The Bradburn Cavanagh Adventures

Today is another traveling day! Next stop is Madrid. The last part of our trip. We decided if we came back to Spain we would want to go back to Sevilla. There was so much to see and do and we felt like we only did a tiny fraction of it. 

We got to the train station and loaded on our train. With all of our things hopefully in our bags (fingers crossed). I may have left a tablet at our place in Ronda. Boo. Lesson learned, take the time to go through the places we have stayed. 

The train was roomy and super easy! We made it to Madrid and we were trying to find our taxi driver we hired. We. Walked. Everywhere. and we could not find the parking lot he was in anywhere. We ended up exiting the building and then walking around until we finally found the parking lot. We had to wheel and carry all of our stuff down a giant ramp. It was fun, some might say. 

We made it to our Airbnb and then we couldn’t figure out how to get in. At this point we were testing out our patience with the whole ordeal. We tried calling, we tried ringing the bell, our taxi driver tried. Nothing. We waited until someone came out and we went in and then they showed up! Yay! They started walking up a huge amount of stairs so quickly we lost them in the maze that is our new building. We were calling out hello and only hearing echos. It may have crossed our mind that they were carrying some of our things and then poof, vanished. We hoped they were good people. We kept walking and eventually made it to the top and they were there! Thank goodness! The place is interesting with its ceilings, layout, and smells… it also has half a roll of toilet paper, score! Haha

We put our stuff down and then huffed it down the stairs to go to a market. It was super cool but also really crowded. We grabbed a plate of olives and some mozzarella snacks and then left. The crowds were a bit much! On the way back we stopped at a market to pick up some snacks and then headed back. 

We had a food and wine tour tonight called, Walk and eat Spain, De Tapas in Malasana: An Evening Wine and Tapas Tour, that we thought started at 7 but to our surprise it was 6! That meant we needed to rush out and figure out our transportation. We ended up taking the metro and found the right place! Phew 😮‍💨 

We were met by Irene. She learned our names right away and made us feel like instant friends. It was fantastic. We walked around and got some background of where we were then off to stop #1 The ham cutter. This place has passed down their profession for 4 generations. It takes a special skill to cut such delicate pieces for charcuterie. We tasted a few different meats and the local beer from Madrid. Then we got some more history as we walked to our next location. We stopped at a bar in the neighborhood and found out it was the first bar to play punk rock music after the dictator, Francisco Franco, died in 1975. Apparently Madrid partied for 10 years when this happened. Everyone started expressing themselves and creating art. It was a really cool time in Madrid. 

Next is Stop #2 Cheese Shop! This was an extra special tour and stop that is not usually made. Thank you so much to the Gibson family for calling and adding an extra special stop to our amazing tour. Rosa’s parents suggested we look up this tour because the father of one of the owners is friends with Rosa’s dad. We are so lucky to have such a thoughtful family connected to us. The cheese was incredible and also things you would most likely not taste anywhere else. We also had a natural white wine that was bomb! 

Then stop #3 time for Appertivo (small bites you eat before you eat dinner) everything served here was canned, toasted in an oven and can be made using very few things. You also always get a drink with this. We had another great white wine, special toast, and canned muscles, wayyyyyy better than what you would find in the US. You’ll see us with a cat picture in the background. The place was named after this cat and the picture shows it dressed up in traditional clothing. The couple who owns the place got divorced and the woman got the cat and the man got the picture. That’s about even, right?

Our last and final stop #4 tapas. This was fantastic food, such a cute place, and a blind wine tasting of two reds that are common here in Spain. A woman was given the old time restaurant in hopes she would keep the roots but modernize the restaurant. They serve tapas with a international and slightly Mexican flair. We ate potatoes with broken eggs, fries artichokes, seared tuna, and croquettes. A beautiful end to a great night. 

When we were all done we ended the night by Irene offering to walk us home. We are staying right next to where she lives! We had a nice late night walk where we walked passed the royal palace and saw some Christmas lights. We said our goodbyes and made our way back to the apartment. Again full bellies and a long day we all quickly fell asleep. Tomorrow we have a whole itinerary set by one of the owners of our tour. We asked her if you had one day in Madrid what would you do? A tall order but she knew right away. I can’t wait to see what our day is like. This is the last post for me! It has been a wonderful adventure!