A weekend in Madrid

Madrid was a dream. Yes, parts of it were a nightmare due to my chronic illness flare-up, but it was lovely to meet my engineers.

E picked up me up from the airport, dropped me at my Airbnb and was my primary host and organizer for the weekend. He and his partner had a delightfully relaxing flat that I felt right at home in. Apparently he told the entire Madrid office about me, and our weekend plans 😊 It was really interesting to meet perfect strangers at the industry event who knew everything I had done and who I was with all weekend.

Friday evening, we walked near the Egyptian temple, with a fabulous view over the city. We ended up near the Sol plaza, with porra  (a fatter cousin of a churro) and chocolate in hand. It was simply delightful. After that, we met up with C and his partner for dinner. C and E were in the same training class together, and I’d met C’s partner when she’d accompanied him to class. It was lovely to share some beautiful tapas together and be introduced to the drink tinto de Verano. It gave sangria vibes, but more red wine and lemon soda mix, and was quite a nice drink. I ended up ordering it a number of times in Madrid, and also introducing  several of my colleagues to it as well!

Saturday morning one of my engineers from Italy flew in with her partner. It was so kind of them to come visit, and I adored meeting more partners of my students. We began with breakfast in the same wonderful café I wrote about earlier. I had a delightful toast, with a simply marvelous tomato confit and olive oil. I also availed myself of a beautiful cinnamon roll. Sustenance procured, we headed out. Close to our hosts’ home is an old train station turned museum. Luckily, this Saturday happened to be the monthly market with free admission!! I love looking at trains, so it was a really special treat to see the museum for free. All the platforms were filled with market vendors. Food, drinks, jewelry and much more filled the station and it was a beautiful glimpse into the culture of the area.

Next we went to Tapa-pies. There is a neighborhood called Lavapies, and they had a tapas festival while we were there called Tapapies! For 3.50 euro, you got a beer and a tapas. There were almost 150 restaurants participating in the neighborhood. The website allowed you to sort by type of cuisine and dietary restrictions as well. We ended up at almost 10 different ones. I tried a few sips of the beer at the first stop, and that was the last I drank of it. My beer got split amongst the others, until the end, when they allowed me to switch out pop for the beer. It was fun to try the foods and get to see the vibes of the neighborhood. We were joined by M from the office and her partner, and later on by S, another student of mine, and his posse of friends.

Saturday night I had to check into my work hotel, and join a dinner there (also a delightful experience). The Spanish eat a ton of fish. Every corner grocery has a fish stand!

Sunday morning I rejoined our engineering posse. We wandered through the streets of Madrid, stopped in an American store, bought some juice shots at a grocery, listened to a children’s puppet community theater, and felt the heartbeat of the city. Lunch was at a vegan restaurant, which ordinarily would not be my first choice. However, I ordered a cheese burger that I found the best I’d eaten in Europe! The meat texture and flavour was perfect (a local vegan blend) and the “cheese” delightfully melty. 

After our lunch, I had to head back to begin my conference responsibilities, but I'm so very grateful to all my engineers who ensured the perfect weekend in Madrid!