[13D10N - Incentive Trip: Spain & Portugal] 3D2N at Madrid + Day Trip to Toledo & Segovia

We left our Salamanca hotel after a night's stay. We woke up early to have our breakfast at the hotel before checking out. We packed our luggage and headed down to the lobby to join in the group gathering. We boarded our tour bus back to Segovia. It was about a 2-hours journey from Salamanca.

Segovia is a World Heritage City with some of the most spectacular views I have ever seen. It is a wonderful Spanish city to visit, as it is full of culture, history, and treasures to see for traveling. My Baby and I both agreed that this was one of the main highlights in Spain. A day trip to Segovia from either Madrid or Salamanca is a must on your trip to Spain!

This city is filled with gorgeous gothic architectures and one of the largest ancient Roman Aqueducts that is still standing.

Segovia is most known for its majestic Roman Aqueducts. I was so stunned by the sight of it, and I couldn’t believe I was right below a structure that I have seen so many times in pictures.

Make sure to take the stairs to the viewpoint so you can get breathtaking views of the aqueduct.

The Alcazar of Segovia is not only a UNESCO World Heritage Site but is also one of the European castles that inspired Walt Disney’s Cinderella Castle. The Alcazar was definitely the draw to me during the day trip to Segovia!

The Catedral de Segovia was one of the last ever built in Spain in the gothic style. We didn’t go in and just admired the outside because we wanted to dedicate as much time as possible to exploring around the city!

Lunch was provided, and we were to a restaurant that offered Segovians’ most famous dish - beloved roast suckling pig known as ''ochinillo asado'.

Baby took a video of the staff cutting the Segovia suckling pig by plates - The traditional way to demonstrate the tenderness of the roasted pig. The used plate is then shattered on the ground to signify a hearty welcome!

It was a 3-course lunch. To be honest, I didn’t really enjoy the food, as I was not feeling too well. Baby helped me to finish up most of it.

After lunch, we boarded the tour bus for some outlets shopping again at Las Rozas Village - outlet-styled malls, which was 1 hour away from Segovia.

Both of us didn’t pick up anything mainly because we had no mood to shop, as Baby was having a stomach upset, while I was still recovering from my nausea issues. We decided to skip our dinner and had some cakes and tea at Cristina Oria which is located at Las Rozas Village.

After leaving Las Rozas Village, we headed to our hotel - Occidental Castellana Norte Madrid. We rested a while before our shower. We headed straight to bed after our long day of sightseeing. We wanted to charge up our energy levels to ensure that we were both alright to continue exploring the lovely city of Madrid the very next day.

Our room stay was inclusive of breakfast, and we headed down to the café to enjoy a breakfast buffet. After our breakfast, we boarded the bus and began our full day city tour. We began by visiting Toledo, Spain’s former capital city which is also an UNESCO World Heritage site.

The best way to enter Toledo is via the Alcantara Bridge, a medieval bridge not to be missed for its history and photograph opportunities.

Toledo is a small city packed with many interesting historical and religious landmarks. It is also known for religious tolerance as the city flourished with three different cultures. This was because Christians, Arabs and Jews co-existed here together for centuries.

We went to the Primate Cathedral of Santa Maria of Toledo and entered through the ‘Door of Forgiveness’. It is considered the greatest example of Gothic-style architecture in the country.

We simply loved the colorful light rays penetrating through the stained glass windows.

This cathedral is massive and glorious, with so many intricate details both interior and exterior. It felt like a beautiful return to the past.

It is an impressive Cathedral in Toledo, and that is why this cathedral is bustling with tourists. As one of the most visited attractions in Toledo, this centuries-old site is well worth our time.

As lunch was on our own, we settled ourselves at El Trébol.

I love the marinated olives and the home-made potato chips!

We ordered their famous bombas, which are fried fist-sized spheres of mashed potato stuffed with meat. I've read many recommendations and guides of which all advise that one can’t leave Toledo without indulging in these bombas!

Everything we ordered was delicious, and the damage was pretty affordable too! We had a lovely time at El Trébol!

After our lunch, we left Toledo and headed to our next sightseeing spot - One of the most popular touristic spots in the town – the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium, home of Real Madrid CF. Being a big Real Madrid fan, Baby got very excited as we approached the stadium. Visiting the Santiago Bernbeau Stadium has been on his bucket list for the longest time!

The Santiago Bernabéu Stadium is an iconic landmark in Madrid. The stadium tour was part of our Spanish tour package. The stadium tour is self-guided, and we simply followed a route which was marked out for guests through the stadium.

The tour includes access to the Real Madrid Museum, where you can admire the club's rich history and see some of the most impressive trophies won throughout the years.

When we arrived at the merchandise store, Baby obviously played the part of a devoted fanboy by picking up his desired merch from the store! The Santiago Bernabeu Stadium Tour is an unforgettable experience that will leave any football fan in awe.

After the stadium visit, the bus dropped us at El Corte Inglés for more shopping, and we headed straight to the Super-Mercado as I wanted to buy the local products. OMG! It was a great one, and the prices were super affordable. As an example, a bottle of Jam only cost €0.99 and a box of tea only cost €1.50. I was trying not to buy too many things as our luggage weight had exceed the airline allowance by now but luckily, Baby had some nice colleagues that were willing to share their weight with us.

We informed our tour guide that we were not taking the bus back to the hotel as we decided to go somewhere else, and later made our way back to the hotel on our own.

The subway station was conveniently located at the basement El Corte Inglés, and it only required 3 stops to reach Plaza Mayor - Madrid’s City Centre.

We did some shopping at the Plaza Mayor, and sadly this was our last night in Madrid, or to be exact, our last night in Spain for this trip. We needed to explore more and to enjoy more of the local cuisine in Spain.

We walked to our dinner place after we did our shopping, as we had made a dinner reservation at 6pm at Arroceria D’stapa. The restaurant is housed in a 200-year-old building with beautiful brick walls.

We waited about 20 minutes before a giant pan of rice was served to our table. This was the tastiest Paella among all the other ones that i had eaten during this entire trip in Spain. It was a very authentic recipe that was delicious.

If you're in Madrid and want to try an authentic and delicious Paella, please do consider coming here!

After our dinner, we went to Primark to get some gifts for my friends, and of course for myself too!

We walked over to have some churros before leaving Spain tomorrow. We settled at Chocolateria San Ginés Madrid which was founded in 1894.

It was a small chocolate cafe which offered both indoor and courtyard seating. The Order is made at the entrance, and we waited in line to place our order from the limited menu posted on the wall. We paid in cash before receiving a receipt and was asked to take any of the empty seats which was available.

When our orders were served to our table, our eyes lit up as it was an interesting experience! The chocolate dip and churros looked fresh and decadent. The churros tasted so good, especially after dipping them in the chocolate fudge. We actually saw some locals drinking the chocolate straight from the cup. We were tempted to do so, but we felt that this was too much or 'gao wei'/'gelak'.

The damage was decent to experience a local food indulgence!

After a hearty dessert, we left around 11pm and took the taxi back to our hotel to do our packing with our loots, as we were heading back to Singapore the next day!

We headed down to the café to enjoy a breakfast buffet, as although our flight was scheduled at 4pm, the tour guide suggested to leave the hotel by 10am, so as to give us ample time to do our tax refund. After our brekkie, we made our way back to our room to do a proper packing of our luggage to ensure the weight was distributed evenly and within allocated the weight!