Autum in Madrid 2019

We had the good fortune to find affordable airfare to Spain this fall. But we had to layover in San Francisco and Paris, which made each way a 24 hour travel day. I can't say it was worth it. We were tired the whole time. So, while I can recommend that you check fares out of a different city than your usual port, I might not recommend the long travel day! Of course, being jet lagged we didn't sleep one night then slept too long the next night. Mistakes were made. 
Researching Spain was not as simple as Paris or Italy. Partly because I hadn't seriously considered it as a destination even though I'd been studying Spanish. And partly because I think it lacks strong icons like the Eiffel Tower or view of the Cinque Terre. Sure there's Gaudi's architecture but other than the fleeting image I didn't know what any of them were called. Okay but that's Barcelona anyway, which will be a seperate post. 

We used taxis in Madrid more for saving time than anything else but we also walked a LOT. As with any city around the world, I started with researching neighborhoods. Which ones have a lot of culture, which ones might be dangerous. We found an Air BnB in a neighborhood called Malasana with a rooftop terrace overlooking a sea of terra cotta roof tiles.