Sometimes when I find myself in a new city, I feel an anxious urgency to discover, explore and see all there is to see. But on days like today, when the plane ride is gruesome, the weather is boiling, and the exhaustion is real... I take a full day to do almost nothing at all.

I have to remind myself that it's ok to find a calm terrace and just relax like a local with no agenda. To step back from the hustle and bustle and just be in a city.

It's then, that you hear conversations between old friends, that you notice the bartender pull the wild strawberries from his farmers market tote for your fresh sangria, then that you smell the combination of herbs and leeks being prepared for the days Vichyssoise.

So today I did just that. I relaxed at Saporem, in the bustling center of Madrid. I sipped sangria, and eventually snuck upstairs to my bed at the Room007 Hostel for an authentic Spanish siesta.

While it may not be very eventful, it was exactly what I needed to start my trip in Spain off right.