First International Solo Trip – Madrid, Espana 

My favorite Anthony Bourdain quote has a response to being asked about how to get someone to want to travel the world. He responded with “Have them try Pho” (Vietnamese noodle soup) because, he thought, once they tried it, they would want to go see where it was made. 

Anthony Bourdain not only brought his viewers along a culinary journey but also one of empathy. He tried to show us that people all over the world experience the same things we do and that even though we are thousands of miles away and eat different foods, we are, in fact, not that dissimilar. This principle that he so enthusiastically brought to the masses, was something that I try to promote in my research. I grew up watching Parts Unknown with my friends, feeling like we were traveling the globe without leaving our sofas. He made you want to travel.  He made interpersonal connections cool.  He made empathy cool and, most importantly, he made food cool. 

His passing has left the world a little less empathetic and, while never knowing him personally, I feel as if I have lost the adventurer that made me feel that someone pushed people to believe in the similarities we all share, to see food and respectful communication as a way of slowly breaking down barriers. 

In his absence, I am becoming an adventurer of my own, starting with my first solo trip to Madrid. To be honest, I am a bit nervous to be traveling alone but I am also exhilarated by the challenge. I am finally living an adventure because Anthony Bourdain no longer can. 

Adventuring Around Madrid My Way! (36 Hours in Madrid)

9:00am Plaza Mayor (whispered: with my Starbucks)

Yes as I write “with my Starbucks,” I can feel Anthony’s judgement from the grave. I will say that I only get my dose of caffeine through the berry refreshers but if I drank coffee, I would clearly go to a local coffee shop. If you do drink coffee (and are looking for a snack), I highly recommend Cafe Federal. 

Plaza Mayor is the center of the medieval quarter of Madrid, known as El Madrid de los Austrias. This area was incredibly popular during the Habsburg dynasty which ruled from 1517 to 1700. The Plaza, opened in 1619, housed bullfights, royal weddings and birth celebrations, etc. until 1878. For more information on this and other great sights, I highly recommend that you purchase Lonely Planet’s Madrid. 

10:00am Palacio Real De Madrid 

While this attraction was not originally on my list of must-sees, after seeing some pictures and comments about the palace in Lonely Planet, I declared YOLO and went for it 🙂 This turned out to be one of the favorite attractions. 

Originally commissioned by King Felipe VI, it is considered the official residence of the Spanish Royal Family in Madrid, but no heads of state or royalty currently live in the building and it is only used for state ceremonies (like the wedding of Spanish royalty in 2014). The palacio contains 3,418 rooms and is 1,450,000 square feet, making it the largest (based on floor area) royal palace in Europe. The palacio is even more grand than you could even dream of with silk wallpaper, beautiful artwork and a stunning square in the middle. 

The rooms were beautifully decorated and information about each piece was carefully displayed so that you could see it. As a bonus, the descriptions were in Spanish and English. 

Tip: You can’t take pictures of most things (really much of anything) in the museum. I wrote down the rooms that I found most interesting and found postcards of them in the gift shop. It was a nice to adhere to the rules but still have “pictures” to show your friends and family when you get back. 

12:30pm Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia

This was my favorite museum on this trip! I started out with a temporary exhibit on Russian Dada. As stated on the entryway to the exhibit, “Russian Dada is the first major exhibition to approach Russian avant-garde art from the perspective of the canons associated with international Dada movement. The exhibit works gathered from Russia and European museums and private collections were produced at the height of Dada’s flourishing between World War I and the death of Vladimir Lenin in 1924.” 

Tip: The gift shop at this museum is one of the best that I have seen and the prices were pretty comparable on most things. I recommend that you take a look for some souvenirs for your friends and family. 

Also, while I did not book a tour, I walked by a few and they sounded great! Depending on your amount of time and budget, it is worth looking into a tour as they often tell you the history of who married whom, who had illegitimate children, and other secrets of the royal family. 

3:00pm Sobrino De Botin (World’s Oldest Restaurant)

According to the Guinness Book of World Records, and the English Paper Menu, this the world’s oldest restaurant. I was dying to get in here and it looked next to impossible when looking on their website (I could only find a table for one at 11:45pm). A little known secret is that they often have room at lunch and you can call to make a reservation or simply stop by. 

What I ordered: glass of sangria, sopa de ajo (con jamon), calamares en su tinta (con arroz), and pan.

It was all amazing! The sangria was perfectly sweet with red wine. The sopa de ajo (con jamon) was smokey because of the ham, buttery due to the broth, with slices of garlic and soaked bread. The soup was a good appetizer size and could have been paired with another appetizer or salad as a substitute for a full meal or would work well if you came and weren’t famished. The baby squid was perfectly cooked and the ink sauce added a lightly salted flavor, which was perfect with the white rice. 

5:00pm Museo Nacional Del Prado

The Museo Nacional Del Prado is the main Spanish national art museum and is converted to have one of the world’s finest collections of European art. Like Reina Sofia, you cannot take any pictures and it is worth walking into the museum store to see if they have pictures of your favorite pieces. 

One of my favorite parts of the museum was the features of the sculptures from all over Europe. The explanation plates next to each piece were insightful and helpful to understand how the pieces fit together and their overall history. 

8:00pm Dinner at Mercado San Miguel

Watching Anthony Bourdain eat at this market years ago is what made me want to go to Spain. The open concept market brings together incredible vendors selling fruit, jamon Serrano and Iberico, mozzarella, candy, pan, salmon, oysters, etc. It is a culinary playground where food is just waiting to by tried in small portions so that you can keep trying until you can’t move. 

The next day: 

9:00am Cereal Hunters (multiple locations)

160 different types of cereal. Let me just say that a bit louder….160 TYPES OF CEREAL and you can MIX THEM! As a cereal lover, I had to go and was not disappointed. 

I got the Cocoa Puffs with Cinnamon Toast Crunch and Reese’s Peanut Butter Chips as a topping with whole milk. It was out of this world good and under 5 euros. The cereal combinations were great and they had a variety of cereals from the US and other parts of Europe (including some I used to eat in Switzerland when I studied abroad).

10:00am Explore! 

For the rest of the day, I walked around the streets taking pictures of churches, street art, and grabbing the last minute souvenirs that I wanted to get for my friends and family. 

Here are some things that I didn’t get the chance to do but would like to when I come back: Cafe Federal, explore the area right outside the Museo Nacional de Prado (the post office and the national bank buildings are beautiful!), and the Parque del Buen Retiro. 

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