Madrid, THE CITY THAT NEVER SLEEPS

WHEN I WAS IN MADRID, I STILL WASN'T ABLE TO ANSWER THE QUESTION: HOW IS THIS CITY SO VIBRANT? THE NIGHT IS FULL OF CONSTANT ENERGY, YET THE DAY IS SO BUSTLING.

EXCITING NIGHTS

On my first night in Madrid, an American waitress gave me some advice: “You must learn how to refuse.” What she meant was, despite the superb food here, Madrid’s culture of dancing, drinking and eating all night can easily catch up to you. Only when your body begs for mercy will you begin to panic. This is a place where people often have dinner at 11 pm and don’t know the joys of morning coffee before 8 am! Madrid is outstanding – the city is constantly buzzing with energy. There are few places in the world, especially in Europe, that compare to this city in terms of cultural diversity, preservation of history and vivacious night life.

Like many European cities, the center of Madrid is made up of countless squares and shopping malls. Connected between these majestic blocks are wide and clean boulevards. The city map gradually loses its guiding effect as the whole city is a walking street. Wherever you are, the metro system can instantly relieve your tired feet. Since the metro trains are continually running, you won’t have to wait too long for a train to the suburbs.

When the elite visit Madrid, their first choices are the Westin Palace Hotel or The Ritz – both located in Plaza de las Cortes, overlooking Neptune Fountain. The Westin Palace was originally built by the King of Spain in the early 1900s to accommodate guests attending his daughter’s wedding. Today, this building, built in an imitation of an 18th-century European palace, is considered as Madrid’s top hotel. Catalonia Hotel Gran Via - a reasonable boutique hotel on the busiest shopping street in Madrid is not a bad stay. Its large bedrooms and modern furnitures still blend in traditional Spanish features. It is also easy for thrifty tourists to find an affordable accommodation as there are more hotels in Madrid than in any other European city. Madrid will definitely upset your daily schedule. First off, you have to understand that dinner in Madrid, as in other parts of Spain, is eaten no earlier than 9 pm. If you’re looking for a hot meal at 8 pm, that’s fine, but you will be dining alone in the restaurant. A late dinner means evening cocktails are scheduled around midnight. Bars are often deserted until 12 am. And if you want to some spend time at a nightclub, never go out before 3 am.

DYNAMIC DAYS

When it comes to a sleepless city, the common thought is that the daytime must be quiet and boring. But in Madrid, that is not the case. Daytime means hustle and bustle like any other city in the world. As a tourist in a sleepless city, of course, you may find it difficult to enjoy the cityscape during the day. If you sleep until 8 am, you won’t have the chance to visit any museums. Only a handful of the city’s most famous tourist attractions are still open to guests until 8 or 9 pm. Therefore, the first rule when traveling here is to restrain yourself during nighttime activities if you want to visit the city during the day.

When you visit Madrid, the first stop should be the museums. The city has 73 museums specializing in different kinds of art. Among them, the most prominent is the Prado Museum, which keeps the world’s most treasured artworks. Thyssenbornemisza Museum houses more than 800 paintings, sculptures and tapestries. There is also an exhibition presenting Balenciaga’s work and the impact of his Spanish homeland on it. The Reina Sofía National Art Center collects contemporary works by famous artists such as Pablo Picasso, Joan Miró, Salvador Dalí and Juan Gris.

MORE INFORMATION

Visa: Spain is a Schengen country, so you can apply for a Spanish visa or a Schengen visa to make a trip to Madrid.

Itinerary:

 5-star airline Qatar Airways has daily flights (1 day trip, 1 night trip) from Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh City to Madrid (Spain). However, Qatar Airways do not have direct flights from Vietnam to Madrid, you must transit in Doha for about 2.5 hours.

 Qatar Airways was voted by Skytrax “Best Airline of 2019” (World’s Best Airlines).

 Doha International Airport is the world’s most modern and comfortable airport. This is also a favorite check-in place for tourists who love the golden Lamp Bear worth 7 million USD.

Time: Madrid is a city in Southwestern Europe, near the Mediterranean Sea, so the weather in Madrid is warmer than the rest of Europe. The best time to visit Madrid is from April to May or from September to October. July to August is peak heat wave time, but it is still much more pleasant than Vietnam’s hot and humid weather. Winter in Madrid is very cold, snow covers many streets in the city, making it inconvenient for traveling around.

Transportation: After taking a flight to Madrid Barajas Airport (MAD), located about 12 km north of the city center, you can reach the center via metro, taxi or airport shuttle bus.

 The public transport system of Madrid is quite clean, safe and convenient; metro tickets in Madrid are also fairly priced and can be used for all types of public transport. The price of a single ticket is from 1.50–2 EUR; if purchasing a 10-time card, the price is only 12.20 EUR. However, the attractions in Madrid are quite close to each other, so you can definitely walk. The train is best for further away places, such as the Bernabeu.

 If you stay in Madrid for 3–5 days and travel a lot, you can consider a Tourist Pass for unlimited public transp ort use. There are several varities of the Tourist Pass priced as follows: 1-day 8.40 EUR; 2-day 14.20 EUR; 3-day 18.40 EUR; 5-day 26.80 EUR; 7-day 35.40 EUR.

 You can also experience Madrid Vision buses, a type of hop-on/hop-off bus. These buses have 2 main routes: Historic Madrid (running around the city center) and Modern Madrid (going through the north and central areas near the big hotels, office buildings and shopping malls).

Aplace that is also worth visiting is Plaza Mayor, right in the middle of the city. This place has been used for many purposes, from executions to royal weddings. Today, its courtyard is turned into coffee shops for tourists. A few minutes’ walk from the Plaza is the Royal Palace, with more than 2,000 rooms built by the King of Spain beginning in the 18th century. The Spanish government allows guests to visit 50 rooms with unique decorative architectural styles and original artifacts.

After a hard day of exploring, a few moments of wandering around the city will help you fall in love with this place. In Madrid, there are the most delicious and precious dishes in all of Europe. However, you must adjust your stomach accordingly to the Spanish meal-time, which is unique compared to most countries around the world. To start the day (breakfast must not be a familiar concept here), maybe just a cake and a cup of coffee. Lunch is from 1 pm and 4 pm and restaurants are the most packed at 3 pm. Lunch is a whole-day meal to sustain one’s energy until night, even until 9 am the next day because dinner is likely to be missed.

I’m not exaggerating when I say I had difficulty finding a table in a restaurant at 11 pm, especially on weekends. On Thursdays, Friday and Saturday, we would sit at a table filled with people at 11 pm and wait. However, it is worth every minute as Spanish cuisine is amazing. The dishes are spicy and well prepared. The most delicious must be the garlic shrimp on Puerta del Sol Street with red wine, fried potatoes with red pepper sauce and grilled mushrooms served with bacon, fresh parsley and garlic. In addition, the most typical dish in Spain, which is tapas, often including ham, fish, shrimp and cheese, is also quite interesting.

THE MOST DELICIOUS MUST BE THE GARLIC SHRIMP ON PUERTA DEL SOL STREET WITH RED WINE, FRIED POTATOES WITH RED PEPPER SAUCE AND GRILLED MUSHROOMS SERVED WITH BACON, FRESH PARSLEY AND GARLIC.

If you want to change your appetite, visit the restaurant Sobrino de Botín, near Plaza Mayor, the world’s oldest restaurant according to Guinness, specializing in roast suckling pig and Segovian sheep. If you love Mediterranean and Asian food, head to Bazzar. It is guaranteed that you can enjoy food in this city all year long without getting bored.

People are one of the factors that make this city so interesting.

Madrilenians are genuinely friendly even though their English isn’t as great as other Europeans, but they still try their best to talk to you and welcome you to their city. As they are very proud of their native language, Madrilenians are always shy or even apologetic if they cannot speak English to you. However, you should be prepared to meet many people from around the world here, because Madrid’s reputation attracts many international visitors.

On weekends in the summer, there aren’t many people drinking at the bars as they all hang out in the streets. In the crowded markets, people sat with wine glasses in their hands until 5 am. Chueca Street was filled with hundreds of people, causing traffic jams. Once you’ve been to Madrid, I am sure that you will long to come back here, even if you haven’t left this wonderful land just yet.

ONCE YOU'VE BEEN TO MADRID, I AM SURE THAT YOU WILL LONG TO COME BACK HERE, EVEN IF YOU HAVEN'T LEFT THIS WONDERFUL LAND JUST YET.