This past week, my division in IBM had a large training session held in Madrid for four days. When I changed roles a year and a half ago, I started traveling less (definitely a good thing), but I do occasionally like to get out and see the world – especially when someone else pays for it.
Based on the flights available, I had to fly out on a Saturday to get there in time for an early conference start Monday morning. That did leave most of Sunday to go out and see some of Madrid, which was my first exposure to Spain. The hotel was near the airport which meant that it was going to be quite the haul to get to the city center. Because of this, I opted to go the local route and try out some public transportation.
A bus ride with very poor directions eventually got me to the metro, which was much easier to navigate. In central Madrid, there are several old plazas and I happened to find one that had a free walking tour of the city. Given that it was a nice afternoon, I figured that would be a good way to get a little exercise after sitting on a plane for 10 hours and also be able to see and learn a bit about the city.
As you might imagine, a free tour on a Sunday afternoon draws quite a crowd, but it was certainly manageable. I got a chance to see and hear stories about several of those plazas, the royal palace, and the palatial church. The tour guide was quite the character, but that made it for a fun three hour walk through the city.
After that, I caught up with some friends from work for several beers and tapas. The highlight of the day had to be stopping for “gambas al ajillo” at La Casa Del Abuelo – some of the tastiest garlic shrimp scampi I’ve ever had before.
The rest of the week was pretty busy with work, but I did manage to find a little time to have fun. It was definitely nice to put some new faces to names, and see other folks that I work with regularly but see rarely. I also got a chance to meet my new VP, who, to my pleasant surprise, knew what I was working on and wanted me to “double-down” on the effort. He said, “I know what you’re doing… you’re the demo king.” Certainly worse titles to have these days.
I wish I would have had more time to get out into the city as the food in the hotels was sub-par at best. However, I did manage to make it out into the city center for some more tapas and beer before leaving, but all in all, the time went by very fast. If there’s one thing I was disappointed about, it’s that I didn’t make it back for some more Gambas. I tried the one evening, but we got sidetracked into eating a boatload of “tako” (octopus) which was nowhere near as tasty. I will say though, the “buy booze for reasonable prices, get small amounts of food” is not a bad way to go.
Ever been to Madrid, let me know what was your favorite thing to do, see, or eat @TalkToErik
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