Rosemary

I think that you should rephrase this as it was only JLFS who was being negative not the rest of us. Apology accepted.

Rosemary

Unmutual

I've been here 6 years and still never been to Madrid so it was an interesting report for me!

jdr

Good post Steve.

Dick Dasterdly

There you go, even more plaudits for our man in Madrid, with most humble apologies to Rosemary.
I bow my head in shame.

HBG

Nice one, Steve, although I didn't think the first paragraph was necessary.

But I thoroughly enjoyed the rest of it. I've only been to Madrid a few times and usually when on my way to somewhere else from the airport. But like any other tourist I've always stayed in the Sol area (at twice or three times the prices you paid).

From my limited knowledge, I love the city. I think we had the discussion before, but I always go to Plaza Mayor and enjoy just sitting there, surrounded by history, watching the people walking by.

My last trip was around this time of the year too, and I wasn't aware of many tourists, at least not what I recognise as tourists, but if they come from other parts of Spain or South America I probably wouldn't know.

I also treat the Metro with respect, just as I do in London, and the same with street markets.

Funnily enough I once lost my wife at the airport. She went into one of the central toilets and I wandered off to look at some shops, or perhaps a passing Senorita, but when I returned I couldn't remember which toilet or toilet block she had gone into, they all looked the same with entrances all over the place.

It took a security guard to reunite us.

Thank you, Steve.

Lynn R

I enjoyed your report, Steviedeluxe, as I could compare it with my own trip a few weeks earlier.

We flew from Malaga with Vueling (on our previous trip we took the AVE which was great, but this time it would have worked out almost double the price - we paid 80€ each for our return flights). Getting from Barajas airport into the centre of Madrid was very easy by Metro.

We stayed in an apartment as we prefer them to a hotel when possible, more space and although we don't use the kitchen for cooking, it is nice to be able to make a cup of coffee first thing, have a drink when you come in from a hard day's sightseeing and keep drinks in the fridge for a nightcap. This time we stayed at the Apartmentos Candilejas (booked through www.booking.com), 93€ per night for a 1 bedroom apartment. We were very pleased with it, very quiet as the bedroom is right at the back of the apartments well away from the street, and a very safe area as there is a Comisiaria de Policia less than 50m down the street. It's only a couple of minutes walk to either Plaza de Espana or Santo Domingo metro stations, too.

Restaurants we enjoyed included Ginger in Plaza San Angel (always very busy) , La Colonial (Cuban) restaurant which did a great menu del dia for 11€ (I had carne borracho which I'd never tried before, it was delicious) and the Indian restaurants in Lavapie (we had a 3 course meal with a beer for 7€, great value. I was a bit doubtful about going to Lavapies for the evening as I thought it was a rather run down area, but I was pleasantly surprised, it has nice tree lined streets, loads of restaurants and bars packed with people of all ages and nationalities enjoying themselves.

We did the Thyssen Bornemisa art gallery this trip (went to the Prado last time) which has a very good collection, and also went to Toledo for a day, by train.

I would be happy to go back to Madrid time after time, it's a very pleasant city with a lot to see and do.

jonboy

Stevie,
Thank you for giving, your time and energy to your post, I found it informative and entertaining. I do envy your knowledge of Madrid. I generally find your posts to be good humoured and well written.

I can understand your thoughts about giving the forum a rest as it is easy to become sensitised to the negativity of others. Should you bow out I hope you will review the situation in due course. A fair bit of sniping goes on here, probably due to anonymity, whereas in a one on one situation the other party would most likely be their own moderator. You have read other people’s views on the subject and clearly your posts are welcomed by the majority who contribute.
As to Dick D.

Clearly a spelling mistake, you meant Warehouses? Are you a travelling Salesman?

PS if it was "Whorehouses", do please pm me! :-)



Best regards
Jonboy

JuanSolo

Thanks Stevie for the report.

Thanks specially for the link to the Verdi theatre. There are more OV theatres around but have anyone heard of any theatre with OV but without subtitles? They make me dizzy.

The average daily menu in Madrid is about €12 (two dishes, bread, drink and desert or/plus coffee). Outside the M-30 motorway you can find €10 menus easily.

Near my home (Cuatro caminos - Moncloa - University) there are several cheap restaurants, a Chinese offering €6.50 and a bar offering a "crisis menu" for only €5 (one dish, drink bread and coffee or dessert)

angiescarr

Agreed! I also stayed in Madrid last weekend. We always go to the area between Tribunal and Bilbao And just up the road a bit towards the cinemas to eat. It's a cheap and cheerful area. We have friends near retiro now who let us stay. But when they're out of town We usually stay at the Aparthotel Tribunal (has a little kitchen and seating area in each room) but Steviedeluxe seems to have found an even better/cheaper option in the same area. Agreed there is a lot of overnight drinking in the tribunal area but it always seems good natured, if a bit rowdy.
Madrid seems to be a nice cheap place to visit when it comes to transportation at least. I recommend it, and would love for my OH to get a short term contract there (hint hint) so I could spend a couple of months instead of the few free hours i usually have for exploring!