We had an early morning flight from Tenerife  back to Madrid, our flight departed at 7 am and the airport was a good 20 mins from our AirBnB and we had to return the car, so we set our alarms for a 4 am wake up call just to ensure we made it. We both were able to get a little sleep on the cramped plane. 

We arrived in Madrid to sunny skies but were unable to check into our AirBnB until 2:30 pm, we made our way to a metro stop close by so that we could locate it before walking around a bit. We had about three hours to kill  before meeting our host. We located a tavern nearby that was suggested by Joy from our Devour Tours experience a couple nights prior. It was one of Madrid’s oldest taverns, we each enjoyed a cerveza, sharing tortilla de patatas, y croquettes y empanada. We then walked around making our way to Plaza de Sol to find a seat to bask in the sun. Having a significant smooch of time to spare we walked around, finding one of Madrid’s modern markets.

With still 45 minutes before checking in we set off to find Madrid’s famous chocolate con churros. I’ll have to say they weren’t as great as I thought they should be, the chocolate was delicious, but the churros not so much. 

Finally making our way back up 26 Funercalle, who’s entrance was right next to The North Face store, we rang 9, and were buzzed in to find ourselves with some beautiful, but uneven, slippery wood stairs. We climbed the five flights, which we all know was really six since we are in Europe. We were greeted by a nice Spanish women who spoke not English. Pulling out her google translator she walked us through the tiny apt, which consisted of us standing in one spot and pointing. I told Nick they most have used a wide angle lens when shooting their AirBnB photos. I don’t consider myself a large person, but apparently by European standards I am as I have to duck getting around the place, so it’s been a real struggle for poor Nick.

After a short nap, when then headed back out to town got more sightseeing, making our way to Rietro Park, visiting the main train station where they have turned the old station into a beautiful terrarium. 

We then sought out the original La Casa el Abuelo, the sister restaurant to where we are the first night on our tapas tour. We again ordered the garlic shrimp, shared croquettes, and shrimp skewers, which were suggested by a couple visiting from Dallas, but he was originally from Spain.

Again with bellies full, we made our way back to the apt to make the climb. Nick did comment that one thing he missed about living in Europe was that you never felt fat when you got home from dinner because you always had a chance to walk it off.