it was short, it was sweet but oh, so fine!

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