Walking Madrid

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Madrid was the first of many stops of my whirlwind three-week European vacation, in 2010.  I traveled with a woman who I had met through my meetup.com affiliation.

Europe’s small sidewalk cafes are so charming!  I love to people watch, drink sangria, and dine on tapas in Madrid!  For me, that is what makes Europe such an alluring place to visit or live!

Following the advice of Rick Steves, our hotel made reservations for us to see a traditional Spanish Flamenco dance, at “Corral de la Moreria”.  The following evening, we walked the mile or two to see the show and were informed they had a private show that evening.  The hotel had mistakenly made our reservation for the previous evening.

Of course we were disappointed, but luckily, one of the dancers was outside and I requested a picture with her.  She graciously agreed!

Obviously, I hadn’t learned how to stand for a picture.  If you’ll notice, she is standing sidewise…which gives the illusion of a smaller frame.  She’s quite beautiful!

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This gentleman lady was anxious to pose for my lens!

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I’m not sure we’re experiencing the authentic Madrid?

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 These puppeteers were quite entertaining

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More walking…

SS850413The Jamones or ham in Spain are very tasty!

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We stayed in Madrid for three days, one of which we spent taking a side trip to lovely Segovia…which I’m saving for a later post.  We typically walked four to eight miles a day, which is a nice way to acquaint yourself with an area.  But, Madrid is one of the larger cities we visited, so I didn’t get to see as much as I would have liked.

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35 thoughts on “Walking Madrid”

  2. oh you definitely need to go back to Madrid, so so much to do and see! But I love this post, great pics! Love the one with the flamenco dancer. Madrid is one of the most walkable cities I have visited (and lived in).

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  10. Boy, this really makes me want to fit in a trip to Spain soon! Barcelona is one of my favorite cities on earth –and obviously, you know how to travel: walking 4-8 miles a day through the city is the WAY to go!!

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  16. Sherry…I absolutely LOVE Madrid and loved getting lost just walking around looking at things. I’m not a big “museum” person – I really find much more pleasure in doing as you say…sitting in the outside cafe just people watching. How great is that??? I like trying the tapas at San Mercado and taking the subway to anywhere!!

    Love the pics!

    Cheri

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  17. I agree on your views of Europe being an alluring destination to visit, with plenty of those charming spots. I’m looking forward to seeing/reading more of your European trip.
    As to “whirlwind tour”: my wife and I like to do things more slowly, trading seeing a few places only but thoroughly/leisurely against seeing many different ones. Thus, last year we spent a leisurely two weeks cruising English canals and rivers on a narrowboat [pictures here: http://pitsbilderbuch.wordpress.com/%5D and the a few days each in Hamburg, on the island of Ruegen and in Bonn.
    Best regards,
    Pit

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    • Hi Pit…I’ve been grappling with this for my upcoming trip. Do I perhaps housesit for a few weeks somewhere, get to know the area or go on another whirlwind trip. I’ve been wanting to see Eastern Europe, starting in Turkey–headed up to the Scandanavian countries. I think I’ll do another whirlwind—then will be able to decide where I’d like to go next time to explore more in depth. I checked out your link—I’ve been wanting to go on one of those. I’ve researched it in the past.

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      • Hi Sherry,
        Thanks for checking out my “Bilderbuch”. 🙂 As to exploring England via canals and rivers: I can only recommend that tour we did, which I call “The Heart of England Ring”. It gives you a wonderful impression of what England today is, from rural scenery and small-town Britain to the big city of Birmingham with its nice sides and its run-down industrial areas, too.
        As to “whirlwind trips”: we’re always in two minds, torn between seeing as many different places as possible on one trip and checking out thoroughly a few only. And even with doing the latter we still have so many we want to come back to and see more. Actually, we keep promising ourselves that everywhere – and then new plans come up. 😉
        Not enough time!!! 😉
        Best regards,
        Pit

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