A traveler photo gallery of this historic—yet modern—Spanish city
By Mei-Ching & Vincent Tzeng, 6-time travelers & Vacation Ambassadors, Reading, Massachusetts
Vincent and I travel to experience different cultures, learn history, and enjoy the cuisine of a new region. But we are also very selective about where we go. So why did we choose to travel to Spain and Portugal? We’ve been drawn to beautiful Spanish music since we were teenagers growing up in Taiwan. Then, we read about Spanish history and culture in high school. (We came to the United States after we graduated from college to enter graduate programs. After entering our respective fields, we decided to stay in the U.S.). During the past 20 years, we’ve been to France, Greece, and Italy. We love the Mediterranean climate, food, and culture, so it was only natural that Spain was among the destinations we wanted to see.
During our Spain & Portugal in Depth vacation, we traveled to many wonderful places—each so different with numerous cultural highlights. Our stay in Madrid was one of our favorite parts of the trip, whether we were enjoying delicious churros, touring the city, joining our fellow travelers for a Welcome Lunch, exploring the Museo del Prado in the afternoon, or spending a night seeking tapas in the Plaza Santa Ana area on our own.
We believe that “a picture is worth a thousand words,” so we wanted to share some of our photos of our explorations of Madrid. We hope it provides a small sample of the unique culture the city has to offer:
We decided to travel on Grand Circle’s Spain & Portugal in Depth vacation because we were drawn to the relaxed culture of the Mediterranean region.
During a buffet breakfast at our hotel in Madrid, we enjoyed churros dipped in hot chocolate. Very tasty!
On our city tour of Madrid, our first stop was Plaza Espana, featuring these monuments to Cervantes.
The Temple of Debod is an ancient Egyptian temple rebuilt in one of Madrid’s beautiful parks in the 1970s. The temple was originally located near Aswan, Egypt, but as a sign of gratitude for Spain’s participation in the UNESCO effort to save the temples of Abu Simbel, the Egyptian government donated the temple to Spain in 1968.
The Royal Palace of Madrid is Europe’s third-largest palace. Today, it is only used for formal state receptions and royal weddings. Spain’s king and queen live in a modest residence elsewhere.
Many grand squares like this one dot the modern part of Madrid.
During our evening explorations of Madrid, we walked to the Plaza Santa Ana area for tapas. This was one of the beautiful buildings we saw along the way.
We chose to visit La Casa del Abuelo, a tapas bar suggested by one of our guidebooks. There were no chairs inside of the bar, so customers must eat and drink while standing. The food looked so enticing, we didn’t mind at all!
La Casa del Abuelo serves only sizzling shrimp prepared two ways. We ordered two of each—shrimp sauteed with garlic and grilled shrimp.
Explore the historic sites and bustling squares of Madrid—and many other exciting cities—on our Spain & Portugal in Depth vacation.