Madrid - Plaza Mayor, Royal Palace of Madrid, Museo Nacional del Prado

2017-01-17 (Madrid)

Ok Madrid Hostel is one of the best hostel I have ever stayed with. It is more than I expected for a hostel: hot shower and bathtub, storage lockers, great location, insanely cheap nightly rate, incredible lounges, super friendly staff.

I joined the “free” walking tour (tips expected at the end) along with the people from the hostel. The guide, who is actually from Colombia (so she speaks Latin American Spanish), was very knowledgeable about all the histories and stories about each monuments here in Madrid.

The hostel was very close to the city center, and most attractions were within walkable distance.

Plaza Mayor

First stop, Plaza Mayor, aka the main plaza. Used to be the center of Madrid and still is, also the center of the country.

The whole plaza is surrounded by resident apartments

There is no bathrooms in these buildings. People used to pour their “belongings” out from the windows, and that’s how the plague started, especially here was also where the major market was located. I can’t imagine how awful that would be.

During the plague, water, which was highly polluted, was not safe to drink, and people were scared to drink water even when they were thirsty. The alternative that they could have to ease to thirst was wine. Wine became popular in Spanish culture since then, and during the times, wine was also served to infants and kids because of the water contamination. (I guess that’s why Asian people are not good drinkers in comparison)

Royal Palace of Madrid

Free entrance for EU citizens during free hours. Lots of renovations are going on during winter. Only few of the exhibition halls are open.

Catedral de la Almudena

That’s the Catedral de Santa María la Real de la Almudena. It is located right opposite to the royal palace. The cathedral is supposed to be the Sagrada Familia in Madrid, but because it is located right in front of the palace, the side of the cathedral doesn’t look as fancy.