First of all, apologies that it’s been a bit quiet over here on The Dubai Diaries… I’ve been busing flying, out enjoying my layovers, and having a lovely time on holiday in Valencia!
A few weeks ago I jetted off to Madrid, and as my sister Lizzie lives in Valencia, she decided to come and stay for the layover.
Sadly our crew hotel has changed and is no longer in the city, so after a bit of a bus ride we arrived in the city, ready to explore.
It had been a while since I’d visited Madrid, so the two of us decided to just have a wander round the city and explore whatever we liked the look of.
First up though, and most importantly, was food! We stopped at the Mercado de San Miguel, which is a large indoor market with a variety of different food and drink stalls, perfect for sharing and enjoying Spanish tapas-style.
We had a wander through the market, checking out the different food options on offer, and chose a few to enjoy with a glass of sangria.
After fuelling up at the market, we continued our stroll through the city.
We walked along Gran Via, where you can find pretty much all of the usual high street shops, although we didn’t do any shopping. There are so many beautiful buildings to admire, I don’t know how anyone can ever get bored of Europe!
Eventually we started to make our way towards the Parque de Buen Retiro, a large park at the edge of the city centre, which is filled with beautiful sculptures and monuments, galleries and a peaceful lake. You can actually rent boats at the lake and take them out to enjoy the water.
Not before passing by so many more beautiful parts of the city, of course.
We soon reached the entrance to the park, and although it was busy, it’s very spread out so there is more than enough space for everyone to relax.
Lizzie and I made our way towards the middle of the park where you can find the lake, and although our plan had been to rent a boat, the clouds were getting darker by the minute, so we decided to get a coffee in a small cafe overlooking the lake instead.
It was lucky we did, as almost as soon as our coffees arrived, the heavens opened and we rushed under the awning to stay dry!
Fortunately the rain storm, although heavy, was over fairly quickly, and we made our way back through the park to find a bite to eat.
Once it started to get dark, we decided to call it a night (after all, I’d had a 7,5 hour flight over from Dubai, and Lizzie and 3,5 hour car journey from Valencia!) and head back to the hotel.
Thanks for coming to stay Lizzie!
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Yes It’s been a while, glad to see another post.
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Thanks for reading Abbey! 🙂