Gallery » EUROPE/AFRICA/ MIDDLE EAST » Round the World 2018 - Europe » Madrid 2018
We spent seven wonderful nights in Madrid at our usual abode, The Hilton Barajas. Our first visit was a quick two night stay for some well-deserved “r & r” following safaris in Tanzania and South Africa. We arrived at the hotel early in the morning but thanks to the Front Desk team, especially Tarek, we were in our room early. It was nice to unpack and relax and also start doing some business work that had been neglected during our time on safari. At 6:00PM, we enjoyed happy hour and snacks at the Executive Lounge on the Fourth Floor. Tania, one of our hosts in 2018, was on duty and she welcomed us warmly. We stayed until about 8:00PM and it was super relaxing. The following day we enjoyed a delicious breakfast in the hotel restaurant. Oshraf, our host, surprised Ed with some wonderful smoked salmon. A great addition to the tasty buffet offered at the restaurant. We enjoyed a very relaxing breakfast before heading to the Executive Lounge to tackle paperwork, look at our plans for Copenhagen, etc.
We returned back to Madrid after spending five nights in Copenhagen (refer to that section of "Round the World 2018 - Europe"). Our flight didn’t land until 6:30PM but we were in our room near 7:15P and at the Executive Lounge by 8:00P. Tania greeted us and took time to welcome us by making a gin & tonic. What wonderful service!
After a leisurely breakfast, we started planning our touring in Madrid as the weather was gorgeous – not too hot or too cold with lots of sunshine. We went into town on multiple days. One day we took the hotel's shuttle to the Retiro Metro station and did touring from there. On most days, however, we took a 10 minute walk into a residential area to reach the Alameda de Osuna metro. It was always easy to get a seat into town; returning was a bit more difficult. In addition to wandering through Madrid, we stopped by the ruins of an old castle located not too far from the Alameda de Osuna metro. Click on the first image below to begin.
