A weekend in Madrid
Since we are going to be in Spain for now and my husband is probably not going to have so much free time on his hands until he retires, I want to make the most of this opportunity and travel around Spain as much as we can (which is not too much as I work on a Chinese calendar, which means almost no holidays, and definitely not the Spanish holidays, and now our son goes to preschool too). But even if it’s just on the weekends, then just on the weekends! There are many places we can reach on a 3 hour car drive.
With this idea in mind, we spent the first weekend of October in Madrid. We chose it because my brother and my sister-in-law just bought a flat there and we wanted to visit, and also to see a couple of my friends that live there and that I had not seen in years. We also went to restaurants that we can’t find in my small town: an Indian, a Korean and an authentic Chinese, and we also bought some things at an Asian supermarket.
We didn’t do much sightseeing, but strolling around Madrid we of course saw many beautiful sights. I wanted to go to the Magritte exhibition in the Thyssen museum but that’s not a great plan with a 3 year old, so we were in parks and playgrounds instead, like the locals.


Looks beautiful! Bright and sunny. Baby A’s red boots are so cute, too.
They’re Spiderman boots!
Of course they are!
Looks like a nice weekend. And I don’t think you can really keep calling him Baby A! He’s growing into quite the little man đŸ¤—
I know, right? Maybe Kid A…
Wow, your work day is with the Chinese time zone? That must be a lot of staying up and late late nights!
Wait, maybe I should change that word! I meant I have the Chinese holidays, ie. very little. I work 7 am to 4 pm my local time and this way I “share” 5 hours with the office in China because they work 10 am to 7 pm China time.
Baby A looks like he’s having a great time. They grow up so fast. I’m glad you’re able to fit in these fun weekend trips.
I see from your sweater that October is a good time to walk around Madrid. I’ve only been there once, and it was in July, which was way too hot for me. After that, we went to Galicia. That was just right.
Love your photos.
Yes, October is perfect! July is probably the worst moment to visit most of Spain, haha, it’s just too hot! I hope Galicia was not too rainy, I’ve only been there once when I was 10 years old.
It didn’t rain at all in Galicia. The weather was perfect. We rented a car and drove from Santiago de Compostela to several less publicized but fascinating places–dolmens, the ruins of a prehistoric site (castros), and beautiful sand dunes.
I recognize a lot of these areas from my trip to Madrid (especially the garden!!). I loved that garden, especially in the fall — the leaves were beautiful. I also love Baby A and the Dachshund!! Such a cute photo.
Plans to travel anywhere else in Spain?
Yes! This weekend (in a few hours!) we are going to a rural area in the north of Andalusia with some friends. I guess I’ll post about it, haha!
Baby A is getting big! Love the snaps, especially of you and the ice cream — and of course, the doggie. xo
Such a nice place to spend the weekend!
Madrid looks beautiful. It’s been too long since I last visited (13 years!). Are you living in Spain permanently now?
No, we are staying here for a year… at least that’s the plan!
Lovely! It must be nice for you to be closer to family and explore new places in Spain :)
So you and hubby have a sabbatical yr. or 2 so far? Spain will become like dream again.. Enjoy the most of it and maybe little son will remember something!
I work from home, he has a sabbatical!
I’m not sure my son will remember much, but at least we have pictures to prove it happened, haha.