Madrid, Spain - May 22 - 26, 2016

Madrid, Spain

 

Population: 3,141,991 (2014)

After our 3 nights in Marrakech we arrived to a beautiful day in Madrid (although much cooler than Marrakech) and our hotel was supposed to have their shuttle bus there for us....we arrived a bit late and so we were concerned we would miss the shuttle and Craig emailed the hotel. They said that their driver was off that day, so take a taxi to the hotel and they would pay for it (30 euros). That was nice. The Hotel Atlantico is an impressive hotel right in the heart of all the action and tourist sites of Madrid - it was perfect! It's also a gorgeous building with a lovely rooftop patio where we enjoyed a fabulous free cocktail that was extra boozy and delicious! However, I have now, unfortunately, developed a love for Henndrick's gin - which is bloody expensive! Now I know what they mean when they say liqueur is "smooth"! 

Isn't it a gorgeous building? - our Hotel Atlantico

Our lovely room - it ain't no riad, but it's a beautiful hotel!

Our view for 4 nights

Free drink on rooftop patio = awesome!

Love the patio space

Let the Princess out of the tower!

We headed out to explore the area the day we arrived and there was so much to see and do around the hotel - very convenient. Lots of pedestrian only streets, street performers and lots of people out and about - don't you people work???

The crowds of people out and about

Street performers - it's a new take on the monk hovering trick!

Some wild poppies growing - as they do - around the city.

Always beautiful architecture in European cities

This is Plaza Major - we stopped here as part of our "free walking tour" on our first full day. It was an informative tour, but more about history than seeing a lot of the sites. Still, a great tour. The story behind this plaza is it used to be a market place and according to our guide, it was a very stinky market. In particular, this horse statue was particularly smelly. They later discovered that birds would fly into the horses mouth, but then could not find their way out, so they died in there and there were a LOT of dead birdies - thus the smell. They've since sealed the horses mouth. During the reign of King Philips III, reconstruction of the market place took place (1617) to make it a proper square. It has had many different names over the centuries. Fires destroyed all the buildings around the square three times in history - 1631, 1672 and 1790. Each time they rebuilt. Since its creation it has been the site of many festivities, bull fights, royal coronations and, of course, executions.

Founded in 1725, Sobrino de Botin is the oldest restaurant (continuously operating) in the world!

The building across from Palace taken from within the palace gates - The Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Royal of La Almudena

The Royal Palace of Madrid (Palacio Real de Madrid) is the official residence of the Spanish Royal Family, but is used only for state ceremonies.

My sentry - I always make him pose in tight spots!

My pose from within the Palace looking out at the cathedral

The only area within the Palace that we were able to take pictures - this is the ceiling of the grand staircase area

The grand staircase of the palace

The cathedral next to the palace

Mercado (market) de San Miguel - interesting, vibrant foodie place where you can grab a quick bite along with hundreds of other people!

Craig had heard that you could tour two museums for free starting at 6 pm, so, despite the fact that we really aren't big museum people, we went to 2 museums in one evening! There were no pictures allowed, but we first stood in a huge line-up to see the Prado Museum. It is the main Spanish national art museum which features some of the world's finest collections of European art dating from the 12th century to the early 19th century. It holds over 7600 paintings. Yes, I have to admit, deep down I was hoping it somehow had something to do with Prada - because I am likely going to be more interested. It was a beautiful museum, filled with "masterpieces", but we were in and out within an hour and went straight to Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia (Queen Sofia museum). This is Spain's National museum of 20th century art (including Pablo Picasso and Salvador Dali). Most of it, to us, was just strange (sorry!).

 
 

And where you can buy little meat fingers in a baggie

From wikipedia: notice the English "Refugees welcome" sign
"The Cybele Palace (Palacio de Cibeles), formerly the Palace of Communication (Spanish: Palacio de Comunicaciones) until 2011, is a palace located on the Plaza de Cibeles in Madrid, Spain. Over the years the palace and fountain have become symbolic monuments of the city.
Originally the headquarters of the postal service, this impressive building was home to the Postal and Telegraphic Museum until 2007 when the building became the Madrid City Hall. It was declared Bien de Interés Cultural in 1993"

Neat garden on the side of the building

Dog friendly city...ya think he has enough dogs? Too cute.

Nice church...didn't get the name

Here we are enjoying the day at Parque del Buen Retiro (park of the pleasant retreat)....and what a gorgeous retreat it was! It is one of the largest parks in Madrid (350 acres) and once belonged to the Spanish Monarchy

The Crystal Palace in Retiro Park - a glass pavilion inspired by The Crystal Palace in London.

Craig enjoying feeding the animals while I looked around the Crystal Palace.

Another beautiful area as we were leaving Retiro Park and heading to the Botanical Gardens

Cool trees

The Botanical Gardens

Craig likes this plant - it looks like a huge weed to me!

After some shopping at the huge Primark store we ate dinner on a patio. It was a bit of a strange experience because we looked out at several girls, who we quickly discovered were prostitutes (it was very obvious why they were standing there). It surprised us because this was a very congested, popular pedestrian street and it was only 9 pm, still daylight.
 

Drinking our very cheap rose wine! lol

The bear and the so-called strawberry tree (they are red like a strawberry, but it's not a strawberry - it's a Madroño tree) - the National symbol of Madrid. Our walking tour guide had several stories about what this symbol means and why it's the National symbol, but I cannot seem to verify its true meaning. This bronze and stone statue weighs almost 20 tons and you will see this symbol all over the city. Even wikipedia is vague as to the meaning...something about a dispute over pastures and trees.

Segovia, Spain
The name, loosely translated is city of the victory or victorious city. Here's a nice aerial view of the city (from the internet). It is located about an hours bus ride from Madrid. It is said to be first recorded as under Celtic possession, then Roman.

In 1985, the old city of Segovia and its Aqueduct were declared World Heritage Sites by UNESCO. This Roman built aqueduct dates from the late 1st or early 2nd century CE. It is still used for delivering drinking water. When you are near, it feels like it would easily blow over because of its slenderness. Over 25,000 granite blocks were used - without any mortar between them

The Church of San Miguel de Segovia

A normal site around the city.

This sign is, unfortunately difficult to read, but it's saying there are 185 stairs, take it slow, that there will be 3 stops, only one way up and one way down - the narrow staircase and that the tour will take 90 minutes. We had already been hanging around within the church for 30 min. so we would be guaranteed to get in for the bell tower tour. However...little did we know that the tour would be almost completely in Spanish (only a video was subtitled in English) and that we would NOT be able to leave the tour, go up on our own time and leave on our own time. We were locked in! So, it was the longest we have ever spent in a church - over 2 hours between the time before and the tour. If we spoke Spanish, I'm sure it was a very interesting tour, but unfortunately, we do not. Craig understood quite a bit though because of his days with his Spanish colleagues at school while in Brazil.

View from the bell tower

It was beautiful up at the observation part of the tower - and where the bells were.

If you've been reading my other posts, you'll know I love these unique cubby-hole areas for photos!

Heading down from the tower (slightly ahead of the rest of the group), but we still couldn't escape...the gates were locked at the entrance. All part of the adventure!

Alcazar of Segovia
This is the royal palace documented for the first time in 1122. It was one of the favorite residences of the kings of Castile. As with many other buildings, it was destroyed in a fire in 1862 and later rebuilt. 
 

A stroll in the forest...with the snakes!

Craig's "artistic" black and white shot of the palace and a little dungeon-like hole while on our walk in the forest.

Craig enjoying his lunch of sangria with suckling pig...I couldn't look at it with its little ear still attached and his little foot.

Back in Madrid.....
While in Madrid, we just HAD to try the desert seen everywhere around the city. We tried it at the top-rated place in Madrid - Chocolateria San Gines and I have to say, I was quite disappointed in the taste! Maybe I'm used to the very sweet Mexican churros with lots of sugar on them? Still, I didn't find the churro tasty and while I saw some people drinking their left-over chocolate from their cup (it was very, very thick), I just couldn't do it. I know, I know, chocolate lovers everywhere are yelling at me "you're crazy"! We actually ended up giving away most of our churros (I think 8 out of 12) to a homeless man.
 

I just had to get a picture of the elaborate flamenco dresses on display. If I had room in my suitcase I would have liked to have taken this purple one home, but after Marrakech, there simply was no room! Cheers to Madrid! It was a beautiful, vibrant city filled with lots of great sites, sounds and flavours.