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Hola y bienvenidos a Madrid. This week we are in the Spanish capital and we are going
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to show you twenty five of the best things to do in the city.
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We were beyond excited to come and visit Madrid, after all this is a city renowned for its
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arts, cuisine, and nightlife.
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With 10 days to spare, we decided to hit up some of the best sights and attractions and
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film a guide highlighting "25 things to do in Madrid".
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In this video you can expect everything from lively markets and world renowned museums,
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to beautiful gardens and Spanish dishes.
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Now let's find out what the Spanish capital is all about!
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So this morning we are visiting Real Jardín Botánico which are the Royal Botanical Gardens
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here in Madrid. And it is a beautiful space, shaded, lots of different plants from around
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the world. And the place is actually massive so I'm going to show you the map so you can
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get an idea of how many little gardens you can visit. And we've only covered a fraction
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of it so far. Yep.
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Palacio Real de Madrid is one of the largest palaces in all of Europe. Technically, this
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is the official residence of the Spanish Royal Family, however, they choose to live in a
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smaller and more modest palace in the outskirts of town. The Royal Palace is open to visitors
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year round.
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So another thing you can do at the palace here is check out the changing of the guard.
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We were here at eleven o'clock and that is when it started.
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So one thing that we keep noticing about our stay here in Madrid is that they love their
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gardens and their parks. Right now we are visiting a place called Jardines de Sabatini
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and again it is just a garden that is located behind the Royal Palace. And it is a beautiful
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place to visit and there is hardly any tourists here. So I recommend you come check it out.
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So right now we're riding the cable car over Madrid. It is an eleven minute journey. Two
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and a half kilometers. And I think we're going to get some great views of the city.
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La Rosaleda is a massive rose garden located in the west end of the city. Every year during
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the month of May a contest is held to select the most beautiful rose of them all. We missed
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the contest by a couple of months, but we still enjoyed wandering through the grounds.
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Meals were a big highlight during our visit to Madrid, especially gazpacho!
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Okay, so time for the first spoonful of Gazpacho. Oh ho ho baby. Mmmm.
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That is so good. It is tangy because of the tomato. It is served cold so it is really
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refreshing. And this one has a lot more ingredients than salmorejo. So I just put in some chopped
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bell peppers, green and red peppers. It has also got a bit of onions in there. And it
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was drizzled with olive oil on top. So it is a great combination on a hot summer day.
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I'm just going to keep enjoying this over here.
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It is so good.
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The Prado museum holds one of the best collections of Spanish art. They have works by artists
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like Francisco de Goya, Diego Velázquez, and El Greco. Admission to the museum is free
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in the evenings 2 hours before closing, but you'll need few days to cover everything this
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museum has to offer.
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So at the moment we're visiting Parque del Buen Retiro which is one of the biggest parks
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in the city. And we're just taking a little break in the shade because summer in Madrid
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feels like someone has turned on the blow-dryer and they're just blowing it all over your
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body. It is like a wall of hot air hitting you in the face. So, we rest and cool down
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people.
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Parque del Buen Retiro is a massive park in Madrid. It has beautiful boulevards for strolling,
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a large pond where you can rent row boats, and plazas with trees that will make you feel
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like you've stumbled into Alice in Wonderland.
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One attraction you shouldn't miss when visiting Parque del Retiro is the Crystal Palace. It's
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a beautiful building that streams in natural sunlight, and on occasion they host contemporary
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art exhibitions.
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Palacio de Velázquez is also located in the same park. It has red-brick-and-tile architecture,
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and inside you'll fine temporary exhibitions organized through the Reina Sofía museum.
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So if you're in Madrid during the summer months you can check out this book fair which is
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located just behind the Botanical Gardens.
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Cuesta de Moyano is a little hill lined with book stands and you can pick up literature
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ranging from philosophy to fantasy, all for a couple of Euros.
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We couldn't come to the capital and not try Spain's national dish: paella.
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Okay so your mixed Paella has arrived. Tell us about it. Yeah, the paella is finally here.
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So the mixed paella has a whole bunch of different things. Let's take a look down at it. So you
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can see that there is chicken, we've got shrimp, we've got other kinds of seafood, we've got
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peas.
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Let's take the first bite here. This is my favorite Spanish food. The thing I like about
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it so much is that you have all of these different ingredients and it just has such a flavorful
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sauce on top of the rice. It is just so good.
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Well, we certainly polished that off. So now let's talk about the price. Yeah, that was
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nice and filling. So in terms of price it can vary widely. In more expensive, kind of
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like gourmet restaurants that really specialize in it, we've seen it go up to thirty or thirty
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five Euros. We've never actually ate somewhere like that. The place we went to was eleven
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Euros and we thought it was a really good value. We're both really full now. And I've
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also seen it as an appetizer in some smaller types of restaurants. And you can expect to
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maybe pay seven or eight Euros for that.
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So next up we've going to visit the Temple of Debod. Which is an ancient Egyptian Temple
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that is here in Madrid. And now it wasn't stolen by the Spaniards. It was actually given
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as a gift because they were building a dam in Egypt in the same area where the temple
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used to be located. And it was at risk of flooding. So it was given as a gift in order
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to preserve it. And it is actually a really popular place to watch the sunset and there
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is lots of people hanging out here so we're going to show you a bit of that.
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Here we are visiting the home of Real Madrid football club. Easily one of the most famous
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teams in the world, not just in Spain. And we're going to take a little walk around outside.
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And you have a new hat to represent. I just did buy one of these.
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Santiago Bernabéu Stadium is home to the Real Madrid Futbol Club. This is one of the
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most popular football teams in the world with a huge fan base.
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So another thing to do in Madrid is actually go out and experience the nightlife. So tonight
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we're out having a nice little drink. I've got Tinto de Verano. Sam's got Sangria and
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I do have to warn you the nightlife in Madrid does get started pretty late. We're out right
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now at like nine thirty and that is super early. Normally people get together past midnight
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and things keeps going until like four or five in the morning. So, you've been warned.
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So what have been your first impressions of Madrid's night life? Pulsating, in a word.
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Hahaha.
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Recently, we were out with friends and we didn't get back home until about four thirty
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or five in the morning. Definitely a night to remember.
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The San Miguel Market is the place to come if you want to sample a wide array of Spanish
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dishes all under one roof. You'll find everything ranging from seafood to meats and sausages,
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as well as glasses of sangria and tinto de verano.
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Plaza Mayor is Madrid's central square and it is lined with little cafes and restaurants.
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It's a nice place to enjoy a cup of coffee and do a bit of people watching, but you will
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pay a lot more than you would elsewhere in the city.
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So it is breakfast time here in Madrid. We've just rolled out of bed at 10 am which is a
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bit unusual. But we're here at a local cafe and we're going to have a traditional Spanish
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breakfast. So we have ordered a hot chocolate with churros and porras. So we're going to
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show you what those are like in just a few minutes.
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And what are you having? I'm actually having the proper churros. Which is a deep-fried
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dough. And what I've found interesting is when I've had this in Canada it is more of
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a dessert but over here in Spain it is a breakfast. And it is a very popular breakfast item. So
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let's dip that right into the chocolate. Show us how it is done.
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Break off a piece here. And that hot chocolate is as thick as it gets. It must have some
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kind of special ingredients that make it especially thick and rich.
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It is like mud. It is like chocolate sludge.
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Wow. Let me just say, I could get very used to having this as my normal breakfast. It
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is that good.
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So what I find unique about the Spanish churro is the shape. When we had these in South America
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they were usually like long little strips. And also there is no filling in these. I still
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haven't come across any Spanish churros that have filings. Whereas in South America they
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were stuffed with chocolate, vanilla pudding, dulce de leche. So that is another difference.
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Now let's dip this. Oh la la.
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This is so good.
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It is like a wishbone.
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Puerta del Sol means Gate of the Sun and it is one of the busiest spots in Madrid. It's
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a great spot to do a bit of shopping, catch a street performance, and then grab a quick
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bite.
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La Almudena is a catholic church which sits directly across from the Royal Palace. The
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church is open to visitors free of charge, but a small donation is suggested to upkeep
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the building.
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Right now we're visiting the Oriental Plaza, which is right by the palace. It is a nice
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kind of scenic area to walk. And you can see all kinds of plants from Asia.
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So it is time for another breakfast here in Madrid. Today we are having the madrileño
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which is the local breakfast that everybody likes to eat in the city. And if you look
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down here you'll be able to see this is Tortilla. Which is a potato and egg type of dish. So
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it is kind of like a potato and egg omelette. And it is delicious. It comes with a side
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of bread. And I can't wait to dig in. Oh la la.
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It is so good. So good. This is your favorite breakfast. It really is. I've been eating
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it daily. And on my birthday I had it for breakfast, lunch and dinner. That is how much
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I like it.
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The Queen Sofia museum focuses on 20th-century art. It forms part of the Golden Triangle
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of Art, which also includes the Prado and the Thyssen.
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You can also visit Thyssen-Bornemisza, an art museum in the city that was once the second
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largest private collection in the world.
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Final thoughts on your time in Madrid. Well, I really enjoyed the city. And I really found
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that it is super walk-able. We were here for 10 days and we hardly had to take the metro
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at all. We just took the bus once when we were visiting the stadium but the rest of
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the time we were able to walk wherever we needed to go. And also I think it is a great
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city for art lovers. There are so many galleries and museums to check out. And a lot of them
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are free in the evening. So keep that in mind.
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And now it is your turn. What did you think of Madrid? You know what? I absolutely loved
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Madrid. It is a city that just really clicked with me. We have a lot of friends that are
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living here long term and prior to coming here I had no idea like why would someone
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want to come to Madrid? Now I totally get it. I love the culture, I love the food, I
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love the nightlife. Everything is really cheap. I go to the grocery store and I can get a
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one liter thing of wine for just over a Euro. It is just a really affordable fun city to
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be in. And it is somewhere I hope I have a chance to come back to again soon.
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And that is a wrap of our time in Madrid! We had a splendid time and were truly sad
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to say goodbye to the city, but that just means we'll have to come back again. If you
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have any travel tips for Madrid, feel free to share those in the comments below. And
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once again, for more city guides and travel videos, be sure to subscribe to our channel!