The flight from Dublin to Madrid was relatively quick. We arrived in Madrid about 8 pm local time. My summary of Madrid? ¡Me encanta! (I loved it!)
Here’s our first view of Madrid:
Note that it is 8 pm and it is still light. And, I knew Madrid was high up on a mesa, but it is also surrounded by mountains…mountains that have snow on them…in late March!
Everybody told us the best way to get from the airport to where we were staying was the subway. This involved a l-o-n-g walk through the airport, several escalators, our first conversation in Spanish with the subway information attendant, two line changes (we were on three subway lines), a conversation with the guard at the last stop who realized we weren’t sure which exit to use, and a walk about to get to the hostal. It is really quite easy, but we missed the first street and so walked about a bit to find the hostal.
We arrived about 9:30 pm at Hostal Gonzalo, tossed our bags down, spent 5 minutes in a quick refresh, and then it was out for some much needed food. At this point we’ve been awake for about 36 hours…
The hostal is in a great location, and the folks there are really friendly and welcoming. We also stayed here on our last night just before we flew home, and were upgraded to a larger room because a group was there. The area is very quiet, even though it’s close to lots of stuff, but there was a fair amount of noise from other people staying there… except for that last night when we got upgraded to a larger corner room (one double bed, one single). If you go, ask about the rates for it… might be worth it.
I’m in Spain! In Madrid! At this lovely restaurant with these crazy hams hanging! About 30 m from the hostal! Drinking my new favorite beer, Mahou!!!! (yes I look exhausted…. Ginny doesn’t want me to post her exhausted looking pic…). We had the most amazing bacalao (cod, it was just batter fried, but it was super tender and delicious), and some so-so calamari.
We wandered about a bit, then hit the sack…
We had no real agenda in Madrid. We wandered around. We visited the Museo Reina Sofia and the Prado. We wandered around some more. We ate. We drank. We looked at stuff.
Picasso’s Guernica is at the Reina Sofia. It is AMAZING. I was fascinated by the photos of the work in progress and his sketches… the ideas he started with, what he left out, what he simplified, various depictions of the powerful emotional images. Did I say I got an art and architecture education? I sure did! Ginny’s an art historian!
Other stuff (art) I noted (as I couldn’t take photos… images at these links are nothing like what we saw in real life). Not sure now what was at Reina Sofia and what was at the Prado…
Travel tip:
If you are in Madrid for a couple of days, visit the Prado free in the evenings from 6-8 pm. Go have a drink and a snack, then visit the museum. Do this twice and you’ll see most of the whole thing.
Or else you’ll be waiting in unformed lines with no signs anywhere…
I think we waited an hour… no, this isn’t the line… no this isn’t the line for individuals, just groups… there were no signs anywhere! But it was entertaining, and worth it!
back to Madrid pics!
Plaza Mayor
We had the most amazing coffee and croissant just outside the plaza… This plaza looks superficially much like the one in Dublin, but it doesn’t feel so austere. Maybe it’s the arcades with the shops and the restaurants with tables spread out into the plaza, but I think it’s all the people. We saw locals, tourists, gypsies, beggars, cops… everybody in here!
This glittery goat amused (and frightened) some of the kids, but the best bit was when a school group walked by and it frightened one of the girls. One of our big questions for the trip was “Why do girls scream?“. And the best answer is “Because they can“… I think this girl was just looking for an excuse to scream… but she was entertaining!
Gorgeous market… Mercado San Miguel
We tried some of those berberechos/cockles later in our trip, but we never got to the percebes/goose barnacles, for no other reason than that we didn’t see them on any tapas lists…
It’s all about the jamón (and sausage) and the queso (ham and cheese, that sounds so horrid… the ham is amazing and the cheese too…). Sadly no ham could come back with me. Poor boyo, he would have loved some iberian duck ham…
The Royal Palace
Just around town… Amazingly beautiful architecture, flamenco shoes!
There were lots of “live statues” in Madrid and in Barcelona. This one amused me… some were better than others, but they all were pretty fabulous.
We had a nice late afternoon walk in the park, Parque del Retiro, and a bit of a nap. The crystal palace was incredible… even though we didn’t have a chance to go inside.
C-Razy brocolli shaped trees at the entrance to the park…
The City Center and Post Office!
(we bought stamps… and got an education on how the system works, and a lovely explanation about the postcard stamps that celebrated some war victory… I am so bad I forget what now… GINNY??????)
Yarn shops spotted!
We saw two yarn shops in Madrid. One was open, the other closed for siesta.
El Gato Negro/The black cat. I had high hopes for this shop. They weren’t met… As a customer, you get to walk in and touch the yarn samples (about the amount on the sales samples) hanging in the front of the store. Above the samples are sample knit stuff… not sure you’re supposed to touch these, but I did. And then after about 10 feet into the store you see a sign to “wait your turn”. And there is no touching of any of the yarn skeins…
And some meme shop,
No trauma that it was closed… it was fairly hideous…
And then we got on a train for an overnight trip to Santiago de Compostela!
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