Spain and Portugal Explorer – Stunning Spain – Madrid Part 1

Welcome to my story style travel blog, featuring my adventure through Spain and Portugal in the summer of 2025. You’ll find this intro at the beginning of all of my blogs!

You can read the blog in order, or about whichever destination intrigues you!  Within my stories, I’ll offer some recommendations and some tips and tricks for a smooth journey. When I travel, I mostly do group tours and the reasons are:

* As a solo woman traveler, it is much safer especially if traveling long distances or to countries that can be dangerous in some areas

*The itineraries are amazing and usually include all of the things you’d want to see and do…and if not, there is free time to do as you wish

*You don’t have to worry about booking transport, finding hotels, etc. Sometimes that can contribute to the adventure, but it’s also nice to sit back and relax and let your Tour CEO be in charge 

* And finally…the new people you meet on your tour become your family, and I’ve made lifelong friends in these journeys. For myself, this has equal importance with exploring new countries.

This time I used Expat Explore; the tour is called Spain and Portugal Explorer. It’s actually split into 2 parts….you could do either part, or do the whole thing so of course I did the whole thing! I’ll explain more about that along the way! This is my second time traveling with Expat, and their European itineraries are really awesome and not super expensive. Also, transport is by coach bus which is nice because the buses offer air conditioning, comfy seats, WiFi and charging ports.

It’s a Friday morning, and I board my flight which connects in Montreal. We are a bit delayed leaving, but no prob, we make up the time in the air. But this is a completely futile effort because when we get to Montreal, the plane is stuck on the tarmac waiting for a gate. This is reducing my time to get to my connecting flight to Madrid, and I’m getting stressed. There are a few other passengers on this plane that are also going to Madrid, so the plane can’t leave without all of us, right? When I finally get off the plane, I make a mad dash through the airport to the gate, and find that the flight to Madrid is also delayed. Seriously. I’ve heard that the reason for all of this could be because of a shortage of air traffic controllers. Or Montreal airport is just a shit show. Neither excuse works for me.

I’m flying Air Canada again; I have enjoyed my last few flights with them. They also had the best flight times and prices, so no complaints there. The flight is a comfortable 7 hours with minimal turbulence so I’m happy. When I arrive in Madrid, I turn on my phone to see a text message from Air Canada, telling me that my suitcase did not make it on the flight, and it will be arriving on the next flight tomorrow. I’m guessing that delay fucked up the bag transfer. In all of my years of travel, this has never happened to me before! I’m trusting that since the airline knows where my bag is(I also have an airtag), I will have it tomorrow. I’m a smart traveler and master packer, so I have most everything I need to get by for the next 24 hours. And if my bag doesn’t make it before the tour starts, most importantly, I have enough outfits to last me a week. Haha.

Even though I wish I had my suitcase right now, it’s also kind of nice to not have to lug that big ass thing on the bus from the aiport! It’s super easy to catch the bus from this terminal, and it takes me to one of the central stations, Atocha. According to my GPS, I can get on a connecting bus to get to my hostel or I can walk….Hmmmmm. The lineup for the bus is long, and it’s reallllyyyy hot….like close to 40 degrees. I figure it will be faster and less hectic to walk. Despite the heat, it’s a lovely morning here in Madrid and it’s nice to walk to get my bearings on the layout of the city.

Madrid, Spain’s capital, is a city that thrives on contrasts—historic and modern, royal and bohemian, traditional yet effortlessly cool. The city’s plazas are full of life, from the iconic Puerta del Sol to the grand Plaza Mayor, where café terraces spill into cobblestone squares. Food lovers can taste their way through Madrid with tapas crawls, churros at San Ginés, and gourmet bites at Mercado de San Miguel. For a breath of fresh air, Retiro Park offers leafy paths, fountains, and a peaceful lake, while the Royal Palace and Almudena Cathedral showcase the city’s grandeur. As night falls, Madrid truly shines—with rooftop bars, and a nightlife scene famous for lasting until dawn. But I’ll get into more detail as we go further!!!

My Expat tour doesn’t start until tomorrow, so I need an extra night accommodation. The tour hotel is way too far away from the central part of Madrid, and all of the hotels I looked at were either way too pricey or required a 2 night minimum stay. Never heard of this before!! I chose the Only for Women Hostel, a short walk from the Puerta Del Sol. I don’t love hostels, but it’s fine for 1 night.

So this hostel is a weird little thing….it’s located in this older building that seems like it would contain business offices.

To get in to the hostel, there is a code to punch on the door. And inside…it’s a small common room, with one hallway that leads to 2 rooms and 2 bathrooms. That’s it.

I grab my assigned keys from the wall, find my bed, and have a nap(they are nice enough to allow me to check in early).

I wake up and then I have an hour to get to one of Madrid’s oldest and most authentic shoe stores. No problem, it’s only a short walk from the hostel.

https://casahernanz.es/

Casa Hernanz was founded in 1845, renowned for their handmade espadrilles. When I arrive there is a lineup and I wait for around a half hour, but I make it in before it closes. Inside, there are shoes on display to look at but you stand at a counter and the attendant will grab your size from the back to try on. I already know what I want, so I show him the pic from my phone and this makes everything so much easier! And since I have small feet, I can pull off a pair of sandals from the kids sizes which makes them so much cheaper!!

I need some lunch so I find a popular sandwich shop called Bar La Campana; there is a lineup to eat inside or I can get a sandwich to go without the wait.

I have the famous calamari sandwich(bocadillo de calamares). It is fresh fried squid rings tucked inside a Spanish baguette. They are typically served plain, and that’s ok because I still find it tasty!

It is HOT so I’m on the hunt for a shady spot to stand and eat. The Plaza Mayor is just a few steps away, so I hang out here for a bit.

Built in the 17^th century, it was originally a marketplace.

With the Equestrian statue of Philip III standing tall in the centre, the square is surrounded by arcaded walkways that shelter cafes and shops, and 237 balconies overlooking the square.

The Casa de la Panaderia has colorful frescoes on its façade, and it’s hard to take a pic that does it justice because it’s really beautiful .

It is a former bakery, and the frescoes are new as they repainted over the deteriorating artwork in the 1990’s.

And yeah, it’s still deathly hot so I make my way over to Puerta del Sol, another square which happens to be the busiest and most symbolic.

It was originally one of the gates in Madrid’s 15^th century city wall. Over the years it was a hub for commercial and public life and the site for many uprisings and protests(today there is a small demonstration regarding Palestine).

Fun Fact: here you will find Kilometer Zero for Spain’s road network – the geographic center point from which all national road distances are measured!!!

I need to pick up a couple of cosmetics items so I find a beauty shop called Primor…it’s pretty cool and the best place to go if you want to find local brands or high end brands at lower prices. Now I’m ready to head back to the hostel to relax and cool down.

Pro tip: To help stay cool, I picked up one of these from Amazon

Just don’t get it too close to your hair…I had a few accidents where I had to rip out small amounts of my hair because it was wrapped around the plastic blades. Other than that, it’s awesome. Hahaha. But also, Spain is famous for Flamenco fans, so a manual one works great as well!!!

When I get back, I have a chitchat with a young American girl who’s in the bed across from me. Her name is Savanna, and she’s here working as a nanny in a city just outside of Madrid. And then in walks Jade, a girl from the UK and she’s also cool, so we all decide to go out for dinner. I was just going to have a quick dinner and a quiet night, but not anymore!! Haha rubber arm twisted. Jade used to live here, so she knows of a few cool places to go. We walk to an area called La Latina, where there are tons of bars and restaurants.

It’s so hard to choose a place, but we finally settle on La Taberna Del Tuerto . I order my first(and definitely not my last) Tinto de Verano, which translates to summer wine.

It’s red wine mixed with lemon soda on ice. So refreshing and easy to drink. We order tapas, which is a popular style of food here in Spain. They can be described as snacks or appetizers, but really it’s a whole social culture. I choose the Iziadabal cheese plate.

We hit one more tapas bar called Taberna Tempranillo. We have more wine, and a tapas of baby squid on bread.

Oh my it’s amazing, and the girls order a few plates of it to satisfy their obesssion. Jade still wants to party, but it’s getting late and I have a long day ahead tomorrow so we head back to the hostel. This was way more fun than my “quiet evening at the hostel”. Haha

To be continued…….