It’s Christmas time now and Madrid has gone all out to celebrate the holiday! The city center, Puerta del Sol, is all decked out with a 15-20 meter high Christmas tree and the streets branching out from the center each have their own set of lights suspended above the road and often lead off to cute little Christmas markets.
I’ve personally counted 4 Christmas trees each breaking the 15 meter height and are all totally gorgeous! The tree in Sol is actually a metallic frame covered in a pattern of ornaments lit up in gold.
The tree in Puerta del Sol!
Being a girly girl, I’m also a fan of the trees in Atocha since they are all pink and silver. They sit in the center of the Glorieta de Carlos V.
A Barbie’s dream Christmas in Atocha!
In addition to all the gorgeous decorations, there is of course my personal favorite part of the festivities and that’s the Christmas Markets! Inspired by the famous Christmas markets of Germany, these have become popular in all parts of Europe and major cities are all setting up their own markets full of goodies. You can find toys, jewelry, hats, scarves, all kinds of gifts and my personal favorite-sweets!
The gorgeous Christmas market in Plaza Jacinto Benavente (closest to Tirso de Molina metro stop) The lights make you feel as if you are in a tent!
There is a small Christmas sweets market set up right outside of the Opera metro stop and oh boy, that’s my favorite. I seriously love eating and any market that celebrates Christmas treats is bound to be my favorite.
Piles of Turkish Delight.
I seriously, friggin’ love Turkish Delight. I think it goes without saying that I made a beeline for the Dulces Arabes cart to oogle and drool over the stuff. I can’t even explain why but I could make myself sick eating that stuff so having it easily accessible could be quite dangerous. I think I lingered around contemplating the flavor I wanted for so long that the vendors struck up a conversation with me and now know me by name. If that’s not an indicator that I’m an addict, I don’t know what else is!
What are your favorite holiday treats? Do you have a favorite Christmas tree to visit where you live?
Books and a Backpack 