TEXT: Diana Pérez

About the city

Madrid, Spain’s capital city is one of the most vibrant, energetic and beautiful European cities, full of colours and friendly people. From Chueca (the best-known gay area in Spain), Sol and the Gran Vía boulevard (full of nice shops) to Plaza España or Malasaña (famous for its bars and nightlife), there is almost no corner in the city you should miss. The problem is picking and choosing what to do, because of the city’s wide range of cultural, artistic and leisure activities. There are many famous museums like Prado, Reina Sofía, or Thysen with permanent collections, other cultural and art galleries, theatres, music festivals, cinemas… Madrid’s outdoor terrace bars are really a must during summertime and a wonderful way to spend the warm summer evenings. It is the perfect city to spend your holidays!

Accommodation

Now you know what a wonderful city Madrid is, you need to decide what kind of accommodation suits you best. If you are looking for a perfect, impeccable accommodation, to feel as comfortable as home and with all the advantages that you have in a hotel including privacy, your better choice would be an apartment. Only-Apartments has a wide range of apartments all around Madrid.

The perfect apartment

Book your ideal short-term apartment in Madrid for you, your family and your friends at the best rate available and experiment the benefits that provide spending your holidays in an apartment instead of in a hotel. Only-Apartments offers a wide variety of rent fully equipped apartments to enjoy a quality time in an attractive place and to get the comfort and privacy you need in order to have a pleasant stay. If you rent a central apartment in the city you would enjoy the conveniences of a prime location plus the benefits of a good hotel. Don´t share the services with other people!

Benefits

Private homes offer excellent flexibility. The biggest advantage of staying in an apartment is the freedom that it gives to you. You don’t have to adjust to a timetable like in a hotel; so, you feel less limited. The costs are lower: hotels are always more expensive than apartments.

Give yourself the genuine experience of getting an apartment for rent in Madrid. It will be unforgettable! Enjoy the city with a different point of view.

I remember the warm summer nights when we sat on our porch in Halmstad, watching the dark sky light up from lightning. I loved it, couldn’t understand how my cousin could be afraid of something so beautiful. Last Monday, I realized why. When we watched lightning from afar, it was nothing else than beautiful. We saw a flash of lightning, counted the seconds between the flash and the thunder clap and heard the distant rumbling noise. When lightning is close, it’s different. Last week, we had the worst thunderstorm and lightning I’ve ever experienced.

When I heard the first thunder I immediately shut off my computer. As I was about to disconnect all the other electrical appliances, the power went off. Although I usually stay calm in challenging situations, I couldn’t help but getting a bit scared when I heard the next sharp, explosive sound and pictures fell from the walls. I looked out the window, saw the next lightning strike and counted the seconds before the thunder clap. Didn’t even get to 3. Not good. Every second stands for about 300 meters. Less than 30 seconds means the storm is less than 10km away. The chance that the next strike will happen within that 10km is 80%.

When I heard two more explosive sounds, I actually thought about asking my neighbours if I could sit in their car - the safest place during lightning. I opened the front door, but didn’t want to go out because of the large hail.

Eventually the thunder stopped, the hail ceased falling, I caught the first glimpse of the sun, and the lightning became the talk of the town. A house only a few blocks from where I live was struck by lightning, fortunately no one was hurt. The only things broken were the cord and the AC adapter to my laptop, and the Internet modem which, according to Telia customer support, had lost contact with the station.

I went to Siba (where I bought my laptop), but they didn’t have the right power supply in stock and to repair the broken adapter or order a new one would take at least a week. I’m not a techie in any way and needed help to install a new Internet modem. Luckily our computer-skilled friend could help us the following week. Until then, I had no laptop and no Internet. I could go to Linköping’s library and make use of their “60-minute free internet a day for everyone with library cards” deal. Or I could lend a friend’s laptop, or I could go to the Internet café.

“Perhaps I should focus on other (non-computer related) things for a while? Can I really stay away from my laptop and internet over a week? What about all my e-mails? My blog? My writing assignments? Deadlines?” When I remembered that I, apart from planned blog posts, didn’t have any deadlines until the end of June, I decided to take an offline week.

This might seem easy for some but when you usually check your e-mails twice a day at least five days a week, write at least one blog post per day, often read online blogs and magazines, and have regular online contact with people all over the world, it’s another thing. It went pretty well though.

Yesterday, my laptop was finally repaired and Internet worked again. 230+ unread e-mails in my inbox.

Back to online work today.