Travel Diaries: Madrid, The Last Stop

Before coming back home, we spent a couple of days in Madrid. To be honest, we only did this because we knew we were gonna be exhausted after all the things we did in France and Italy, so taking a couple of days to relax in Madrid sounded just perfect.

We arrived in Madrid in the afternoon, took a nap and then went out to have something to eat. We decided to go to Plaza Mayor and drink some sangría with tapas. Luckily enough, it turned out that day was the Día de Galicia, so we had the chance to see some amazing performances of traditional dances. It was truly lovely!

The next day, it was my beautiful sister's birthday, so we decided to celebrate it eating some paella at the delicious Restaurante L'Albufera (near the Hotel Meliá Castilla). We ate –a lot more than we should have–, my sister had a tiny bit of a birthday cake, and we had lots of fun. I'm pretty sure this has been one of her best birthdays so far. She loved it!

After all this food, we were so full, that we decided to take a short walk, while doing some touristic sightseeing. We passed Cibeles and then headed to La Gran Via, before going back to the hotel to pack our suitcases.

It's amazing how fast these holidays went by! It had been a very long time since I last spent such a long time with my mum and my sister, and I really missed it. I somehow grew used to travel on my own and this whole experience of family holidays was lost in my childhood memories... But travelling with two of the people I love the most in the world was definitely something I wouldn't have changed for anything else!

Happy summer!

Photography: Laura Beltran-Rubio

Travel Diaries: Tivoli & Rome, Day 3

On our third––and last––day in Rome, we decided to spend the morning in Tivoli, a small town about an hour away from Rome, where you can find the most beautiful gardens on Earth! The place is called Villa d'Este, and it was declared a World Heritage Site by the UNESCO.

One thing I noticed here was the reason why kings and queens loved to have these enormous gardens in their palaces... And it thrilled me! See, this morning was so hot that we were about to melt. The temperature was above 38ºC (100ºF), and the sun was shining as bright as it possibly could... So we we're just dying from the heat. But when we entered the garden and, especially, when we were near the water fountains, the temperature dropped at least 10 degrees! I swear!

After spending the morning in this wonderful and magical place (I swear the pictures don't show how beautiful the place actually is), we had a quick––in Italian standards, of course1––lunch at the Piazza Garibaldi, before taking the train back to Rome.

We got to Rome in the evening, so we decided to go back to our hotel for a while, and wait 'til the night was fully set to go out for a walk. We started at the Vatican City––we always do, out of my mum's obsession––and then walked around the center. We finally went to the Castle of Sant'Angelo, where you get the absolutely best view of the city. It was absolutely breathtaking!

I'm sad to tell you that this post is almost the last one! I'm sadly sitting back at my desk and, although I did miss home, I can't believe the summer went by so fast! The good thing... Is that you'll get to wait until Monday before seeing the end. And the other good thing is that New York is patiently waiting for me to come back next week!

Warm kisses from cold Bogota,

Photography: Laura Beltran-Rubio

Travel Diaries: Rome, Day 2

On our second day in Rome, we started by having another beautiful (although long) walk around the center of the city. We decided to start at the Castel of Sant'Angelo, and from then we went to the Palace of Justice. After that, we crossed the river and went south.

I would list all the places we saw, but if you've ever been to Rome you'd understand what a big trouble that would be... This city is so magical and full of history that wherever you walk by, you find amazing things to see!

We finally ended up by walking the Via del Corso and entered the beautiful Hotel Plaza for lunch. This place was absolutely magical. If I was a princess –or a billionaire, although princess sounds more romantic!– I would totally live in a place like this one. The lights, the decoration à la Versailles... And the food!

As usual, we had Caprese salad and prosciutto e melone for starters. However, this time we decided to explore a bit more. My sister ordered paccheri with cheese and pepper, while I decided to explore something completely new for my main dish: risotto with lemon and strawberry. I had never even imagined something like this before. But I loved it! To be honest, I was a bit scared that it would be too sweet. But it was just perfect. Of course, the strawberries act like a sweetener, but it was right where it had to be for it to be considered a good lunch, instead of just dessert!

We spent the evening window shopping at Via Condotti, and then had dessert there. We entered a place called Café Greco, where we ate ice-cream, chocolate cake and drank a cup of cappuccino. Although this place was very well located, I don't really believe it was tasty enough to charge prices so elevated. Street gelato is much better––and cheaper!

We walked back to Piazza del Popolo, where we saw the sunset. One thing I really love about Rome is the sky. It's always perfectly blue during the summer. And it makes the magic of the place almost touch you!

Love,

Photography: Laura Beltran-Rubio