"Finally-Madrid" Madrid by CALSF

Well, we were always interested in visiting Madrid, and the wish finally became reality in May 2011. Madrid is as how everyone who reads guidebooks knows it to be: crowded, frenetic, and tapas everywhere. It was a good experience, but we did not feel attached to the city. In fact, we felt bored. It was not as interesting as Rome, Paris, and other cities we've visited lately. We did the hop on/hop off bus tour, visited the Prado, walked through the beautiful Retiro Parque Madrid, and had fun exploring old Madrid streets yet we still felt unsatisfied. Heard that Madrid is a museum city so maybe we just are not interested so much in museums to be fair to the city I don't know.

As for food tapas are great, but we could not stand eating tapas for the entire week we were there. Staying on the Plaza Mayor in a fantastic luxury apartment was both a blessing and a hindrance. Of course, the location couldn't have been more convenient especially if one wanted to to partake in the tapas and bar tour of closeby La Latina. However, there were no other types of cuisines available in this area except perhaps the odd Greek or Italian restaurant (one each too).

• Pros:Casual and friendly, tapas, cerveza, paella
• Cons:Too much tapas