Fresh Starts in Spain: New Years With Great Friends
New Years with close friends, in one destination or another, has been our MO for the last two decades. There is nothing better than starting a year, afresh, with the family we’ve chosen over the years. This year would prove to be no different. We have some close friends who spend a lot of time in Madrid. In the sense that, they spend at a minimum a few weeks a year, if not a few months, living there. And, I mean truly living Madrid. Visting the non-touristy sites; cooking in and eating out like a local; driving to nearby towns and villages on a whim for either dining or sightseeing opportunities; and more often than not, simply wandering Madrid in search of everything and nothing all at once.
These friends invited our family to join them in Madrid to ring in the new year, and we accepted without a second thought. We decided to leave Houston before our friends would arrive in Madrid, and rather than going straight to Spain and pretending our way through Madrid before our friends arrived, we wanted to pick somewhere else to take the kids to pass a few days. It had to be somewhere that Lauren and I loved to visit, as well as somewhere that could be a fun and eye-opening experience for the boys. We settled on Athens, Greece. A perfect city to spend a few days in, on the way to somewhere else.
Literally every time that Michael and I have stayed in Athens, starting in 2007, we’ve stayed at a hole in the wall hotel in a perfect location in Plaka, named Hotel Phaedra. It is clean (enough), with adequate if not uncomfortable beds, spartan everything else, and a private bathroom located across the hall from our room. All for an expectedly reasonable price. While that might not be especially appealing to everyone, and may seem surprisingly appealing to me, what Phaedra does have is an unbelievable view of the Acropolis from a private balcony connected to our room. We wanted to stay there with the boys again this trip, if only to show them that you can have a great overall hotel experience without splendor. Alas, Phaedra was fully booked, so we booked an apartment called the Acropolis Window, about 50 yards away, with more comfortable beds and a slightly more expensive tab. And, most importantly, with an equally stunning balcony view of the Acropolis.
Our flight to Athens via London was fairly uneventful, outside of United losing my husband’s luggage for about a day. After an hour and a half waiting in the lost luggage line, so that the representative could help the 5 people in front of us, we set up the delivery of the lost luggage to our hotel as soon as it arrived in Athens. Then, we took a very easy and convenient Uber-taxi to our apartment, arriving at about 7:30pm. We immediately walked to a nearby Plaka restaurant we’d been to before, Ionos, for a quick dinner of lamb, dolmas (grape leaf wrapped deliciousness), feta with phyllo and honey, and moussaka.
The next morning, we woke up and walked to Panathenaic (Olympic) Stadium. The first time Michael and I went here, it was free to visit, and completely empty. This time, there was an entry fee and an audio guide, but it was an interesting visit that concluded with all of us racing each other around the track. When we stepped off of the winners podium and left the track, we headed to Syntagma Square/Parliament Building to watch the hourly changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Then, we grabbed lunch at another regular visit for us, Krasopoulio Tou Kokkora. And, finally, we climbed Philopappos Hill for a sunset view of the Acropolis.
On our last full day in Athens, we booked an Athens Highlights Mythology Tour, with Alternative Athens tour group. Stefanos was our guide, and it was a great tour for us as adults, and for the kids as well. We first visited the Temple of Olympian Zeus, and then made our way to the Acropolis, with its Temple of Nike, the Erechtheon, and the Parthenon. And, finally to the ancient Agora, with its ruins and the incredible Temple of Hephaestus. The tour was heavy on both mythological and historical stories that kept the kids entertained throughout. After the tour ended, we had gyros for lunch at Hoocut (a relatively modern twist on an old meal). Then we wandered around the Monastiraki neighborhood, which included visiting the cathedral and buying an icon painting at Mavropoulou to add to our icon collection. The day ended with a dinner at Kousoulo, which had delicious keftedes, cheese croquettes, mussels, and chicken souvlaki. But, the highlight of the day was watching the boys happily kicking stones the full 0.9 mile walk home after dinner, giggling with each other the whole way. It was impossible to imagine the same thing happening back home in Houston.
The next day, we had an early afternoon flight to Madrid via Aegean Airlines, which went swimmingly. We arrived early evening, dropped our things at our hotel (the Wellington, in the Salamanca neighborhood) and met our friends for a nice dinner at O Grelo, which offers a wide array of Galician seafood… something all four of us learned we loved on our adventures during Episode 2 of this travel blog. We woke up late the next day, New Years Eve, and grabbed some breakfast pastries and some authentically thick Madrileno hot chocolate at Granier. Afterward, we took the kids to the Museum of Illusions, and then had a delicious lunch standing at the crowded bar of the Meson del Champinon, eating our weight in pimientos, champinones, jamon, and croquettas. This was followed by a walk to the huge playground at the Plaza de Espana, so that the kids could get some energy out, and then a brief visit to the Temple of Debod, only because it was close. We then took the long walk back to our hotel, which included all of us dodging our way though a crowd of runners on a 10k race that was blocking our route. The adults ended our night (and a good part of the next morning) at a fabulous New Years party at Ten Con Ten, which included a great fixed menu and bottomless drinks, followed by dancing until we all forgot how late it was.
New Years Day started in the late morning, with a traditional lunch at El Paraguas, which included favas con almejas, alcachofas, albondigas, and calamar negro. We then all took a relaxing walk around Madrid, with a pause at Chocolat Madrid for churros and hot chocolate, and a tour of the lights at the Parque Del Retiro. We all had a hearty and tasty dinner at Pompillo, and then, after getting back to the hotel, we stayed up watching a Christmas movie with the boys until 2am.
Our second to last full day in Madrid started at a cooking school, where the whole group learned to make a traditional Spanish tortilla, pan con tomate, and a flamed sweet bread. Most of the group enjoys tortillas, so it was a nice surprise to be able to make them, and bring that knowledge back home with us. We spent the afternoon taking the kids to the video game museum, and then walking around our Salamanca neighborhood. And we ended the night with an adult dinner at a series of tapas bars along Calle de la Cava Baja, which included eating conejo, chipirones, and alcachofas at Tempranillo.
On our last day in Spain, our ever-amazing hosts decided to rent a car and drive to Aravelo, Spain, where we ate absolutely incredible suckling pig at Restaurante Asador Las Cubas. We then drove to Avila, a well-preserved walled city about an hour outside of Madrid. We walked the walls, visited the cathedral, and wandered the town until it was time to head home to our last dinner in Spain. The whole group went to a delectable steak house called El Lando, near the Basilica de San Francisco el Grande. The food was fantastic, and the celebrity photo walls were unlike any place I’ve ever seen. Do yourself a favor and go there!
After dinner, we said our good-byes to our good friends, packed up for the long flight home, and set our alarms for an early morning taxi to the airport.