Back in Madrid

Coffee shop in Malasaña

For those of you who know me, you may know that Madrid is not my favorite city in Spain (for a variety of reasons I will not go into). However, some of my favorite people in Spain happen to live there, and Easy Jet just opened up a new route to Barajas (45 minutes, people!), so the time seemed right to pay the capital (not to be confused with Kapital) another visit. 

Despite it being the coldest day in Madrid in 50 years, I had a blast. I got to meet up with Lauren from Spanish Sabores and eat some amazing tacos. And my friend Will (camp friend) lives in Malasaña, a super-sweet barrio that has everything from tapas bars to pizza places to crepes. As I drank my first Dr. Pepper in months,  I came to the realization that you can find pretty much anything in Madrid

Market, with everything from sushi to made-to-order burgers

We ate amazing food (did I mention the Mexican?), and everything turned out to be a lot cheaper than I expected, which, as any auxiliar who has yet to be paid knows,  is always a good thing.

We got to see a lot of old friends, and meet some new ones. We also got to go to brunch (complete with Bloody Marys), which is something that is severely lacking in Bilbao, if I may say so myself. 

Camp friends/real friends

While I would still be hesitant to call Madrid home, I did enjoy my time there, and hope to be back soon, when it's actually warm enough to row boats in Retiro Park, and stand outside for more than 10 minutes without getting frostbite. 

Originally published 2.6.12