Me and Maite were heading to stay with her family for the 3 kings day so why not spend New Year in Madrid!  We arrived quite late so headed straight away to check in to our hotel.  The next day we took a wander through Parque de El Retiro which is beautiful massive park in the middle of the city.  It’s so nice to have such a large green space in a massive city.

That night we had a wander around and admired all the amazing Christmas lights.  We then tried to get into Puerta del Sol for the rehearsal new Years evening and were in the queue all the way right to the square and then it was closed as it was full!

The next day we went on a guided walking tour.  It was quite interesting to hear why Madrid was such a new city.  Previously Madrid wasn’t a very important city but when Spain became the country it is today, the King at the time made it the capital (rather than it being an important Port city for example) and it has been growing ever since. 

At night we tried again to get into Puerto del Sol, this time for the New Years Eve celebrations but we were in a queue for 2 hours and didn’t even get close before they closed it. 

New Years day was a nice relaxing day.  We wandered back over to the Palace, and Templo de Debod.  We then walked around at night again admiring the Christmas lights in Parque de El Retiro and Puerta del Sol.

Madrid was a really nice, pretty, clean city and the Christmas lights were a great bonus.  It was a shame we couldn’t get to Puerto del sol for New Years but we had a good time exploring the city.