48 hours in Madrid

Ola ola from Madrid🇪🇸❤️🙋🏻‍♀️😍!

Before I start with the usual stuff like: how lovely this city is and how many pink houses there are, I have to tell you that I live in Switzerland (Lausanne) at the moment. It is just a temporary work solution but travelling became a bit more complicated for me. You probably know that Swiss is not a cheap country to live in and also flying from and to Geneva might get quite expensive. Anyway, because I am here and my beloved one is not, we had to come up with a way how to see each other and do not bankrupt. So here we are! Madrid, Spain, not even 48 hours, no stress… (We decided to meet every 2 weeks and always somewhere else. It is romantic and hectic at the same time!)

24/08/19 Somewhere over Swiss: ✈️Flying with Iberia for the first time! Had a lovely flight, no sickness, and the view😍❤️! Airport Madrid: I bought Evian right after the arrival and what really made my day was this limited edition bottle. I come from Slovakia🇸🇰🇸🇰🇸🇰 but they only had Czech, Spain, Italy, Portugal and Cyprus. Czech has always been very close to my heart🇨🇿🇨🇿🇨🇿 so I got this one😍. Let´s talk about Madrid finally!El Retiro park: After getting to the city centre (30 mins by bus and metro), we saw this stunning fountain and reflection of the cathedral in it. First stop was obvious then…Unfortunately, I do not remember the name of it which is sad but I know it is right next to El Retiro park.This Roman catholic church seemed even more beautiful from the inside.We came just before the end of the mass so we sat still for a bit and admired the beauty.There is actually a wide road between El Retiro park and the mentioned cathedral. (The arc in the end reminds me of Champs- Elyseés.)El Retiro park is much more fun than Hyde park! Lots of hidden corners, cafés, lakes and what I loved the most was Monumento a Alfonso XII (pictures below). I just wanted to stroll between the arches and take a gazillion pics of course.I will rather not go into the details of me climbing up (footage was destroyed right after the act:D).We only waited like 30 mins to take a great photo without any people. So worth it!Such a majestic place!View from the other side of the park.Later, we discovered another beautiful part of the park, Crystal palace with its mesmerizing white sculptures. (And I was wondering why my boyfriend stared at this one for such a long time…)It was actually boiling hot inside (greenhouse effect).Masses of tourists everywhere… Impossible to take a nice shot:( but at least the sculptures posed well.We got a bit tired after seeing the palace so just chilled and watched the turtles for a while. Can you spot any?Crystal palace from the outside.When I get Mojito– thirsty, I just have to have it right away! It is my new summer addiction, wheeey! (Actually, I ordered many of them in Italy but none of them was so nice and sweet like this one. Spanish can do it better!)We stayed in Hotel Ganivet, had a quick shower, changed clothes and chop chop to explore Madrid!I have a special 6th sense for pink houses, that is why I found some right after leaving the hotel:).We strayed into a´this nice street with Tapas restaurants and had a lovely dinner & mojitos of course.Veggie yummy for my tummy:)To be honest, Madrid is not that big. Two days are absolutely fine to see all the important places.Catedral de Santa MariaPalacio Real de MadridAtmosphere here around 7pm on Saturday was simply magical. Song Lost on you by LP performed by amazing local artists, sunset, these beautiful historical buildings, 2 mojitos in the belly and love of your love holding your hand… What else can you ask for?Inside the cathedralHuge, gothic and majestic!Of course I had to have a photo on the stairs.Plaza de Espaňa: the tallest building in Madrid, famous luxurious hotel but only a house for us passing by and looking at a very long que to get upstairs.Receptionist at the hotel recommended us to go to the Temple and see the view and sunset but because of my slow walking and ice cream shop on the way, we came late and this is the best shot I´ve got:/.25/08/19 Hotel Ganivet: Delicious breakfast, full belly and so ready for our Sunday in Madrid:).So many cute streets everywhere…Lovin this one too much…Rockin it in my new green dress from Mulaya with the cutest pom poms!!!Discovering amazing Sunday markets:).Where you can buy probably anything…These flamenco dresses!Beautiful desings…This wall art!And this dress!!!Spanish vibes everywhere…Hand made summer clothes…Pretty pink door covers…It all felt like a Latin dream. After recovering from a shopaholic extasy, Plaza de Mayor (and the ice cream) awaits…These buildings remind me of other European capitals like Paris, Vienna or even London.But that exotic Spanish air (40 degrees and boiling I mean) is unmistakable.And we are slowly going back to the place where we started this little big journey.Last Spanish MOJITO in El Retiro park…Just before going to the airport, I wanted to see my fave place again and pose in the new snake print skirt by Mulaya.Thinking about how lucky I am to see so many beautiful places.Tired but happy face.Just a random pic from the park at the end…

TO SUM UP: Honestly, I fell in love with Madrid very quickly… I cannot wait to go back to Spain later this month for Santiago de Compostella walk |more about that later|. Its colours, taste and life truly inspires and I finally get what Hemingway meant by: I have never been to a city where there is less reason to go to bed and if I did go to bed, to sleep… E.H. about Madrid

Thank you so much for reading, I hope you enjoyed it and will come back for more soon…

xxx Lots of love xxx

By Lesi Lee