where was i last weekend? madrid! what a great city. alright, given it’s not my favorite place in europe, but it’s a fantastic weekend trip. here are some highlights:

the park - where this picture was taken, there’s a lake as well as tons of trees and green space. a nice change when all you’re used to seeing is haussmann’s buildings

the prado - wow. just wow. if you’re at all interested in any art (since they have everything from royal portraits to 1900’s masters, and even some contemporary art temporarily) you must make it to the prado. and set aside at least a day and a half to really see all of it, i’m a little sad i missed so much.

bars - i went to one really fantastic one my first night in town, i wish i could remember the name. it’s on top of an indoor marketplace, and is the place that all the “creative types” go to (according to my friends, and all the people i met there). i’ll check the name of this one.

ysl exhibit - right now at the fundación mapfre there’s a ysl retrospective, which is amazing. it covers his entire career from beginning to end very comprehensively (at times too much so). another exhibit to devote at least a few hours to, and a must visit.

i’d say those are my top four, but i also saw the touristy things like the plazo mayor and palace. see them (even though i wasn’t fond of the plaza), but don’t let things like that compose all of your trip - there are many more interesting things to be found in madrid.