"Madrid" a Madrid Travel Page by ptitetoile

When I did my last trip to Madrid in September 2006, I knew already about the prestigious aspect of Madrid with the high buildings with a great architecture, the large avenues, the busy streets (as I went there one evening in 2000). But this time, I discovered also a fantastic more peaceful neighborhood behind the Plaza Mayor! La Plaza del Ayuntamiento is wonderful and the style of the buildings behing it is amazing with the facades with red bricks and great balconies with iron works. The area of Latina and Rastro are also neighborhoods with a more "village" atmosphere : narrow downhills streets, little squares with trees ans terraces...

I came to Madrid to visit my friend Ainhoa and is so great to combine tourism and abroad friendship! During the day, I visited the town and also did some hiking around Madrid and in the evening I had dinner with her family and talked in Spanish! A great thing for me because it was the first time that I could practice really and every day! I almost started to think and dream in Spanish!
And of course, I went also to bars to take some wine and tapas...the last one I went to before coming back in Brussels was El viajero...a nice name for a bar... isn't it???

Madrid is also a great location for people like me that want to have a hiking experience in mountain. By bus, it is one hour away from Manzanares, a village at the feet of the Sierra Gadarrama from where you can choose your hiking trails.

Coming in Spain, I wanted to try the Camino de Santiago and as I read that there was a way beginning in Madrid too (next to the famous Camino Frances), then I decided to do a part of it! So I did the section from Manzanares el Real to Cercedilla (one day - 19 km) and then from Cercedilla to Segovia (second day - 31 km). It was fantastic! The lanscape is wonderful all the way and I loved the fact to go from one place to another by foot, discovering a new landscape behind each turn of the way! Seeing the destination village from far away and then being in it is so great! I really recommand it if you are an experienced an trained hiker. The Camino de Santiago is really well marked with yellow arrows, so no problem for the orientation...it can appear long but the task gets easy with some courage...and as it is a pelgrim way... it gives inner strengh and enable to think a lot about it's own life and the sense of it if we are walking alone as I did... So one thing should be considered: in september there are not a lot of other hikers, pelgrims : I was the only one! Look at my infos and pictures in the page Camino de Santiago (from Madrid)

Madrid is also very close to Toledo and the great dry landscapes of Castilla La Mancha...See my page about Toledo for more infos ;-)