Navidad en Madrid

Christmas in Madrid was an experience unlike any Holiday Experience that I have had.

Hello Friends and Hola Amigos,

I wasn’t sure where to start with my first blog post on my new website, but one thing that kept coming to mind was the Christmas and New Year holiday we spent in Madrid last year.

In June of 2022, we disembarked our cruise ship in Barcelona and decided to visit Madrid instead of spending extra days in Barcelona. As soon as we got off the ship, we headed straight to the train station and took the 2 ½ hour high-speed train to Madrid. Normally, I research destinations pretty well before we get there, but this time, I was so busy researching and planning all the stops on our 10-day Greek Islands cruise that I fell short on creating a Madrid itinerary. Within minutes of leaving Atocha Station, our jaws dropped in complete astonishment at how beautiful the city was. After a few days of walking the city (25-30K steps each day), we knew we weren’t finished with Madrid

When we got home, we started thinking about how soon we could return. The few days in Madrid, our previous trips to Barcelona, and conversations with friends who had moved to Spain had piqued our interest in considering a move to Spain in the next five or so years. Ultimately, we decided to cancel our partial Panama Canal Cruise for Christmas and head back to Spain for the holidays.

We arrived back in Madrid on Friday, December 23rd. We got to the hotel in the early evening because of a long connection time in Heathrow, so we just grabbed a quick dinner and some "Gin Tonics" and headed to bed to start fresh the next day. We didn’t wake up and get out of the hotel room until nearly noon on Christmas Eve Day. We had already made plans for Christmas Eve Dinner at the hotel’s rooftop bar and restaurant named Ginkgo. We kinda knew this venue was supposed to be a special place in the city, and even the hotel makes it feel like we need to be a little "cool" or "special" to utilize it.

After an afternoon of walking our old city haunts, we came back to the hotel to get ready for our Holiday Light Tour and Christmas Eve Dinner. The hotel had arranged a TukTuk tour to see the Christmas lights around the city. Let me tell you, the Christmas lights in Madrid are BREATHTAKING. The city invests millions of dollars in the light installations that go on in the central neighborhoods and tourist areas. These light themes are modern, some are set to sound and timed to interact with the music. Everywhere you drive or walk in the central neighborhoods of the city is ablaze in festive, modern lighting to celebrate the holiday season. We walked these streets every night for two weeks, and it never felt old or tired watching the lights.

When we got back to the hotel about 9:00 p.m., it was time to go up to dinner. Because of the limited single seating and the reputation of the restaurant, it was filled with a stylish crowd who were there to celebrate with their family and friends. We had hors d’oeuvres in the bar before dinner and an amazing five-course meal to follow. After that, we had a world-class DJ keeping the guests entertained into the small hours of the night. It was a wonderful experience (and one that would be repeated a week later but in grander fashion for New Years).

I recognize that all travel energizes me and makes me feel more connected to myself. There is an energy that I get in Spain that we simply don’t seem to get in other places. When my partner and I are in Barcelona or Valencia or Madrid, it feels like we become different people, and that feeling is what, I think, is causing us to feel like Spain is becoming another home.

This post is getting long, so I will cover more of Christmas and New Year's in Spain in one of my next posts.