Easter long weekend in Madrid

Madrid - what a beautiful city but if I can give you one piece of advice.....don't go on a religious long weekend!

My Mom had come to London to visit so my boyfriend Dan and I decided to take her to Madrid with us.

We got in to Madrid early on Thursday morning and got to the hotel by 9am. Check-in wasn't until 2pm but the hotel was very accomodating so we dropped our bags and went off to explore the city.

We found a beautiful park with an amazing little pond and of course some shops. We eventually made our way down to the city center and I was surprised that Madrid is such a surprisingly clean city with wide roads and not much traffic.

Because it was the Easter long weekend, there were religious celebrations ALL weekend long! It was very interesting to see but a bit difficult at times because there were hundreds of people trying to see the processions etc and a lot of the roads were blocked off which made it a lot easier to get lost.

The shops were closed on Friday, Sunday and Monday so we did all of our shopping on the Saturday afternoon. However, if you ever go to Madrid, don't get fooled into going to the "outlet malls" at Las Rosas. We were told they were only 15 minutes away but they ended up being at least a half hour away and the transit was quite expensive. They are not the kind of outlets we are used to but instead have stores like Carolina Herrera and Versace etc and the "discount" prices were hundreds of euros (yikes). Instead stick to the high street, main shopping areas.

The food and alcohol was great...paella and sangria were flowing freely and don't forget the churros!! I was first introduced to churros when my friend Kippy and I went to Mexico about 10 years ago. But in Spain...you get a huge plate of churros with a full cup of melted chocolate for dipping - talk about decadent!

A great idea is to take the "hop on, hop off" bus. We got a two day pass which was only 14 euros each (very decent) and includes a map, headphones and the ability to get on the bus at any stop during operating hours.

This worked really well for us as we were in Madrid for 4 days, so we took the bus for the first two days which enabled us to see all kinds of things we probably wouldn't have seen had we not taken this bus. There are two routes, a red route and a blue route. We found the red route had a lot more interesting stops on it while the blue didn't have much other than the Real Madrid stadium.

For those of you wanting to check out the Real Madrid stadium...it's 9 euros per person and quite a wait. So unless you're a real fan, stick to checking it out as the bus passes it.

The Prado museum is also quite good but make sure to go on a SUNDAY as it's free! Again because it's free it does make for long lineups but make sure to get there early!

The Royal Palace was quite good and only 5 euros per person. If you are wanting to check out the Palace, make sure to get there really early as the lineups start early. And also make sure to check out the opening and closing times!!

Also, a must see/must do is flamenco dancing! There are quite a few places to go in the city but we went to a cheaper place called "Las Tablas". It was a great show and only half the price of the bigger spots. The price of admission included a drink and there were light appies and desserts served.

All in all Madrid was a good holiday but if I was ever to go again, it would definitely not be on a long weekend as too many shops were closed.