It was time to move on from Valencia. Hello Madrid! It may not have been our original plan but we had no choice. We wanted to visit Barcelona first but we couldn't find a hostel the night before leaving. It seemed like everywhere decent was booked up so we had to push it forward a few days.
Our train journey from Valencia took around one and a half to two hours. Some people might think there couldn't be anything worse than sitting on a train for so long but honestly, I thoroughly enjoyed the trip. It isn't very often you get to see the views that you see from the trains. Plus, the trains themselves were way nicer than I ever expected. Most of the high speed trains have cafés as well as movies playing throughout. Unfortunately, they're all in Spanish but it's better than nothing if you're really bored! The staff also give out headphones if you'd rather listen to the radio. Plug them into the seat and listen away!
I was excited to see Madrid and had high expectations for the capital of Spain. I had expected it to be quite built up and full of tourists but I was pleasantly surprised to find it was not. When we arrived, we followed the directions given to us by Hostelworld, an app we booked all our hostels through (highly recommend it for any travelers or backpackers). We hopped on the metro which brought us to one of the nearest stops to OK! Hostel. We only had to walk about two minutes before we reached it and we couldn't have gotten a warmer welcome. The receptionist was so friendly and seemed more than happy to have us staying. She was so helpful and advised us on all the best places to go in Madrid. I couldn't help but stop and stare at everything around me. This place looked amazing! It was only open three months and looked so quirky and new. With a row of brand-new Macs, a bed at reception, a state of the art kitchen, bar and dining room, I felt I could stay here forever. It had everything a backpacker needed. As for the rooms, they were no exception. Myself and my boyfriend shared a room with two others whom, luckily, we got along with so well. They made our stay even more enjoyable. Each room had an ensuite; it was so nice not having to share with the whole floor like the last place we stayed in. We each had a compartment under our bunk beds for luggage too which was really convenient and meant we could lock everything away safely.
On top of all this, they offered a three course meal for €10 every night. I'm not going to lie I wasn't expecting an awful lot but my God! The meals were gorgeous! I got to try things I've never even heard of for an absolute bargain of a price. The OK! chef used to work in one of the top tapas bars in Madrid and you could tell. He cooked delicious meals such as quesadillas (tortillas with spinach and cheese) and peri-peri chicken. There is a different menu everyday so you can choose when you want to stay in or eat outside the hostel. There was also an open bar offering free beer and sangria at dinner time. What more could you want! Aside from the €10 meal, the hostel offers a pub crawl for €15 (€20 for the two). I would highly recommend doing both as you meet so many people from all over the world. During dinner, you have no choice but to sit next to someone you don't know. It is such a fantastic way to make friends and hear about everyone else's adventures. After the meal, you head out together on the pub crawl. Most people, including ourselves, participate at least once during their stay. We went to three bars, all of which played different music then headed to the nightclub. It was the most random, amazing night led by our Indian friend in charge of the KO Bar Crawl. You are in good hands and he will guarantee you have the best time. It's a 10/10 for OK! Hostel. We couldn't have had a better start to our time in Madrid.
As for the city itself, we were situated in the older parts but were only a ten minute walk or two minute metro ride to the more built up areas. We walked a lot in Madrid. Just like Valencia, it was just us and our map. We planned nothing, just explored the beautiful city. With plazas and town squares filled with restaurants and small cafes, the place was buzzing. It wasn't long before we came across the main shopping street, Gran Via. With gigantic H&M stores, numerous Zara's, Pull and Bear and Mango as well as lots of designer shops, it was shopaholic's heaven. As for my fellow make-up lovers, I can guarantee you will fall in love with Kiko Cosmetics. Kiko has been in nearly every city I visited in Spain but Madrid has, by far, the largest store. They had a 50% off sale at the time (if that isn't a dream come true for any make-up lover I don't know what is!) so I pretty much cleared the shop. I will definitely be doing a review on Kiko soon. It is such an amazing brand and so affordable! According to one of my favourite Bristish bloggers, Sarah Ashcroft (That Pommie Girl), it comes from the same factory as Mac but is just priced a lot cheaper. Apart from Kiko, Madrid has Sephora and plenty of the Spanish department stores, El Carte Ingles. Together they stock nearly every brand I can mention from Nars and Mac to Chanel and Too Faced. They have it all! The only thing is, I found some of the brands that we have here in Ireland to be more expensive in Spain but only by a couple of euro. It didn't put me off at all and I still managed to stock up.
Apart from strolling the streets, eating frozen yoghurt and shopping, we didn't do very much. I'm not complaining as I absolutely fell in love with Madrid and we saw so much from what we did do. It definitely has to be my favourite place of everywhere we visited. One of the reasons I loved Madrid so much was Parque del Retiro. This translates to 'good retreat' and that it is. This place is heaven on earth and has to be my favourite place I have ever been to. It is essentially the 'Central Park' of Madrid. As soon as you walk into the park, you feel as if you're in a different world. We walked in from a busy street to the sound of the jazz band playing by the lake. You're greeted by fountains, green grass and tall trees. When I set eyes on the lake, I fell in love. We rented a rowing boat and as sappy as it sounds, it was so romantic. We had carp swimming around us with ducks floating by us. It was magical! The park originated from the gardens of the Palace of Buen Retiro. Everything is so picturesque with the remains of the palace still standing and beautiful flowers growing throughout the park, this place is a must see. As we were walking through we came across a pond full of turtles. I had never seen such a thing in my life. There were steps that you could sit on and just watch these little creatures swim around. Some even attempted to feed the turtles but they were feisty little things. Beside the pond stood the gorgeous Crystal Palace which at the time housed a colourful tent with children's art-work and ornate fabricated cushions and a rug covering the floor for people to sit. If you are into art, there are also exhibitions on in some of the buildings. We went to one which displayed modern art but what was there wasn't exactly what I'd consider art. I guess that's a matter of opinion though. We spent a large part of our day in Parque del Retiro. I didn't want to leave even in the almost-fifty-degrees heat.
Holly X
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