Here's a recap of a trip to Madrid I took last month after grabbing one of the $134 round trip fares on Iberia from DCA-MAD:

There are 6 of us traveling from DC to spend the weekend, but we’re splitting up when we land and meeting up with different people once there. I went a new route this time for accommodations, and rather than go with a hostel or bed and breakfast, my girlfriend and I are renting a room we found through Craigslist. The cost/room/location is all comparable to a typical B&B, but considering we couldn’t find any good mid-range hotels or B&Bs in the city center, decided to give Craigslist a try. The guy we’re renting from is named Fernando and lives in part of the flat. He’s sent me a couple enthusiastic e-mails so far and I’m looking forward to the experience of trying this out. After catching a flight from DCA after work on Wednesday, our schedule will end up something like this:

Thursday

* Land in Madrid at 7:20am
* Find our apartment near the Plaza Mayor
* Walk from Puerta del Sol to the Paseo del Prado
* Siesta in Retiero Park
* Check out the nightlife around Paseo

Friday

* Daytrip to Toledo

Saturday

* Walk through Lavapies Neighborhood
* Royal Palace
* Plaza Santa Ana
* Centro de Arte Reina
* Sofia Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum

Sunday

* El Rasto Flea Market
* Bullfight at Plaza de Toros
* Fly back to DC at 5:40PM, back in time for work Monday

Our actual trip turned out different from the rough itinerary (as it always does):

Overall, the trip went well and had a different feel than other trips to Europe I’ve taken. For one thing, our emphasis was more on cultural immersion than on traditional sightseeing so we ended up spending lots of time socializing (read: staying out all night bar hopping). Our Craigslist adventure also worked out well, and the apartment we subleased was a good value for the money and was less than a block from the Plaza Mayor.

For museums, we visited the Prado, Reina Sophia and Thyssen. Among those, Thyssen was my favorite. In addition to an excellently curated exhibit on the use of shadows in painting, Thyssen also had a large collection of impressionist art and an entire floor of Byzantine icons. The Reina Sophia was like many modern art museums I’ve visited in that I didn’t know ˝ the exhibits were supposed to be “art.” While I don’t love his style, El Greco’s masterpieces at the Prado felt out of their time and were definitely unlike anything else we saw at the other museums.

We ended up not taking any day trips, but did enjoy meeting up with random friends that were studying in the city. A typical day consisted of waking up at noon, meandering through the city for a while, eating at random places, stumbling upon a protest or two, taking an early evening siesta, then hitting the nightlife until 5:30am. Like so many cities in Europe, Madrid was an excellent place to explore on foot. The architecture has a distinct Spanish feel to it and the numerous parks provided a welcome respite from the bustling streets and alleys. One of the more interesting neighborhoods was the ethnically-fused Lavapies, where we visited random boutiques and took some pictures of the awesome street art.

After returning from a trip, I always feel re-energized and ready for the next one (in this case, a weekend trip to Panama from 4/17-4/19). I wonder if this feeling will weaken over time or if I’ll be able to maintain a sense of wanderlust? Now if only I could find a way to combine my personal and professional interests through travel..

Hello joker545! My name is Marcelo and I wanna visit Madrid in February but I don't know where to stay.
A friend told me about an apartment, I think she tolds me the name of the apartment was apartments madrid center Do you know it? Is near the apartment you went?
If you know something about the apartment please tell me, thanks