The emoji has taken over the world…We all love them, and we all have favourites. One I use the most, and what I see the most is the crying with laughter emoji, and I do like the little bit flirty kiss and wink emoji too, as well as the hearts for eyes emoji. When I was in Madrid I saw these in the shop window of Ale Hop, so I had to get myself two of my favourite smiley faces. I could not see the wink kiss one, but I got these two which I think are really funny and just a bit of a laugh.
They were only €7 each, and definitely the most random thing I have ever bought when I’ve been abroad! They are really soft and plush, and feel like good quality. A real bargain for something just for a laugh. I’ve never seen them in the UK, but I’ve never actually looked for them. Since I got back I’ve had a search and there’s a couple of places which have them, all more expensive and look bad quality, so I am happy I got the ones I did 🙂
So last night we went out and went down the Quayside. We watched some of the football, about 60 minutes of the Portual vs Austria game, which was not the greatest game of Euro 2016, and it finished 0-0. I did not see Ronaldo miss his penalty, but I heard about it 😀
It was sunny and a nice night, it’s always good to go down the Quay in the Summer. We went to places like Popolo, Redhouse, Akenside and then headed up and went to Canteen And Cocktails, which is a really cool place. Popolo was really chilled out, and it’s always been a place I’ve liked, and was quite quiet. I was really tired and went home early!
Have you been watching the latest new show on Sky Atlantic, Billions? I have, and I love it!
It stars Damian Lewis who plays Bobby “Axe” Axelrod who is a billionaire and runs his own firm, Axe Capital. The show is heavily based around money and the financial markets, but you don’t have to really be into Wall Street to enjoy this show.
So far it’s been about Axe who runs his business, but making all those billions is never clean and easy, and the U.S. Attorney for New York, Chuck Rhodes, is gunning for him and wants to take him down.
The plot thickens, because the psychiatrist at Axe Capital, Wendy Rose, just happens to be the wife of Chuck Rhodes. Axe’s wife is Lara, who’s brother was a New York City firefighter who was killed in 9/11, which is significant in some of the plot.
I won’t spoil any more of the plot and what happens, but it’s really good and I am hooked!
As you know, I recently visited Madrid, and stayed in the brilliant Dear Hotel. If you’ve read my other reviews, including The Square in Copenhagen, you’ll know that I really like modern hotels, and ones with a boutique feel. I had a look at the Dear Hotel and it looked like it would fit the bill, so I chose it for my stay in Madrid.
With Father’s Day only a few short days away, you’re probably looking for the perfect gift for the big day on Sunday. If you’re anything like me, then you’ll have bought all the usual things before, and you’ll be wanting to come up with something you know he’ll like, but something original too. Shock Top have come up with the perfect combination, something all dads love, with something all dads need. This Father’s Day get your dad some beer and socks, in this unique gift set, featuring novelty socks along with Shock Top Belgian Beer.
Styling The Socks
First of all let’s talk about the socks. They’re charcoal grey with printed images of orange slices and accented with a blue heel, toe and top. Since the base colour is charcoal, it’s a staple colour, so even with the novelty orange slices, these socks will go with most clothing which your dad will own. This means that there’s plenty of options when it comes to pairing the socks to fit in with an outfit.
It’s the summer, and we’ve been having some really great weather of late. The sun is out, it’s warm, so what better way to show off the socks than with a pair of chino shorts. I would style these with a light pair of chino shorts, and nautical tee which is perfect and on trend for this Summer. If shorts are not something you like to wear and you prefer jeans, then these will obviously work with a pair of jeans too. They’ll create a more relaxed feel to your casual outfit, and will work well with any wash.
Finally you can dress up the socks at work with your usual clothing if you work in a casual and friendly office. It will create a talking point as soon as someone spots the orange slices, which will brighten up your look. If you usually dress a little bit on the conservative side, the socks may change some people’s opinion on you, and you can show them that you have a fun personality.
The Beer
The beer comes in the form of 4 bottles which are 340ml in size and is a perfect accompaniment for the socks. It’s Shock Top Belgian White, wheat ale with real orange that gives a zesty taste, perfect for the Summer. It’s an award winning beer and comes in at 5.2% vol. which packs a punch without being too strong.
With Shock Top you’re getting something traditional, fun, tasty and practical all in one go. It’s something he’ll probably need, with something he’ll more than likely want. You can get this limited edition gift pack for the first time in the UK exclusively at Ocado for £15.99 here.
So day 3 in Madrid began at the Palacio Real de Madrid, aka The Royal Palace. It actually began at the Plaza de Oriente, which are gardens right outside the palace. I had done so much and seen almost everything in Madrid by my final day, the last things on my list were to see the Palace and Cathedral, both 10 minutes from my hotel, and then I had the rest of the day free, but decided to do the two tourist bus tours to see as much of Madrid as I could where I could not walk to.
The Royal Palace is so cool. In my first couple of days I did not see many tourists, but when I got to the area with the Palace and Cathedral there were loads, they must hide out here. The cathedral is really big and also worth going to see.
For lunch I had spotted this nice little place which was a chip shop, selling cones of chips. Since I love chips I had to get myself a little cone, which was more than enough for a little snack to keep me going before doing the bus tours.
The Madrid bus tours are worth doing too, the hop on-hop off buses run regularly through the city, and there’s two routes; Classic Madrid and Modern Madrid, and I did both. The modern Madrid tour was mostly things I had already seen, but still worth doing as you get a seat and a view from the top of a bus. Tickets cost €21 for 1 day, and you can use them on both routes for the entire day, I think it’s definitely worth the money.
I finished off the day with a stroll around Puerto Del Sol, and then chilled out at Plaza De España with an ice cream.
On the 2nd Day in Madrid I did so much! I went to Museo de la Selection de futbol, done the Santiago Bernabeu tour and finally to finish off the day I went to Plaza De Colon to check it out, and the Hard Rock Café happens to be in the area too. I had to get myself a Hard Rock T Shirt, I have a bit of a collection going on, so I needed to keep it up.
Here’s a couple of photos from day 2 of looking around Madrid. Check them out below…
As you’ve seen on my 2nd day in Madrid I went to the Spanish Football Museum, but I had plenty of time to do other things, so I decided to check out the home of Real Madrid, the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu.
I never really planned on going, it was always going to be an extra if I had time since I didn’t know how long I’d be doing other things, but I went, and I’m glad I did.
It’s just a short Metro ride from the centre of Madrid, then once you’re off the Metro you’re more or less there. There was a short queue, and when I got to the ticket office the girl told me “The full tour is not available”. This was not a great start.
After going up to see panoramic views of the stadium, I thought that was the end, most of the stadium was sectioned off, and I thought that’s all I was going to see. But when I went down a few levels there was another opening, and then I got closer to the pitch, to the museum and a good look around the whole place.
I think that the only things which were missing were going pitch side and going into the presidential box, but I got to see the press conference room and the museum which is highly impressive and stocked with trophies, as you’d expect.
There was a chance to get a photo with the Champions League trophy, as well as a fun photo with a player which I got a print out of, and then you’re into the club shop to end the tour…They know how to sell in Real Madrid, someone has to pay for those World class players! 😉
If you’re in Madrid it’s well worth going, I am really glad I went.
One of the things I most wanted to go to while in Madrid was the Museo de la Selección Española de Fútbol, or Spanish Football Museum if you prefer the English. This is a museum for the Spanish national football team who I’ve supported since I was a kid, so it was a big deal for me to go to see. It’s also the training camp for Spain and basically the headquarters for all things to do with the Spanish National Team. The biggest problem was that it’s not in central Madrid, it’s not even close. It’s in Las Rozas, which is not easy to get to without a car. The Metro does not go there, it’s pretty out the way, and according to Google and Apple Maps, it takes an hour to walk from the closest train station to it (It’s basically surrounded by motorways). The only option was a taxi, which was expensive at €35 (one way!) but it was a once in a lifetime opportunity for me.
I asked at my hotel reception if they knew where it was, they had not heard of it. I showed them on Google maps, they still had no idea. I asked them if a taxi driver would know, they said “definitely!”. I got in a taxi and he did not know, the sat nav could not find it, only the street it was on. I eventually got there, and asked the taxi driver (in Spanish as he spoke no English) “Is this the first time you’ve been here” and he replied, yes! haha!!
I got there and was at the training pitch, had a look around, and asked where the museum was, and finally got there and got in. It only costs €6 which is worth it, even when you add in the taxi fares I had to pay. Since basically nobody knows about this place, I had the entire museum to myself. Only in the last 5 minutes a Spanish guy and girl were there, apart from that I had the total run of the place which was so cool!
The Museum has everything…From the history of the Spanish team to the modern day, the futsal which Spain have always been good at, and the Olympic team too. There’s so much for any la Roja fan, and of course the more modern things, such as the winning of Euro 2008, World Cup 2010 and Euro 2012, and of course, the trophies and medals are on display.
I also seen on social media that the players were there training the day after I was there 🙁 I can’t believe I missed that, but still such an amazing experience which most people don’t get 🙂
I have so many photos I can’t upload them all, but check out some of the best ones below…
I am back from Madrid! I have wanted to go to Madrid for a long time, but have always been put off because you can’t fly direct from Newcastle. I decided to finally bite the bullet and go, and flew from Edinburgh, and of course had to make sure that I could make the flight and all my travel matched up.
I left at around 6AM for my long journey, got the train up to Edinburgh and then my flight to Madrid, everything went smoothly which is always good. I got into Madrid Airport at around 4PM, and made my way to my hotel which I got to at about 5PM.
I don’t want to write too much about my hotel because I’m going to write a post about it, but it was amazing! One of the best hotels I have stayed in, right on Gran Via, in a large room with King size bed, and views of Plaza De España! If you follow me on Twitter/Instagram you’ll have already seen it 😉
By the time I got unpacked and settled in I went out sightseeing around the centre of Madrid. It was after 6PM but since it’s the summer Madrid doesn’t actually get dark till nearly 10PM, so plenty of time to see a lot of things.
If you don’t know or have never been to Madrid, Gran Via is basically the main shopping street in the centre of Madrid, think of Oxford Street in London. There’s lots of high street shops, but also a huge number of restaurants, eateries, bars, theatre and everything you need.
To the South of that is Puerto Del Sol, which is a big square, which is connected to Gran Via by lots of streets with yet more shopping experiences.
I went into Primark, check out the photo below and you’ll see why! This is the 2nd biggest in the World, but it definitely looks the most impressive by far!
So to get acclimatised with my surroundings, I went all the way up Gran Via when it turns into Calle de Alcalá and to Cibeles, which is the big palace and has a fountain on the roundabout.
From there I walked down to the Prado Museum which had a massive queue, but it’s not my cup of tea anyway so I wasn’t planning on going in. On the way back I went around Plaza Puerto Del Sol and checked out the square and surroundings, then headed back to near my hotel to Plaza De España and chilled there for a little bit.
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