Europe 2021: Madrid Part 1

Europe 2021:

Madrid Part 1

The response to COVID-19 has put a real damper on travel over the last couple of years, but Branelle and I were determined to go somewhere this fall. Our original plan was Malaysia-Indonesia-Singapore, but those countries never opened up like they indicated they might. We decided to just go to whatever place had the least number of COVID rules in place so we could actually enjoy ourselves. Spain jumped to the top of the list, and we added Portugal, Andorra, and even Gibraltar in for good measure because once you're on the ground in Europe you can go pretty much anywhere you want. Spain required no testing - no anything really - to fly in, and while a lot of the citizens did wear masks, they weren't required outdoors or in most places indoors outside of the major cities.

Air travel in the COVID era sucks, it just does. It wasn't great before, but it's much worse now. A lot of it depends on location, airline, and even flight crews. The lounges in blue states are almost always closed (not necessarily the case in red states) and every airline has different interpretations of what they are supposed to impose on passengers. The mask requirement has got to go, and it's going to take a national election to make that happen so expect it to stay around until 2022 at least.

We were unfortunate to get a plane with the old version of United's Polaris Class seats. The new versions are much better, but it's out of your control when you book to a degree. We flew from Houston to Newark and then on to Madrid, so the overnight flight was only like eight hours.

We were going to be in Madrid for a few days so we rented an apartment in the Centro District. We got one on a pedestrian only street that was about 100 meters from the Puerta del Sol and right next to the Plaza Mayor, which is the vibrant center of Madrid and where you want to be when visiting as a tourist. It was great and the folks that ran the building were extremely helpful. We arrived in the morning way before we were allowed to check in and the guy got on the subway and headed over to let us in.

We walked down the street for breakfast, which apparently in Spain consists of Churros dipped in cups of chocolate. It was very popular and about the only time we had to wait for a table during our trip.

When heading to Europe from the states, I've found that the best way to beat jet lag is to just push through the first day (don't be too ambitious though) until the evening and then crash. I always wake up fine and synced the next morning. We decided to walk down to the Royal Palace after we got settled.

My mother has told Branelle a story of me visiting the Royal Palace as a boy and driving my little Hot Wheels car over the ropes like a racetrack during the entire tour. I humored Nel by pretending to do the same...sans car unfortunately. 

Nel, as always, amused by people asking me to take pictures of them. I must just look approachable. 

Masks were required in most government buildings in Spain. It was annoying, but not unexpected. 

We spent the rest of the afternoon and evening relaxing and eating. Again, don't want to get too ambitious on arrival day. Nel faded fast in the evening as one should. I didn't, surprisingly, but made the best of the free time by getting some work done. 

I also found that on this trip Branelle developed an obsession with ham croquets. I like them, which is good news because she ordered them at just about every meal, but I was getting sick of them by about week two.