Hot Eats, Cool Treats.

So travel experts advise when traveling abroad you should fight all urges to nap, battle through the day and go to bed at a normal hour in the new time zone you are in. What the heck do those experts know anyways, I say when tired take a nap. Five hours later I was energized and ready to go.

Chueca is a hip, trendy neighborhood in Madrid, known for its bars, cute shops, chic restaurants, hopping discotecas and it is also know as the gay district. There is a famous bar there, El Tigre, known for its cheap drinks. With the purchase of any 1.50E beer, hard cider, or wine you receive a little plate of hot food (TAPAS!). It use to be a tradition in Spain to receive a free portion of food, know as tapas along with every glass of beer or wine, but as times have changed, so has this charming tradition and it is only practiced certain regions of Spain., like Granada for example.

El Tigre is located in the heart of Chueca at Calle de las Infantas 30. Because El Tigre is infamous for its free tapas, it is usually packed, standing room only. After realizing my dream of FREE tapas at EL Tigre was unlikely to come true, we wandered down the street in search of something else. That is when we came across El Respiro, five doors down from El Tigre, a hole in the wall bar, with electronic gambling machines, and lots of young people enjoying themselves.

Much to our surprise after ordering a couple of beers we also received various plates of hot delicious food…FREE!!! We had come to the right place. These free gift of tapas really got reved up, so for desert we decided to go for a few copas, or mixed drinks. After talking to several street promoters, hand out flyers advertising their bars, we decided on Underwood, a trendy late night spot, with an old school typewriter in the window as its location is home to the first newspaper in Spain, or so the club promoter told us. When I asked what the paper was called he didn’t know and I was left wondering if this perhaps with just a myth…oh well, sounds cool anyways.

A few copas later I was feeling good and enjoying Madrid. We decided to call it a night early in order to catch the metro (subway) before it closed at 1:30am. In route to the Metro we were temped to enter Liquid, trendy discoteca. Holy cow I have never seen so many men in my life. I guess this is why they call Chueca the gay district!!!

Zona de Fumadores

Once arriving in Spain, you immediately notice the cultural differences between Spain and the United States. For example the “zona de fumadores,” the smoking zone.

Estoy Aqui! Estoy Alli! (I’m here! I’m there!)

So as I am sure as you can imagine I have arrived safe and sound in Madrid, after a long journey. The Toronto International Airport was quite nice and modern, it even had free wi-fi. I unfortunately had a six-hour layover. I couldn’t decide weather to rot in the airport awaiting my next flight or if I should take Toronto by storm and explore the city for a few hours. Both sides had their pros and cons. Rotting in the airport would be playing it safe, no risk involved there, just sitting, waiting, wishing…to be anywhere but in the airport. Leaving would mean taking a risk, doing something different and running the possibility of missing my flight. I decided to go for it!

The nice guard at customs gave me some advise on a bus to take into the city right outside the airport doors. Once I was outside I was lucky enough to meet a nice young Air Canada flight attendant, Jen, who help me figure out the best way to take a bus then a train into the city. I really wanted to check out that lake they have there in Toronto, but Jen said it would be a little risky, since the lake was pretty far from the airport, next time.

It was about a 45 minute trip to the center. I walked around a bit, found MTV Tronto, had some lunch, then aimlessly roamed the city to stretch my legs a bit. Nothing really too exciting to report back about Toronto, looked a lot like Vancouver to me. After a couple hours in the center, I decided to play it safe and head back to the airport.

I embarked on my trip excited, with lots of energy but as the hours past, my bright eyed and bushy tailed attitude faded. As I sat in the airport seriously though about taking my own advise of heading to duty free and purchasing a bottle of Kentucky’s finest Maker’s Mark, but then I remembered there would be unlimited wine provided aboard, how lovely. And before I knew we were leaving North America and headed toward Iberia.

Riding Along Route AC836 Seattle to Madrid

Greetings everyone as I begin my journey from Seattle to Madrid. I’ll have to say traveling is great and I love new and exciting destinations, yet the process of getting to that destination is often times not the most enjoyable experience, especially when flying alone. Since I have got the next 18 hours to mentally prepare myself for my voyage to Spain’s booming metropolis capital, I have been thinking of clever tips to make long international travel more pleasant, enjoyable and successful.

-Try smiling no matter what kind of line your are patiently waiting in, check-in, security, customs, the newsstand; for some reason most people in airports are cranky, you’ll get a kick noting the melancholy looks on fellow passengers faces and your smile might just brighten up their day.

-Avoid escalators, people movers, elevators, anything that is going to cut down on your exercise—your most likely going to be trapped in a small space for multiple hours and it is a smart idea to get as much exercise as possible. This will also wear you out for your flight, make you more relaxed and hopefully aid in an in-flight nap.

-Go window shopping or browse all the shops in your terminal. This will kill time and its fun to see how high they jack up the prices of airport merchandise.

-Feeling run down? If you have a layover head over to the local duty free store for a quick refreshing makeover. Duty-free stores often have nice high-end make –up, sweet smelling perfumes and if you’re lucky the might even have some cheese and crackers! You’ll be looking, smelling and feeling good!

-Thirsty? Staying hydrated while traveling is very important. I would recommend bringing an empty water bottle and filling it up after going through security. Or if you want a cold and refreshing treat head to Starbucks (they’re everywhere!) and just ask for a large ice water, it’s free-99.

-Comfort is key, so wear something comfy yet cute. Normally I would just opt for sweats and something grubby but I feel like people are nicer to you if you look nice and you got to look good to feel good.

-If all else fails and after following the advise above you are still feeling cranky and anxious after many hours of travel head to the local duty free and buy a bottle of your favorite adult beverage. Economic, smart and relaxing!

Happy Travels

See ya later Seattle, Hello Madrid

Hey everyone,

As I am sure most of you know I am headed to Madrid for the year, working for the Spanish government as an English teacher! While I will be working as a teacher by day, I will be working as a journalist and blogger by night, discovering all the wonderful things that Madrid has to offer. So please follow my blog if you want to learn more about traveling and discovering Spain's booming metropolis capital. 

The purpose of this blog is to provide a "travel guide" so-to-speak for those of us looking for something a little different. I know there are millions of travel guides out there, how the heck do we choose one? Well my travel guide is geared toward the twenty something traveler who is looking to see, experience and explore the world and have a good time. It is also for the savvy traveler who might want to cut costs, or who might want to utilize their cash for other luxuries, like shoes for example. 

I am taking on this task and am ready to tackle Madrid inside out, exploring all the museums, tapas restaurants, nightlife, sporting events, festivals and all the wonderful things that make Madrid such a popular and well known tourist spot.

So please follow my blog and explore Madrid with me. 

Besos XXOO

Lisa Marie