I went to Spain!

This week I took my first overseas adventure since settling in London! I booked only a week in advance and learnt a quick lesson to not do that again. Take my advice and book flights well in advance to save some coin! The reason I wasn't very flexible with dates is I wanted to be there for my friend's birthday and also needed to work my dates around her plans for a ski trip.

Madrid's royal palace in the distance.

I stayed with my friend and her family for my entire week stay in Madrid. They lived in an apartment so very close to the centre square of the city which meant it was so easy to walk everywhere!
My friend was an exceptional host, taking me to all her favourite places and helping me get English menus nearly everywhere we ate (which was every day)!

Pizza for brunch. And yes, I ate the whole thing.

I was surprised at how affordable it was to eat out in Madrid. By eating where the locals ate, choosing local restaurants over chains and avoiding the easy tourist options meant I was constantly filled with delicious food with many Euros still left in my wallet.

A gorgeous shopping street in Toledo

Something everyone should definitely do in Spain is make a day trip to the beautiful Toledo. One of my favourite bargain meals was here, just two short streets away from the main (tourist-filled) square we found a three-course lunch for 12 Euros. I chose lasagna, steak and profiteroles to fuel my day of walking. The Monastery of San Juan de los Reyes is certainly worth a trip with your camera.

It was so hard to get all the beauty of the monastery into one photo!

My favourite Madrid-on-a-budget must do is to visit the Circulo de Bellas Artes building. For 3 Euros they'll let you visit their rooftop terrace and admire the city for as far as you can see. If you go on a nice day they have day beds and chairs you can lounge around on, but when I was there it was so windy and cool.

Admiring the view from the top of the Circulo de Bellas Artes

Creeping on people going about their day in Madrid