Madrid

During the easter holidays i not only went to Vienna with my mother but also visited my older stepsister in Madrid with my father's side of the family. She is doing an erasmus year abroad there at the moment and was really excited to show us around the city.

When stepping off the plane we were greeted by the warm spain air and i could not have been happier. The weather got better and better with each day, it honestly felt like summer. We spend 4 amazing days there, relaxed and full of laughter. What better than to explore such a beautiful city with the people you love, especially when the sun is shinning?

I absolutely fell in love with Madrid, it is incredibly vibrant, the people are friendly and the architecture is just gorgeous. Everything seems to be following a different clock there, slower and therefore less stressful. This feeling is only intensified by the fact that spanish people have lunch and dinner much later than we generally do, the shops are therefore open for longer (10 pm!) and you will still find people on the streets at 1 in the morning wherever you go.

Having someone with us who already knew the city was a blessing, no walking around planlessly or wasting time visiting places that, eventually, weren't worth it. It was great not really having to worry about planing much for the day ahead as we usually just did a "cultural" activity in the mornings and then strolled around the city for the rest of the day. 

For food there were two places which really stayed in my mind even days after we went there, Lateral and the Mercado San Miguel. After a slightly disappointing tapas dinner the first night we managed to get a table at Lateral the following day for lunch and the food was just heavenly. We ordered all sorts of different tapas but the avocado tartare with salmon and the grilled goat cheese salad were simply divine. However, all of their tapas were delicious and even the ice cream my dad had there a few days later seemed to have been really good.

Also tapas but in a slightly different setting is what you can get at the Mercados San Miguel. The market is situated right in the centre of the city, inside a metal "builduing". They have every type of food your heart could ever desire: from fresh juice to meat in all shapes and forms, pasta and traditional spanish cuisine as well as a huge selection of sweet pastries and dessert. Most things are sold in small portions, so it is a bit like eating tapas, just with much more variety. I had the most delicious mozarella toast there, as well as some kind of baby fish which looks and is eaten like pasta. The amount of choices can be a bit overwhelming and it can get quite crowded, but the quality of the food is so worth it!

Overall we had an amazing time and i'd love to visit this incredible city again as soon as possible.