Welsand's in London

The Ups and Downs of Madrid

The trip to Madrid starting off with us almost hotel-less, but we recovered; this seemed to be the theme of the trip...

We arrive in Madrid without incident on Friday. As we are walking on a very busy street in Madrid to our hotel a man yells behind us "Are you English, are you English?" we turn around wondering why he is yelling at us, both Jeremy and I thinking he is trying some kind of scam. We say yes, and the man tells us that someone was trying to steal Jeremy's computer bag which is strapped to our suitcase! A few more seconds and it would have been gone! We were walking side by side and didn't see and Jeremy didn't feel anything. Thank god for this Good Samaritan! We hope good karma goes his way.

As I am a planner I have our entire trip planned out. So on Saturday we head to the Palace Real which is our main attraction for the day. As we get closer to the Palace we can tell that something out of the ordinary is going on. Unfortunately, we couldn't quite figure it out. We think it may have been the presentation of credentials to the King (as it looks like the same type of ceremony as was on a postcard in the gift shop...). My Spanish was not good enough to ask the right questions and I couldn't translate what people were saying to me when I tried to ask. There ended up being a huge parade into the Palace with many, many horse drawn carriages and guards on horses. We couldn't see well so we only stuck around for a while then found a playground nearby for Sophie to have some fun at. The ceremony went on for about an hour and a half. It ended with four jets flying close by spraying out colored smoke, very interesting.

So instead of the Palace we walked around and explored the city and seeing a few of the major plazas. We had lunch at a small Spanish restaurant. This restaurant offered all of its dishes to share, which is a problem as Jeremy loves meat and I don't eat any. In the end, I ordered olives, bread and garlic mushrooms, good but enough of for two people; Jeremy doesn't eat any and gets a meat dish for two. Large groups would be good at these types of restaurants to be able to get a variety of food, instead of one item.

In the afternoon and evening we visited two museums, the Museo Thyssen Bornemisza and the Centro de Arte Reina Sofia. Both were great and we are a little burned out on museums! The first museum Museo Thyssen Bornemisza houses some nice impressionists' pieces, which is our favorite. There were works by Renoir (Woman with a Parasol in Garden), Van Gogh (Les Vessenots), Degas (Swaying Dancer), many by Alred Sisley, Paul Gauguin and more! Fantastic! And Sophie was napping so we fully enjoyed it. The second museum,Centro de Arte Reina Sofia was so huge there was no way we could view all the pieces and we bumping into dinner time. So we saw the pieces by Picasso and specifically the highlight was Picasso's famous piece Guernica. It is massive! Literally, it is a huge painting. I knew it was large, but it was so much larger than we expected. Very cool to see this in person! There were also quite a few pieces by Salvador Dali (I like, Jeremy does not), Juan Gris, George Baroque (Jeremy loves) and others. Nice visit, it was just quick and covering the pieces we enjoy the most.

On Sunday it was another attempt at the Palacio Real. This time it was a success! It was well worth the wait. This Palace was the best we have seen, it was absolutely incredible! We absolutely loved it! I feel like they can't keep getting better but they do! This was fantastic! Pictures were allowed only without flash, so I bought the guide which has good photos in case ours don't work out. Each room had a separate theme and feel to it. Starting from the main staircase throughout the entire Palace it impresses. We can't decide which room was our most favorite because each was so incredible. Madrid is almost worth a trip just to see this Palace! The Spanish royalty know how to build a Palace! Our ticket also included a royal armoury which was set up nicely and interesting to see. There was also a pharmacy, not very exciting as one would imagine. Overall, a great visit!

Next we walked down to a park called Campo del Moro, behind the Palace. Gorgeous views of the back of the Palace. Nice green space in the city. There was a little playground along the way that we stopped for a break in. Jeremy watched some older men play a game which he was trying to figure out of course. Madrid had lots of little parks and green space throughout the city, a nice getaway.

Lastly on Sunday afternoon we walked around the El Rastro market. This colorful street market has been going on for over 100 years. It was huge! We thought it might be the size of the Borough Market and Nottinghill Markets combined! It just keep going and going! There was lots of clothes, music, antiques, art, etc. We love to go to the local markets and enjoyed this, though it was packed and a bit hard to get around with Sophie, we loved it. Found a few nice antiques way out of our price range though so they didn't come with us.

On Monday and Tuesday, Jeremy worked and Sophie and I had a full schedule planned out. We took the Metro to the zoo on Monday and when we arrived it was clear it was not opening. So I pulled out the map and came up with a new plan. We got back on the Metro and headed to the Parque del Retiro. It is the city's largest green space and a favorite of local's according to my travel book. The park was beautiful. There are statues, gardens, lakes, rowing boats for hire (I was not brave enough to do this on my own with Sophie as there didn't appear to be life jackets), goldfish in the ponds to fee, and musicians playing throughout the park. We spent four hours there without any problem. Nice and relaxing plan B. While Sophie napped and I realized that every museum, with the exception of one that I had already seen, was closed, I made my way to Starbuck's for some coffee and rest and then through the city back to the hotel for a nice long walk. After a nice nap and some cartoons, we headed to dinner down the street, playing it safe with a Pizza Express.

The plans I had for Tuesday weren't viable either, so we spent the morning at the local botanical garden. When the weather is beautiful and you can be outside with a jacket, really anything works nicely. This was uneventful but peaceful and green. Next we made our way to a playground I had spotted the day before and spent some time there. Sophie is such a climber, she climbed up this tall piece of equipment, well over my head where I couldn't reach her and then starts crying hysterically to get down as the slide looks to tall! Nice! Thankfully she was able to climb back down the way she went up without incident. After a little lunch she fell asleep nicely and I made my way to the Museo del Prado, which houses one of the world's finest art collections. There are some beautiful pieces and the museum is huge! I have to admit that I am burnt out pictures of Christianity. My favorite piece was Las Meninas by Diego Velazquez who I am not familiar with but I loved this picture. It is in one of Sophie's art books and I loved seeing it in person. Before Sophie woke up I was done with my visit and again made my way for a little caffeine and rest. We took the Metro back to the hotel to meet Jeremy and begin the travels back to London.

We did enjoy ourselves in Madrid. I feel very comfortable in Spanish speaking countries. Madrid was a city that we felt we could live in no problem if an opportunity ever arose. The Metro system was extremely easy to get around, lots of green spaces, and very friendly people, especially to kids. We would love visit some other cities in Spain at another time. Adios!

Photos coming soon on the Shutterfly account...

posted by Chris @ 9:16 PM