Travel blog: Spain - in 6 days

I fell in love with Spain long before I even set foot on it through Spanish language. I dabble with the language much like I dabble with HTML coding. Picking up things as I go along. I don't know why but I just like it and it's quite easy to learn (minus to confusing grammar of course).

Never in my wildest dream would I think I will be trolling around Madrid, Malaga, Cordoba or Granada but that's the magic. The sense of wonderment when you went around the Spanish capital still in daze and had the feeling of a child on his or her first trip to the zoo. Every sight you saw kept you enthrall along the way.

Madrid

We started our journey the heart of the Spanish city, Madrid. Arriving quite late from Manchester, we just followed the instruction given by our hostel 'Las Musas Residence' for guidance to take the Metro subway train right up to where the hostel is. We were lucky enough as the hostel is situated at just a 100 meter away from Tirso de Molina Metro stop.

Since Spanish people sleep late, arriving at midnight didn't really scare you since everybody was still enjoying dinner outside. So the atmosphere was quite alive.

5 stars to Las Musas Residence for an excellent accommodation. There are two things I look for when I rate a place, good bed and clean bathroom and they got it. The people at reception spoke excellent English. No 'problemo' there.As for food, the hostel offered free breakfast, so one more point to them. You get cornflakes, and breads and all the trimmings with coffee or tea.

There's a Lidl shop across from the Metro station if you want to stock up for cooking (I'm sure you find Tesco somewhere near too). All cooking paraphernalia and condiments is provided by the hostel. (If you are the shoestring budget type of tourist). If not there are plenty of restaurant to choose from to fill in that belly.

Went shopping at Puerta del Sol where the Plaza Mayor is. The souvenir price can be rated as quite cheap compared to other places that we've been. Public transportation network is just fantastic. All you need is money and a grip of the Metro or bus network. If not just walk. All the main attraction can be reach by walking.

There is a free walking tours offered by some company that will take you 3 and 1/2 hours to covers all the main attraction plus a guide to tell you all the great history. (the guide work by tips and all you need is a good pair of walking shoes).

Metro cost you 1 Euro per trip or you can by the 10 trips or tourist ticket option for Metro and bus. 10 trips Metro ticket cost 9.30 Euro per ticket. Ticket to Airport cost 1 Euro more.

Palacio Real

After shopping trip, we made it to Palacio Real to see the grandeur of Spanish Monarchy and boy!...it is grand. (but no the Spanish Monarch doesn't reside there anymore...it's not Buckingham palace) Ticket cost you 7 Euro, 5 Euro is you are a student under 25. On Wednesday after 4 pm, the admission is free to European citizen. An audio guide will cost you 4 Euro and you probably need one since most description is in Spanish.

I like the Royal Armoury part, I never knew that kings and soldiers wore highly crafted armor back then. I though it just plain metal body suit but I'm wrong. Those suits were delicately crafted and decorated. Those blacksmith were amazing.

Halal food in Madrid

I'm not sure about other places but I found one Nemrut Doner Kebab near Opera Metro station which is the station nearest to Palacio Real. It's right at Calle (pronounce caye) de Molina. I'm sure there are plenty more halal restaurant but I didn't go looking for it. Don't try looking for a big Halal sign outside, I don't think they have it. There is only a halal certificate inside the restaurant.

Malaga

We continued our trip the the south of Spain to Malaga 'Le Costa del Sol'. (The Coast of Sun). We went by bus since it's cheaper compared to the fast train. It cost about 23 Euro per person for a single trip that will take about 6 hours. Don't worry the bus will stop for refreshment somewhere in the middle. 'Estacion de Autobus' station is very easy to reach by Metro or the intercity bus.

Speed train will cost around 70-80 Euro but takes only 2 hours. There is also a seasonal train ticket costing about 200 Euro. You can go anywhere you like within Spain by train with the ticket, unlimited ride for 2 month if I'm not mistaken. You can check the information on websites.

There are information on bus and you can book online ticket for bust too, but the site is in Spanish however bus schedule is very frequent and on time, it shouldn't be much problem if you did not book it in advance. Don't know much about train though. Read about it if you plan to use train.

I have to tell that the regional bus service is very good (I'm throwing compliments left and right). Very punctual and comfortable. But be aware that most bus driver speak very little English. They might understand you, but they will reply in Spanish. So you might want to start learning a bit of Spanish before going on a trip to Spain so you can understand it.

Here's what I found out, Spanish people do talk like what you learnt so there's seldom confusion. (I say this because I've learnt Arabic and people on the street don't talk Arabic like in books).

Malaga is a city by the beach, our hostel turned out to be very near to the beach. Melting Pot Malaga is another 5 star hostel from my point of view, the reception was wonderful, free breakfast and wi-fi service not to mention the nice cozy bedroom we had.

Again most attractions is walkable. Although if you want to go the the nice beach part it is a bit out of the city but don't worry intercity buses are very frequent and cost around 1.20 Euro per trip. The were other types of ticket but I didn't learnt about it. We just bump on a bus if we need too and pay 1.20 Euro per person.

There is a tourist bus that will take you to all the tourist attraction with guide costing about 17 Euro per person. Big red bus, you can buy the ticket from shops that display the poster about it. We found one at the intercity bus stop. (but no we didn't go on it).

We had dinner eating 'Tapas' - I was totally lost when my friend talks about Tapas, I thought it was some kind of Spanish dish. Well it's not, tapas basically means appetizer, Spanish eat them during dinner. There is a lot of variety to choose from, seafood, chips, bread..basically anything considered light dinner by the Spanish. No specific dishes.

Since it's by the sea, many restaurant offers seafood variety. Pick you fancy.

---to be continue