SUNSET AT AN EGYPTIAN TEMPLE IN MADRID | The Roving Vlogger Day 6 (2017-10-05)
We settled in for our brief stay in Madrid with the usuals - laundry, groceries, and an ancient Egyptian temple.
Our Airbnb is up 8 flights of stairs (or a teensy tiny elevator). It’s a cute two-bedroom, one-bath apartment on a narrow, quiet steet in the center of the city. Our host, Álvaro, had to pick up his kids from school when we arrived so his very sweet neighbor Vivi let us in. We settled in, immediately tossing our travel clothes into the washer.
This is likely the most expensive place we’ll stay. Inclusive of Airbnb fees it comes out to $115 a night, or $28.75 a person. Oftentimes Nash and I will just stay in a room in someone else's home, but with my parents along that's not possible. At least splitting the price brings it down.
Our host left us some breakfast for the morning, but we needed dinner so we headed outside.
First, we stopped at a nearby Movistar to purchase prepaid SIM cards for Nash’s and my mom’s phones. It was 20€ for a 2GB + unlimited text month-long plan.
Then, we went to a supermarket around the corner. Our favorite part was how you scooped the bread out the side with little paddles. We purchased at least 4 varieties of bread, along with some pizzas and quinoa and cheese. Altogether, a couple day’s worth of food came out to 10.65€.
While there, a man kicked my mom’s shopping basket and it went flying into the air - I guess she had accidentally stepped between him and his wife. My mom got pretty upset, though we tried to tell her it was nothing personal.
The boys stayed in to rest, but I needed to power through the rest of the day so my mom and I went on a walk. The streets were thronged with people, lots of tourists along with locals walking their dogs.
We walked through some of Madrid’s signature plazas, through the manicured grounds by the palace, and up to the Temple de Debod to eat a light picnic dinner and watch the sunset.
This ancient Egyptian temple, originally constructed in the early 2nd century BC, was nearly destroyed by the construction of a dam in 1960. The Egyptian state was able to relocate many monuments in the area with Spain’s help, and as a gesture of thanks they donated this temple in 1968. They up and moved the whole thing to Madrid in 1972.
We watched bats fly around the temple's shimmering reflection in the pool as the sky darkened. The structure looked super cool from every angle!
It was a magical hour before the walk back, where I had a very relaxed yoga session in the living room and fell asleep like the dead.
My Expenditures
Lodging: $28.75
Food: $6.25
Transportation: $0 (see previous post for prices to get here)
Entertainment: $0
Today's cost: $35.00
Note: I will only be including my own share of expenditures in the daily price, though I will try to mention prices of other activities in my summary. I'm learning that my parents typically spend more on alcohol, food, and entrance fees but I want to focus on my own budget, which is more mid-range.
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Wow, that's cool. Thanks.
Looks fun, good pictures.