I was up early on Friday morning, wanting to make the most of the day ahead and my time in Madrid.

My day started with breakfast – which was served in my hotel’s restaurant, called Maché. It’s quite a dramatic space. All the public areas, apart from the bar which is in a library are colour drenched in a really lovely shade of orangey pink. You’d think that might be overpowering, but it does really work. This was the space just before entering the restaurant…

…while the restaurant itself was really hard to get a good photo of. This was the best I could manage!

Breakfast was a buffet affair with a selection of à la carte items you could order as well.

Doesn’t that tortilla look good! I started with some yogurt and then ordered eggs benedict off the menu. Usually eggs benedict comes as two muffin halves with two eggs in my experience – here it only came as half that, but I wasn’t bothered as I wasn’t that hungry!

After breakfast I headed back to my room, grabbed my stuff and then headed to the hotel’s library to catch up on email and write my blog. I never really saw this space that busy, but I gather it’s sometimes used to serve tea and coffee for events being held at the hotel.

Next I gathered up all my things and checked out of my room. The room I was being moved to for the next two nights wasn’t ready, so I left my bags at reception and headed out onto Madrid’s streets.

I didn’t really have a plan for the day, and wasn’t quite sure what I was doing or where I was heading. After a couple of fairly frantic days visiting sights in València, I was happy to take things at a slower pace today, particularly as I’d been to Madrid before so had done a lot of the tourist attractions already.

Seeing as it was right across the street, I went back to have a look in Mercado de Antón Martín, to see it in action during the day. It’s not a massive market by any means, but again the choice of food for sale was pretty staggering.

There was an enormous butcher counter with a big queue at it, and a deli counter stuffed full of hams and cheese.

I honestly think if I had a market like that on my doorstep I’d be doing lots of little shops during the week instead of a big supermarket shop every weekend.

There were a couple of small restaurants in the market as well, and I saw one that I thought might make a good spot for dinner.

Back on the lanes surrounding the market, locals were queuing for fresh fruit and veg…

and I saw an amazing looking shop which seemed to just sell cutlery, knives, scissors and tweezers.

Look at the selection of tweezers!

Although it did look like maybe the window displays hadn’t been refreshed in a couple of decades!

I headed towards Puerta del Sol again, as a rough plan was forming in my mind for the rest of the day, and I knew I could get practically anywhere easily from there.

I passed a shop which specialised in making and selling gloves…

And a shop whose name I liked to think translated as “joyous tat”.

I had a quick look in the Apple Store which is on one edge of Puerta del Sol before remembering I had to pick something up in Sol’s Metro station.

On my last visit to Madrid, I’d bought a Madrid metro travelcard wallet, which I had used to hold my London Underground Oyster card for years. Annoyingly I’d lost it – and my Oyster card – a couple of years ago when I think it just slipped out my pocket. Now was my perfect chance to replace it!

Madrid Metro has a couple of stores at stations including Sol which sell Metro merchandise. They actually have an online site as well which I’d checked out when I lost my card holder, but unfortunately they don’t ship to the UK. The store is actually within the active travel part of the metro station, meaning you need to go through a ticket barrier to get to it. As I didn’t need to travel, I just explained to a kind lady that I just wanted to buy something from the shop and she let me through the barrier.

The store at Sol isn’t massive but I liked that they did have some really imaginative products, not just the usual pens and notebooks. They even had Metro trainers!

I couldn’t find my travel wallet anywhere but the lady behind the desk helped me find it, and soon I had my new travel wallet in my hand.

A traditional (for me anyway) lunch

It was already about 1pm by this time, so time for a spot of lunch. I was in the mood for something quick and easy so decided to head to McDonald’s.

The branch I visited has a bit of history behind it – actually being the first McDonald’s in Spain. Situated on Gran Vía, Madrid’s main shopping street, it opened its doors on 9th March 1981, just two weeks after an attempted coup in the country. I think being the country’s first store may be why it has this unique item in the window. I thought it was quite cool!

Inside, it’s pretty ornate and fancy.

Service was pretty efficient, and before long I was sitting outside in the sun with my McCrispy Korean BBQ. I hadn’t been tempted by any of the hamburgers so went with a chicken burger instead.

Unfortunately most of it had slid off the bun but I managed to rearrange it!

After eating I flicked through my guide book, and came up with a solid plan for the afternoon. And that was just going to be wandering about – visiting two neighbourhoods I hadn’t visited before and chilling out at the shops. It was just what I was in the mood for!

Exploring Malasaña and Chueca

I started by walking up Calle de Fuencarral from Gran Vía. Almost straight away the shops became a bit smaller and some trendier brand names appeared as well as some I’d never heard of – Blue Banana for example! The sun was shining and it was quite chilled and not too busy.

Looking up I spotted this sign, which apparently marked the site of Sala Houdini, one of Europe’s most prestigious magic venues.

How cool is that! Sala Houdini isn’t on the street any more, but still exists at another location in the city. Maybe one for my next trip to Madrid!

I had a quick look in Muji and Mango Men, then took a left to go deeper into Malasaña. You could really feel how cool the area was – it was packed full of really cool looking boutiques and coffee shops.

Using my phone I navigated to a shop I’d read about which appeared to be right up my street. El Moderno Concept Store sells homeware, lighting, art and stationery.

As soon as I stepped inside I felt I’d be buying something! The shop was packed full of quirky and stylish items, and I thought, the perfect place to buy a little souvenir of my trip to the city.

I flicked through the prints but none really caught my eye (I’m also trying to stop buying so many prints and be a bit fussier as I’ve got loads I’ve still to get framed!)

I spotted this guy hanging on the wall…

And then saw a smaller version on a shelf, which I decided to buy to remind me of the time I opened my dishwasher at home and found a slug on one of my plates (a story for another time!)

I picked up a small ceramic cat for a friend’s son and carried on exploring the area. It just felt really chilled to be strolling around, taking interesting looking streets and seeing what was down them.

I came across a branch of La Postalera which I’d visited in València, and a cool cheap interiors store called Zakka which felt like part of a small chain, but which I hadn’t heard of before.

I also came across this, but Alfie was nowhere to be seen!

The shops started to become fewer and the area more residential as I headed towards a record shop I thought I’d check out.

Annoyingly it was closed, as was another designer homeware shop I wanted to look in – I’d hit that siesta time again!

As I headed towards Chueca I spotted an absolutely bonkers shop window display…

It was a riot of clothing decorated with cartoon characters and the like. Obviously I had to have a look inside! It was absolutely tiny so it was very hard to get photos but I did get this display of what I think were dresses…

and these earrings…

I did wonder how busy they were and how often I would see people dressed in any items purchased in the shop, but I admired the shop owner’s passion and well – the fact they had just really gone for it! I did actually end up making a purchase – a present for someone.

The shop’s called Cisne Negro (Black Swan) and they have an Instagram if you want to check it out!

By now I was just inside the boundary of Chueca, which I’d read was another fashionable part of town. I had a quick look in an art prints gallery before finding a really cool ice cream shop called Brando.

I wasn’t really that hungry after lunch but as it was still sunny outside, I decided to go for a scoop or two – I was on holiday after all! That was until I saw the range of ice cream lollies and bars. How good do these look!

I was really in the mood for something tasting of fruit, but man I just had to eat that smiley face!

And it was delicious, but perhaps actually slightly too much given the lunch I’d had! The chocolate coating was really thick, while the inside was filled with rich dulce de leche ice cream. Don’t worry, I still managed to finish it!

Not far from Brando was a market which I thought I might as well have a nosey in… only to get that vague sense of recollection again as soon as I stepped inside. I flicked through my photo album to discover, yes I had visited Mercado San Antón before!

It’s more of a food hall than a market, with lots of food vendors dishing up everything from paella to pasta. I obviously didn’t need any food, so just had a quick look around before heading back outside.

I walked around a square which had a massive inflatable Audible ad in it – I thought you may get a free trial or something, but after walking around it I couldn’t see any way to get in so gave up.

By now, it was around quarter to five, and I wanted to get back to my hotel for a swim. I decided to jump on the metro instead of walking, but got off a stop early and walked back via the back streets surrounding Mercado Antón Martin, the market just across the road from my hotel. There were a couple of cool small shops, and an ornate small cinema called Cine Doré.

I read it had actually fallen into disuse in the 1960s, before being reborn in the late 1980s. I looked at the programme for the next two days and saw there was a film in English showing on the Saturday night. Annoyingly I got the film showing muddled up with another one I’d already seen, otherwise I would have booked a ticket.

A swim and a great dinner

Back at the hotel, I picked up the keys to my new room – the hotel had already moved my bags for me.

And I couldn’t complain really! It was much more spacious than the room I’d had the previous night – and my original room.

There was a sofa area and a pretty big bath as well. I was very happy with it!

I got changed into my swimwear and a dressing gown and went down for a swim.

The pool wasn’t massive – maybe ten or twelve metres and not very wide, but it was quiet and still good enough for a decent swim!

I swam for just under an hour before showering and having a relaxing sauna. It had definitely woken and refreshed me after a day on my feet!

It was time for dinner, and I wasn’t going to stray too far – in fact I was headed back to the market just across the street. When I’d nipped in earlier in the day I’d spotted this poster which immediately attracted me to a food venue.

I thought that sign was lols – particularly if that was the owner or chef in the picture!

The restaurant’s called Asian Army, and it was pretty heaving! In fact I was lucky to get a seat. I’d had a look at the menu earlier in the day and liked that it featured authentic sounding dishes which I hadn’t tried before. And the fact it was available in English helped too!

While I was speaking to the guy serving, he immediately started speaking to me in English with a very English accent. It turned out he was originally from… I think it was the North of England? Later on we’d have a good chat about how atrocious the weather was back home and also how busy the restaurant seemed to be – I think it’s doing pretty well, and the food is no doubt the reason behind that (and the good service!)

To start I tried Murtabak – crispy spring onion and curried beef pancake, which was served with mixed vegetable pickles and sambal ketchup. It was listed as “to share” on the menu but I knew I’d be able to polish it off after my day of walking and my swim!

For a main, I decided to go with the Nasi Lemak – which is apparently the national dish of Malaysia. I don’t think I’ve ever tried Malaysian food before! It consisted of coconut rice, baby anchovies, peanuts, chicken curry, eggs, and “Killing me softly” sambal chilli sauce.

Both dishes were really, really tasty. And I managed to completely clean the plates! I’d definitely recommend Asian Army as a spot for dinner. After another cheery chat with the waiter, I decided to go for a short stroll.

I didn’t go very far really – just along the road to Plaza de Tirso de Molina, a square I also recognised from my previous visit. I’d had a very good tortilla just around the corner! On my way I passed a beautiful old theatre– which is the concert venue of the Spanish broadcaster RTVE’s symphony orchestra.

I also passed the Spanish film archive building. I popped into a fairly large branch of Carrefour, but didn’t really see anything interesting to take home.

I was curious about what this was as there was a pretty big display of it…

er….

No thanks! I didn’t bother picking any up.

I headed back to my hotel and decided to take advantage of the bath to soak and read my book before having a fairly early night – getting to bed about 10pm. Tomorrow was my last full day in Madrid, and I wanted to make the most of it!