Overall Impression: A dirtier, woke version of Moscow. Giant, international city. Super walkable, super sunny, super hot. Expensive, not ideal for digital nomads due to unfriendly cafe scene and expensive coworking. The women don't work out, they do smoke, they don't dress or act feminine (you'll moreso fine body positive, hairy armpits, shaved/short hair, gothic/black/baggy clothing)
Best Cafe: Tape Cafe Madrid (comfy seats, 500Mbps, no siesta, open early/late, allows laptops, not too many outlets)
Illegal to take off your shirt.
Best part of Spain are the Tapas, small appetizer things which you order many of at a meal
Night city. Things do not open until 9am earliest including the breakfast spot right outside my front door. Cafe's, too.
The Spanish accent, at least for women, sounds like a heavy smoker after a decade (this was before I realized that many of them probably actually have smoked for a decade).
Sunset at 10pm
Cannot work from many cafe's on the weekends of after 3pm on the weekdays.
Way hotter than I thought! It's getting up to 100+F (39C) and even stays up to 95F until 9pm. It's easy to understand why they do a siesta in the afternoon!
The oldest restaurant in the world, “Sobrino de Botín” - the fire when they first opened is still alight today (300 years old flame)
The sunniest city in Europe; haven't seen a cloud
Gym scene is poor. Some gyms don't allow you to join for only one month. Others only have dumbbells up to 70LB (32KG) or missing common equipment like seated calves or leg press. Some you have to pay for water. I ended up joining a gay gym and an older person gym, neither of which had a scale. Confirmed x4 women do not workout in this city, 80% male/female ratio.
Most complete metro system in Europe
The supermarkets are all so tiny (every shop seems to be tiny)
If you happen to be looking for supplements or vitamins here, search for 'herbalists'
Loads of candy shops and book stores
Spain's Spanish Language Unique Phrases and Keywords
Manzana - a city block (in Spanish it's 'cuadra')
Comida - lunch (in Spanish it's 'almuerzo')
Known For: Gazpacho, Cava (Spanish sparkling wine)
I choose the items below as they’re generally available everywhere. Thus, easy for comparison. The prices reflect the cheapest option given my standard. In any estination you can find slightly cheaper prices if you wanted to sacrifice convenience (ie going to local market or out-of-town grocery store).
