And away we go! It is time to escape winter and spend a couple of months in our now go-to winter getaway spot, the Costa del Sol in Spain. We don’t take possession of our rental unit in Nerja until February 5, so we decided to arrive in Spain on January 31 and hang out in one of our favourite cities, Madrid.
This winter I will be reporting on various aspects of our stay on the Costa that I think may be of interest to you… primarily things I did not cover last winter. This coverage will be included in my new “Wintering in Spain” travel section on the website. After posting last year’s trip under my “Retiree on the Road” banner last year I realized that wintering in Spain is a totally different thing from our general travel adventures, and that it should be separated into its own sub-category to make it easier for readers to find this very specific travel information.
So, first up, Madrid. I’m not entirely certain yet what I will get to show you as we will be spending the first day or two primarily getting over Jetlag; we have no firm plans about what we will be doing yet. No promises about what you will get to see. 🙂
I do have lots to say about the first 24 hours, however. I was initially going to say it’s a bit of an intense period, but it isn’t really, just somewhat action-packed. At the beginning of that 24-hour period we were at home preparing to leave for the airport. This little photographic essay tracks what took place after that.
I have been taking lots of pictures as the day progressed, so it is easy to visually reconstruct the events. The other thing taking the pictures did was to timestamp everything. I discovered while looking at all the pictures I selected for this post, that the series of events literally took place over 24 hours to the minute. Hence the framework for this presentation. 🙂
I have figured out how to embed a photo “Carrousel” in a post and have used the concept here for the very first time. Some of the images have captions, some do not. If you click on the first photo, the whole thing pops up allowing you to click through the collection of images in a large format.
1:45 PM – Time to Go
All my bags are packed, I’m ready to go… (John Deutschendorf, name changed later to John Denver).
These are the two bags the Love-goddess and I take on our long-stay travels. We each have a 26-inch Samsonite soft-shell duffle bag. We prefer soft covered because they’re easier to cram into loaded trunks or other confined spaces. Hard-shell cases won’t do that for you. And we have never had anything broken in transit, so no real downside to going to the soft-shell route.
And really, you should not be taking any more stuff than you can fit into one of these bags. We carry enough clothing to cover eight days, and a few items for special dress up times. Neither one of us takes more than three pairs of footwear when we travel like this. You must constantly remind yourself that if you run out of things or need a special new piece of clothing, these can be bought wherever you go. It never hurts to come home with a few new items of clothing from your travels. Travel light folks; it’s the only way to go.
We also each carry a backpack with our laptops and other electronic gear, as well as a couple of days’ worth of clothing and toiletries on the plane in case our checked bags go MIA.
As you may recall, I have a very different travel bag that I use when we are travelling “on the go” rather than settled in one spot. I need something that will strap on my back if I’m constantly getting onto and off trains and walking long distances.
5:40 PM -Take Off
Just before 2:00 PM the taxi we had ordered came to pick us up to drive us into Toronto to catch our flight. I don’t think a lot of people realize that in towns and cities outside of a major airport, taxi companies are very willing to pick you up and deliver you to the airport for a flat rate.
Typically, the taxi rate is less expensive than alternative services. Lots of folks we know use one of those shuffle services where they drive around and pick you and others up in a vehicle that holds about a dozen people and then whisks everyone off to the airport. It would cost way more for the two of us to take the local shuttle then it is to just have a cab deliver us to the airport in Toronto. Food for thought.
In the past, we had flown Air Canada directly to Madrid but they are not currently offering that route during the winter. Instead, we booked with TAP, the Portuguese national airline to fly us from Toronto to Lisbon, and then shortly after arrival, to catch a second flight to Madrid.
That all went very well. I suppose the only downside to it all was that that the flight was crock-a-jock full… good news for the airline, but not so much for us. On this particular aircraft, they very much had built the “bus” sensibility into the Airbus plane we were on. Portugal is famous for sardines, and that is exactly what it felt like on this flight, a bunch of sardines squeezed into a can. We are getting too old for this.
When we boarded, we had to walk through the small executive section that featured a seating arrangement exactly as they are shown here before we got back into “steerage “. I think it is time to start flying with the fancy seats where are you get to lie down. So, fair warning to anyone who is expecting an inheritance. There’s not gonna be much left if we go on a lot of flights from here on in. 🙂
7:10 – 8:20/9:20 AM – Arrival in Madrid
Our major concern with the turnaround was that our luggage might not make it onto the second flight. However, everything went very smoothly, and our luggage was there waiting for us when we got off the plane in Madrid.
There is an hour time difference between Spain and Portugal so are when we arrived in Madrid it was 8:20 AM Portuguese time, but we picked up an hour and it became 9:20 AM in Madrid.
10:25 AM – Hotel Check-in
A while ago I had booked us in to the Hotel Europa here in Madrid. It is one I picked out of the Rick Steves’ travel book about Spain. It sits right on Madrid’s major central plaza, the Puerta Del Sol. It has turned out to be an excellent pick.
A couple of weeks ago I emailed and asked about getting an early check-in. Nobody wants to leave their bags at a hotel and wander around town until three in the afternoon after an overnight flight. 🙂 They said they could do that, but it would be subject to availability, and would cost an extra €20.
When we arrived, they did have a room ready for us. So at 10:30 in the morning we were able to check in and relax for a bit before strolling around town for as long as we could before we were forced to have a nap. 🙂 The room itself was and absolutely fine. It looks like the rooms have been renovated relatively recently. It also had a small Juliet balcony with a great view over the Puerta. Have a look!
11:35 AM – Breakfast
Having rested for a bit we headed down to the hotel restaurant for breakfast. The hotel has a very nice restaurant with a large outdoor terrace that obviously gets lots of use. We both ordered coffee and a Bocadillo. The Love-goddess had one with Jamón (Spanish ham), and I had one with my favorite Spanish cold meat, Chorizo. Tasty and filling.
12:00 – Nap time
We made it until noon before we had to lie down and have a nap. Given that we had been awake for 24 hours, it was time. When we do this, we always set an alarm to wake us up in three hours. This forces us to get up and get active so that we are REALLY tired at about 8 PM that evening.
Our preset body clocks still had us waking up between 3 and 5 AM the next morning. But by the second night we will be well on our way to having our Circadian Rhythm following local time.
Sorry. No one was awake to take pictures. 🙂
5:10 PM – Walk Through the Hotel & Out We Go
After a nap it was time to stretch the legs and get some fresh air. We decided to walk down to the lobby, rather take an elevator. It is a lovely old hotel.
5:20 PM – Laying in Supplies
The one specific goal we had to achieve during our neighbourhood walk-about was to go to a grocery store and pick up some food to keep in the room. Stocking up with supplies is a great way to reduce spending money in restaurants. Throwing together sandwiches, snacking on appetizers, and having fruit and yogurt available allows us to easily prep breakfasts and lunches.
The closest one to us is located in the local El Corte Inglés Department store. It had everything we were looking for and once again we got to interact with an instore fruit and produce vendor… as you will see in the photos.
6:15 PM – Snacking & Perusing the View
After some drinks and appetizers in our room, I decided it was time to take a nice sweeping panoramic view from our little Juliet balcony. The Puerta Del Sol in all its glory. As you can see, they are hard at work replacing much of the stonework in the plaza.
7:45 PM (1:45 PM at Home)
I stuck my head back out at 7:45 PM to discover that the plaza took on a whole new sensibility after dark, so another collection of photos was in order. J
When looking at the photos later it dawned on me that they were taken exactly 24 hours after we left home to head to the airport. It has been an amazing day. Hope you enjoyed it as much as we did.
Good night
P.S. – Why we go to Spain in the winter…
In case we forget at some point in the next two months. J
Looks like paradise. Have lots of fun for all of us.
Better experience than a polar vortex for sure. 🙂