For those of you that have been following me for a few years, you know that I have a tradition of going away for my birthday. Another year has come and gone so quickly. I still remember writing my last post (https://allaboutanika.com/28th-birthday-ireland-promise-to-myself/). After rereading that post I can say I am a year older, wiser and more intelligent. This year I decided to celebrate my birthday in Madrid, Spain. I am so lucky to have the ability to travel the world and there is very little that keeps me from packing my bags and jetting off to a new country for the weekend.
I made a promise to myself on my 21st birthday, to always continue to celebrate my birthday in a different city/country every year. I have kept my promise to myself so far. Here is where I have celebrated so far:
Birthdays:
21 – Hollywood, CA, USA
22 – Las Vegas, NV, USA
23 – Prague, Czech Republic
24 – Lugano, Switzerland
25 – New York City, NY, USA
26 – Berlin, Germany
27 – London, England
28 – Dublin, Ireland
29 – Madrid, Spain
30 – ???
My next challenge would be to visit 30 countries before 30 (#30before30), I am currently on 29. I am excited to add another country to my list, but before I get ahead of myself here are my top places to visit in Madrid. I went for 4 days and 3 nights and I think that was just the right amount of time to explore the city and take in the Spanish lifestyle. It was not my first time in Spain, but it was my first time in Madrid and in 4 days I got to see a lot of the city.
The Royal Palace of Madrid – The Royal Palace of Madrid is officially where the Royal family lives, but it is only used for state ceremonies. It was huge and honestly made Buckingham Palace look small. It supposedly has almost 3500 rooms!
Parque del Buen Retiro – Madrid is very much as a metropolitan city, but right in the middle of the city, there is a huge park that goes on for miles and miles. Parque del Been Retiro is the largest park in Madrid. It was land that belonged to the Spanish Monarchy before but now it is a public park. It is a great place to have a picnic, but I especially enjoyed flying my drone around and getting some amazing aerial shots of the park and the city.
Plaza Mayor – Much like other European cities, Madrid has quite a few open Plazas. One of the more famous ones is called Plaza Mayor. It was first built during Philip III’s reign and it the main plaza in the city of Madrid.
Puerta del Sol – This is another plaza located just a few blocks away from Plaza Mayor. It is known in Madrid for being one of the busiest places as there are shopping, restaurants, and tourists at all hours of the day.
Grand Via – This street puts Oxford St in London to shame. Not sure why everyone comes to London to go shopping when the Spanish have Grand Via. It is an upscale shopping street located in central Madrid. Most people call it the Spanish Broadway, and even though I didn’t go out for the nightlight it is supposedly the street with the most nightlife in Europe. It is known as the street that never sleeps!
Temple of Debod – On my last day in Madrid I have a few hours before my flight back to London and I decided to explore outside of the city center. The temple of Debod is an ancient Egyptian temple that was taken apart and transported to Madrid where it was rebuilt.
Palacio de Cristal del Retiro – Another amazing sight to see in the middle of Madrid’s parks. The Palacio de Cristal is a glass and metal structure located in the middle of Madrid’s Buen Retiro Park. It was built in 1887.
Overall, I was very happy to add more cities to my travel list and even though I had already been to Barcelona before, Madrid was beautiful in its own way. If you have never been I highly recommend visiting. You can easily see most of the city in a few days and if you live in Europe it is a super easy city to fly into. Have you been before? If you have, what was your favorite part of the city?
Love Retiro & Templo de Debod is great to visit during sunset!