I decided to split up the Madrid post into 2 first because we were there for 10 days, and also because the second half of the trip we had a hotel, meaning that we were on a bit more of our own schedule and not as much the 11 pm dinner schedule (although we mostly did roll with the punches)!

Day 6

So Day 6 was another one for exploring the streets of Madrid. In the morning I went for a jog around our hotel, showered, and we grabbed lunch at the outlets nearby. It took us literally around 4 weeks to re-set our schedule after visiting Spain, we consistently woke up at 9-10 am for the whole time. We of course, missed breakfast this day, which ended at 10. Oh well, it’s our honeymoon. Anyways, after lunch, We hopped on a bus to get to downtown Madrid, and immediately headed to the most incredible bookstore. It was 4 stories high, had a cafe and little reading nooks throughout. I of course had to make a tiktok which I’m not sure if I can post here, but the name of the bookstore is La Central de Callao and I would 100% recommend coming here if you’re ever in Madrid. Anyone who knows me knows that we were here for around 2 hours and I could have spent a day there. After that, we headed straight for churros! There are many amazing places to get churros all over Madrid, but we visited Chocolatería San Gines and it did not disappoint! It was super crowded but we were able to snag a super cute table outside so we could watch people come and go.

After this, we continued to walk around, exploring the downtown and ran into some street musicians and many other people. I don’t have a picture, but I want to say we grabbed a glass of wine at a cute winery downtown. One amazing thing about Spain is that they bring you snacks every time you order a drink! This combined with our crazy sleeping schedule meant we had a lottt of crazy eating days in Spain- 3 meals wasn’t always the norm! After grabbing a drink, we headed back to the hotel to try to go to bed early (ish) to reset our schedule.

Day 7

Day 7 brought another “morning” run, this time I managed to start around 2 pm😂 so that should truly tell you how late we were sleeping in at this point! Got the run finished and was finally ready to “start” the day. Let me tell you guys, Spain is crazy.

After my run, I went to the mall right by our hotel because that night was date night! I showered, changed, and we headed into Madrid for the afternoon/night. We started by getting a couple of glasses of wine at this absolutely adorable wine bar right by Plaza Mayor. It had all the windows and doors open so we basically got to sit on the sidewalk and watch the busy city of Madrid pass us by. After that, we went to the market (which was Evan’s date pick) and got tapas. Everything was so incredible!

After our date, we met Luis and another of his friends for a drink downtown and stayed until about 1:30 am. Sleep schedule is again re-set.

Day 8

Day 8 was arguably one of the best of the entire time in Madrid. Evan and I had seen this place a couple of times called “Honest Greens”. It looked really super healthy, boujee, but also like it would cost like $70 per meal. We decided to give it a try. We both IMMEDIATELY fell in love. They had so many healthy food options, juices, coffees, tea, organic wine and craft beer, and desserts. We each got a meal, a juice, a coffee, and shared an appetizer for €32. Which blew our minds. I have to include these food photos because they are life changing. Evan ordered the steak chimichuri and I got the salad with beets and goat cheese and so many other delicious things.

After we were filled with happiness from our incredible meal, we headed to the botanical gardens. Admission for students was really cheap, about €3 each, so we paid and enjoyed our time inside. They had some really cool greenhouses and a really impressive collection of Bansai trees, which made Evan think he may want to start growing his own….

After the gardens, we walked a very windy path to go to a Speakeasy we found that was underneath a big bridge in downtown Madrid. (I’m currently looking for the name so I can share it again). I got an espresso martini, but I wasn’t feeling the best so we only stayed for one drink then headed home around 8:45 to get some rest.

Day 9

Day 9 brought a 5 mile run in El Retiro park for me doing a 45 minute country run on Peloton, another trip to Honest Greens (and this means it is good because this isn’t like us to revisit places), La Mallorquina for another chocolate pastry, then a trip to a rooftop bar for drinks as we said goodbye to another amazing place on the trip.

Day 10

Day 10 we woke up, ate hotel breakfast, and then headed to the bus station in an Uber to head to Porto, Portugal!

Overall, Spain was such an amazing part of our trip. The architecture and energy of the city was beautiful, the Spanish culture and pride in their country is incredible, and the food is to die for. Many people would have said not to spend so long in Madrid, but I never felt bored. I really hope to return and visit other parts of Spain, especially Galicia and the Camino de Santiago! I really got more confident in my Spanish and found the dialect a little difficult at first, but I caught on quickly and felt so proud. I would ABSOLUTELY recommend Madrid to anyone making a trip to Europe! Talk soon 🙂