Madrid

So this time around, and for the next few reports, I will have a Stuey along for the blog. This Monday, the two of us began our whirlwind tour of Spain, which we will finish off with a quick stop off in both Amsterdam and Berlin. We had a few difficulties getting going, nothing serious, but it did almost result with us missing our bus from Bilbao to Madrid. We did make it on the bus, and got to Madrid. After a session of intense luggage lugging, we got checked in and headed back out on the town.

Since we had nice weather, we decided to do as much of the outdoor sightseeing as we could (which turned out to be an excellent decision). Our first stop was the Parque del Buen Retiro, which is a 300+ acre paradise at the center of the city. The park was beautiful, for lack of a better description. There were fountains and statues and creeks and all sorts of trees. There was a lake in the center of the park, at which you could rent a row boat for a quaint little ride. At one end of the park, there was the Queen's rose garden, with most of the roses in full bloom.

After touring the park, it was definitely late enough for us to be hungry. So we fed ourselves on a walking tapas pubcrawl. We ventured through the old town center, finding interesting pubs and restaurants. At each establishment, we would order tapas and drinks, take in the atmosphere and the wonderful food, and move on to the next. This is a fairly popular way to do supper in Spain, and a great experience. We found a great little pastry shop, called Lhardy, where the desserts were unbelievable and the sherry was strong. This was our favorite stop. Admirable mention goes out to "Museo de Jamon", because Stu thinks it's hilarious that there's a chain of restaurants called "Ham Museum."

The second day began with a full tour of old Madrid beginning with Puerta del Sol (a main hub of Madrid). We ventured through cobbled streets to see old churches (some with proportional bell towers, others without), historical markets, convents that sell cookies, stores that sell amazing pastries, and, of course, plazas. Plaza Mayor was the standard old-town Spanish plaza in Madrid. However, this plaza is unique in the fact that it was painted burgundy (apparently a color that was elected democratically by the citizens at the time) and was also used for getting rid of those pesky heretics during the Spanish Inquisition.

Our old-town tour ended with the Catedral de la Almudena and the Royal Palace (Palacio Real). The Cathedral was very modern (construction from the 19th century until 1993) and GIGANTIC! You literally could not look at the entire church from the outside without turning your head. It didn't matter where you stood. The most significant thing about the inside was how colorful the ceilings were and how high they were! However, the Royal Palace was far more awe-inspiring than the Cathedral. The vast building alone is impressive, but it's nothing compared to the elaborate decor inside the 24 rooms we were able to tour. Unfortunately, we were unable to take pictures of the inside of the palace to share. But try to imagine what you think an elaborate Spanish palace would look like and then double the amount of amazing chandeliers, velvet on the walls, Ming vases, and incredible ornate vaulted ceilings. Then add a lot more gold tables and mirrors.

Day 2 of Madrid unfortunately featured a bit of rain. It started in the afternoon and didn't hinder our seeing of Temple de Debod (an Egyptian Temple given to King Franco from the President of Egypt in the sixties for helping save monuments from a rising Nile), Gran Via, and Plaza Cibeles (including the GIANT Bank of Spain and Palace of Communication). However, after going to get some delicious Paella for supper at another Museum of Ham it really started to pour. This is when we discovered that you really need to watch out for taxis and buses as they drive through the rivers that build up on the side of the streets.

Tomorrow we're off to Portugal!

Hasta la proximá vez,

Kathlene and Stu