Madrid — Linh S. Nguyễn

I flew a red-eye from Toronto to Madrid through London and was exhausted when I landed Thursday evening. However, as I was about to buy my metro card to subway to my Airbnb, a woman stopped me and offered me hers, since she was leaving the city. It was still valid for the day, which made for a most pleasant start to my trip.

After a smooth subway ride and surprisingly good 2€ hot chocolate, I checked in and spent the night holed up resting. I was up before sunrise the following morning -- not saying much as the sun only rose close to 8:30 -- and off to Cercedilla, just north of Madrid, where I'd booked a horseback riding trip off Airbnb.

Though we did not go as fast as I would've liked, it was still wonderful to be riding outside and enjoying the sun.

We were blessed with an unusually warm day, as our guide kept repeating, and it felt great to see some of the countryside and mountains. Included in the booking were Spanish tapas and sangria for lunch, and I ate until I was bursting. Around mid-afternoon, we caught the train back to central Madrid.

I'd reserved a spot on a free Sandemans tour, as I always do whenever one is available, which started at 4pm in the Plaza Mayor, a beautiful square just 30 seconds from my Airbnb.

Our tour guide started off by telling us the story of the statue of King Philip III in the square, which had been emitting a foul smell for some time. Only when it was blown up in a riot in the 1900s did the mystery become clear: over centuries, birds had flown through the hole in the horse's mouth, gotten stuck, and died inside. When the statue was repaired, the hole was closed up, thus saving the lives of countless future birds.

From that point, we proceeded to the oldest restaurant in the world, Sobrino de Botin, which had been continuously operating since 1725.

Our guide told us how Ernest Hemingway had dined there often and set the final chapters of The Sun Also Rises in this restaurant. He qualified that by saying Hemingway had dined and drank in most places in Madrid, and that in fact, one restaurant nearby had a plaque proudly stating that Hemingway had never been there, which was apparently a tougher claim to make.

We next stopped at a plaza and got a crash course in Spanish history by following the reigns of 6 kings, from Philip I to Charles II, in one of the funniest and most concise history lessons I've ever listened to. It's interesting how much you can remember and take away when it's presented in such an engaging manner, and Sandemans tour guides are always masters at doing this.

After a break at a café with a great view of the cathedral, we headed to the architectural highlights of the city.

First up was the cathedral itself, which our guide described as the worst case of "I'll do it tomorrow" in history. The idea for building it came around 1561, when Madrid became the capital of Spain, and yet, it was only officially completed in 1993, after several generations of architects and changes in style.

The second was the royal palace. Built for Philip V -- who grew up in Versailles and apparently hated the old Madrid castle -- it's safe to say grandeur wasn't missed in this building.