At Home in Madrid

It was the high prices on hotels that prompted us to find an apartment to rent in this city of 3 million people, the capital of Spain.

(Of course - unbeknownst to us – our timing put us in the midst of the Festival Week of their Patron Saint so the town was at a tourist peak.)

We found our place as result of Joel’s research; renting from a company, Spain Select , that we hoped was as good as travelers’ reviews portrayed it to be and hoped that the place would be as nice as the internet photos made it appear.
Using our cell phone we called as the train reached Madrid and were met within minutes of our arrival at the building by the company representative.

We are on the corner of the top floor of this building – we have six balcony windows from which we can watch the world go by. It is great for watching the neighborhood come to life.


There is no lift in the building, as they say here, so we climb 65 well-worn but highly polished wood stairs to reach ‘our place’.
And it is a spacious place as evidenced by the living and dining room.  Now the kitchen is a narrow little affair that a wall backs up to the spacious bathroom.  We have two bedrooms (the second has a single twin bed) at the opposite end of the apartment.
All in all we are quite satisfied – we’ve lucked out and are in a great neighborhood, only a couple blocks from ultra luxe places, The Ritz and The Palace Hotels.

(Met a fellow last night staying at The Ritz and he said his cup of coffee there was $15 and the refill another $15.  Our pot of homemade Starbucks each morning is a wonderful thing. . .even if a half pound did cost about $9US)