Eating churros con chocolate, throwing money around at high end luxury stores on Gran Vía, and experiencing beautiful artwork in Museo del Prado. These are the things I did not do while in Spain. I did, however, watch people eat churros con chocolate at San Gines, walked along Gran Vía (several times) window-shopping, and walked past Museo del Prado as more than 100 people stood in line to buy their museum tickets.

Umm…ok. Then what did you do?

Actually, a lot. But here are my top three:

• Pastry Hunting: Food. Enough said.
• Visiting Museo Tiflológico: Museum for the blind
• Riding El Teleférico: Scenic cable car ride from Casa de Campo to Paseo del Pintor Rosales and back.

Pastry Hunting

One of my favorite parts of traveling is experiencing different types of food, specifically pastries (and desserts)! I’m not a big fan of sitting down for every meal or snack. Instead, I opt for light, portable food that I can carry around with me while I’m exploring a new city.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Visiting Museo Tiflológico

Museums are never at the top of my list of things to do, but I definitely wanted to go to this one. Museo Tiflológico is a museum for the blind. Every work of art (that has not been encased) can be touched! And each name placard has Braille. There is also artwork from blind artists. My favorite part of the museum was the section with the famous building replicas. The Taj Mahal, Hagia Sophia, Eiffel Tower, and the Colosseum are some of the famous structures included. There are also several replicas of Spanish buildings, such as: La Basílica de Nuestra Señora del Pilar de Zaragoza and San Martín de Frómista.

I spent just under 2 hours here, mostly admiring the intricate details of the building replicas. This museum is free and is less likely to be crowded. To get to this museum, I:

• Took the metro Line 1 and got off at the Estrecho metro stop.
• Walked a few steps (maybe a minute or so) and turned right onto Calle La Coruña
• Walked for about 3 minutes until I saw the ONCE building. There was a cafe across the street on the left
• Went inside the ONCE building and went to the reception desk on the right
• Told the person at the desk that I was there for the museum. If your Spanish is limited, like mine, you can try using the phrase “museo por favor”
• I filled out a short form that asked for my name, date, where I’m from, how I heard about the museum, and a few other things
• Took the stairs (there’s also an elevator) to the third floor and walked through the double doors

There’s also a reception desk on the third floor with several pamphlets. At least one of the museum pamphlets was in English.

Riding El Teleférico

After a good 40 minutes of aimlessly walking around Casa de Campo, I finally make it to El Teleférico, which is a cable car that connects Casa de Campo and Paseo del Pintor Rosales.

I purchased my roundtrip ticket for 590 € at the gift shop.

After your ride, check out the cafe area. There were several places to eat that served smoothies, juices, desserts, etc. There’s indoor and outdoor seating as well as bathrooms.

Have you been to Madrid, Spain? What did you do? What are the top three things you want to do in Madrid?

Thank you for reading!