Hindsight is 20/20. If I were to do this trip over, I would have spent the extra money to fly into London and out of Madrid, rather than the return tickets for London. It would have meant not having an overnight in Madrid, but the extra flight and travel from Madrid to London was pretty unnecessary. 

Oh well. We ended up with one day in Madrid. It was not the worst thing, not by a long shot. In fact, we had a pretty great final full day in Europe – although it did start with getting to the Granada bus station by 6.30 am for the 7:00 am bus. 

The drive was beautiful. Spanish countryside is truly spectacular. But because we’d been out so late the night before on our tapas adventure for such an early bus, we did sleep through a lot of the drive. It happens. 

We arrived at noon at Madrid’s bus station that seemed more like an airport. So nice! We took a taxi to our hotel in the Arenal – a pedestrian mall filled with shops, cafes and small hotels. Our room wasn’t ready so we dropped our bags and went for lunch at a nearby restaurant. I had a chicken and rice dish, and Sean had eggs. Fueled up, we walked the short distance to the Puerta Del Sol, a big open square flanked by streets filled with various shops, some of them big-box department stores and local chains.

We continued our walk, heading for the Museo Del Prado.

Much of the work within this museum is religious. The large murals are impressive and it’s home to a painting by Velazquez that we studied extensively in my Spanish classes in high school, Las Meninas (which translates to “Ladies in-waiting”). It’s an incredibly large, detailed painting that always seems to captivate me, both in-person (this was the 2nd time seeing it) and in photographs. After a couple of hours there, we decided to move on.

Nearby to the museum was the main city park, Buen Retiro Park. We strolled around, then decided to rest and have churros con chocolate at an outdoor cafe. It was a shame we hadn’t had it sooner in our trip so we could’ve had it more than once. Such a treat!

We walked back to the hotel, stopping at El Corte Ingles so Sean could get a scarf. He found 2 that he liked a very cool hat, and I got some nail polish. 

Back at the hotel, we found out that our room was a mini-suite, on the top floor with great views and came with a bottle of cava, iced and ready to go. Wow! I don’t recall booking an upgraded room, but I’m so glad I did because this was such a treat on our last night.

The hotel was so well-located – not only had we been in the Arenal, walking distance to Puerta Del Sol, Museo Del Prado, and Buen Retiro Park, we were even closer to La Plaza Mayor. This large, open square is surrounded by beautiful buildings and filled with people and cafes. A perfect stop for a quick tapa before dinner.

We had decided on paella for our final dinner in Spain, which seemed fitting. Sean found Arroceria Daniela, a paella restaurant just off La Plaza Mayor, online so we decided to give it a try. We had a bold Garnacha to drink and ordered the Paella Valenciana which had vegetables, chicken and rabbit. 

The large pan was brought tableside and the waiter mixed everything together then served us. Muy delicioso!

And since it was our last night, we opted to dessert. A lovely, layered banana pie. Sean loves bananas. Clearly. 😉

We walked back through La Plaza Mayor to our hotel and then finished our cava while watching the bustling Arenal below. Perfection.

Our last day was a travel day. We flew from Madrid to London Gatwick, then took a train and the tube out to Heathrow Airport to catch our afternoon flight back to Atlanta. We were really early for our flight so we had one final “European” meal at Gordon Ramsay’s Plane Food restaurant.

Started with a lovely sparkling rose from England (appropriate, we figured) and burrata with mushrooms and truffle oil. We then had ahi tuna with crispy wontons and creme fraiche before sharing a pasta dish that was forgettable. Ended with the pineapple “carpaccio” with passionfruit and it was a perfect dessert – light and refreshing. 

We got on the plane (and were in economy, not economy plus like on the way over) and settled in for our 9-hour flight home. An epic trip, to be sure. I overplanned and generally think that’s bad, but it worked out and we got to see a TON of wonderful and beautiful things. So it was worth it. And, as always with my trips, it’s good to go and it’s good to come back.