As I get older and my travelling experience has gotten longer and more varied, I have come to a very definite conclusion.
I love luxury travel.
This may come to some of you as quite a shock, particularly as I’ve spent the last 18 months travelling the world with a few measly possessions in my backpack and staying regularly in hostels and B&Bs. This isn’t a lifestyle choice, but more a budget one.
Given the chance, and the bottomless purse, I would quite happily stay in 4 and 5 star properties all over the world and just spoil myself rotten. Sort of like I used to do when I only took one or two holidays a year and had a higher disposable income.
So every now and then on this trip, particularly when I’m growing weary of shared bathrooms or terrible kitchens, I persuade Scott to stay somewhere that is totally out of our budget, just for a few days, so that we can indulge and feel luxurious.
Luckily for us, our Flipkey apartment helped us lap up the luxury in Madrid with ease.
Amazing view from our private balcony? Tick.
Brand-spanking-new kitchen in which I could cook yummy breakfasts? Tick.
A rooftop pool and gym complete with bronzed posing locals? Tick.
Funky furnishings which look stylish and unusual? Tick.
I could go on.
Basically, this place was the bees knees. I couldn’t have been happier. Remember my new obsession with Pinterest-ing my dream house? Pretty much styled on this place.
After surviving the Flight From Hell (as I’m now dubbing it) from Cancun to Madrid, it was an amazing feeling to be able to sink down in a big fluffy bed and just sleep.
Plus, it was damn hot in Madrid, so the air conditioning was a nice touch and something we had gotten used to living without in Mexico. It was so nice, in fact, that we used to spend the hottest part of the day in the apartment, drinking coffee and catching up on emails and then we would head out to sightsee in the late afternoon, drink some sangria and devour some tapas.
And maybe eat a churro. Or six.
One of the highlights for me was finally getting to catch a Dali exhibit at the Reina Sofia Museum. Having missed exhibits of his work in both London and Barcelona over the past few years, I was determined to finally go and see one here. It was surreal, but definitely my kind of art exhibit (I’m not much of an art fan, unless it includes dogs playing poker).
The most surprising discovery, however, was how much I liked Madrid. I’d always wanted to visit, but assumed it would just be a big city with little character. In fact, there was a great buzz in the air around Madrid that I usually only experience in cities like New York and London. A vibrant and fun atmosphere that is hard to recreate. You just know that it’s there.
I’m sure I’ll be back again one day, and when I return, I can only hope my accommodation is as fancy as it was this time around.
Big thanks to Flipkey for hosting our stay in Madrid.