However, our good luck stopped there. We were due to fly out of Eindhoven (an hour from Maastricht by train) at 9.15am and arrive in Madrid at midday. Everything ran like clockwork getting to the airport (despite having to get up at 4.30am!!!) and then the fog descended ... literally. We couldn't see two feet past the airport windows ... we weren't going anywher :( eventually the airport PA system told us in Dutch (which I actually kind of understood) and then English that we would he put on buses and sent to another airport ... in Germany! So we were herded like cattle outside to wait for about an hour in the freezing temperatures for coaches to take us about an hour and a half in the wrong direction to Dusseldorf airport. By the time we arrived there it was about the time we should have been landing in Madrid. NOT HAPPY JAN!
waiting for the buses at eindhoven airport
The decorative atrium in our hostel
Stepping off the plane it was immediately warmer!! A turn around of probably 20C, we walked into 16C temperatures and it never dropped below 9C while we were there. What a pleasure not to have to wear gloves, a hat or thick scarves ... and only one pair of tights!! Bliss (although of course it was the complete opposite coming home which was so depressing). Although we'd missed 6 hours of tourist time we resolved to make the most of what we had left and headed straight for the nearest tapas bar, where we promptly ordered (in a mix of Kathleen's high-school Spanish and my pointing gestures) mojitos and a plate of the tastiest chorizo I've ever chewed. Next was 6 euro paella (platefuls that could feed an army each) and our first Sangria at a joint recommended by our hostel. It didn't disappoint, and the whole meal was watched over by a giant stuffed bull's head.
With full stomachs, we set off to wander the streets. The Christmas lights there put Aachen and Maastricht to shame. Every street was choccas with fairy lights in all patterns and colours, dangling, chaped into globes and, our favourite, the designer red and green enormous christmas tree in the puerta de la sol square. Also, there were people everywhere - another novelty compared to Maastricht. And shops were open. And it was "warm" enough to just be able to 'wandel' as the Dutch say (loosely translated means wandering with no real purpose except maybe to get food at some stage!) And indeed we did. Early on we stopped at THE COOLEST place I've ever been to have a drink. It was like a butcher/small goods store, bar and restaurant in one. Apparently they're everywhere in Madrid but we were genuinely amazed. Full of locals, including old and young, these places serve really cheap but really good sangria, beer and tapas at a bar smack in the middle of what would otherwise look like a shop. Hanging all around are legs of ham while the glass cabinets showcase cheeses, sausages and cured meats and even desserts! Bizarre... Later we capped off our night with churros and hot chocolate as pseudo birthday cake for Kathleen at midnight, and an extremely strong Spanish gin and fanta (that's a new one... but surprisingly tasty)
the butcher bar
giant christams tree decoration - you could even go inside it and look up, trippy view
The next morning it was up and at 'em (after a delicious croissant for breakfast at the hostel - better than any i had in france) to visit the 100 Years of Vanity Fair photography exhibition - our raison d'etre in Madrid (to begin with anyway). The images were beautiful, quirky, shocking, old, new, colour and black and white. It was a wonderful hour spent just wandering from frame to frame peering at the famous people who have been captured by the influential magazine. It was also interesting to consider the images outside of the context of the stories they would have originally accompanied.
By the time we were done it was about midday so we headed to Plaza Mayor where Madrid's excuse for Christmas Markets were being held. While the city excels at Chrissie lights, their markets were a bit laughable in comparison to Aachen. Although all the kids and sickeningly in-love couples were strutting around in these cute reindeer hats or crazy coloured wigs! After a spot of obligatory tourist shopping it was time for tapas lunch. We scored a bargain - 17 euro lunch for drinks, calamari, ham/potato croquette things and fried potatos with chilly sauce. They were all the things we saw they locals eating and seemed to be really popular. Oddly, the calamari came in a short baguette type roll ... everyone was eating it like that, must be a local treat. But I couldn't bring myself to so I ate the calamari first, then some of the bread.
lunch!
What happened next is truly the most "local" thing I've ever done in a foreign city... we went back to the hostel for a siesta!!! Really. It was about 2.30pm so we popped back to the room for a quick nap before our planned walking tour. Just before we nodded of a Spanish girl came into our hostel room and hopped into bed too!! When in Spain... We awoke refreshed and ready to traipse parts of the city we didn't know existed, learning that the bear and the berry tree and the neptune fountain are symbols of madrid, there were lots of important kings who built stuff in madrids history and the writer's quarter is where all the cool cats lived (and some other more informative facts I've momentarily forgotten!). After walking for an hour and a half we were in need of refreshment so we headed back to our favourite new local, the butcher/bar for a cheeky sangria on the run. This tided us over til we stumbled across a classy indoor food market selling everything from raw produce to artuflly created sweets. Wanting to keep the local theme running we chose creme catalan for a pre-dinner dessert! This gave us the necessary energy to trek to the end of a very long main road to see the Royal Palace all lit up at night.
Unfortunately, after a wonderful and jam-packed 24 hours our travel luck turned sour again :(
We had found a place that was supposed to have a flamenco show on that night and chowed down some less than desirable spanish fast food equivalent in order to make the show in time, only to find out it wasn't on that night afterall!!! Although we tried to make the most of it by following up with an ice cream for dessert (not really possible or desirable in freezing maastricht) and felt at least satisfied that we'd adhered to Spanish time by eating after 9pm.
Up at 4.30am the next day to return home (grudgingly) and of course all travel plans ran like clockwork on the way back to Maastricht! I was even treated to the Ryan Air trumpet - a voice over noise they play when a flight arrives on time. Oh the irony... grrr.
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