Spain's Capital and Largest City - Madrid

Thursday, June 7 – Day 10 (Madrid)

We woke up in Madrid after a fairly restless sleep, and disembarked the train at about 7:30am. After purchasing tickets for our next two night trains, we headed out into the city. We could not check into our hostel until much later that afternoon. However, we read that the Museo Nacional del Prado required patrons to check all bags, and so we decided to head there first. On our way to the museum, we passed a Starbucks and were overcome by our need for caffeine. Yes – we stopped for Starbucks!

Next, we made our way to the museum. Here we are with our backpacks in front of the Prado, touted as Spain’s premier museum with one of the finest art collections in the world!... Of course, no photos are allowed inside the museum, but the collection is superb. The Spanish paintings date back to 1100 with incredible coverage of many of Spain’s m asters – Francisco de Goya, Diego Velázquez and El Greco to name a few. Velázquez’ Las Meninas (Maids of Honor) hangs in this museum. I had never heard of the piece before today, but it is a remarkable and apparently considered by many to be the world’s finest painting – period.

For dinner we did what one of our guide books called “The Madrid Pub-Crawl Dinner” (also known as going from bar to bar, munching on tapas, drinking beer or wine, and rubbing elbows with the locals). Madrid is Spain’s tapas capital!

The first stop on our pub-crawl was La Taurina Cervecería. This is a sort of bullfighters’ Planet Hollywood. There are stuffed bulls’ heads on the walls (shown here)… and pictures and news clippings of the bullfighting “greats.” We happened to be in Madrid during the San Isidro Festival (from May through early June there is a bullfight EVERYDAY). So, needless to say there was a bullfight going on across town and playing in living color in the bar. Up to that point, we thought we were interested in the cultural experience of seeing a live bullfight, but the televised version was plenty graphic for us and we decided against the live show.

Another stop on our pub-crawl was Museo del Jamón (Museum of Ham – shown here)… This was perhaps our first real exposure to the ham phenomenon. The museo is a deli and stand-up bar and is tastefully decorated (so to speak). Notice the pig legs hanging over my head in this picture… Now imagine the entire ceiling lined with row after row of these hams.

Later, we stopped into the Oreja de Oro (the Golden Ear). Named for its specialty – sautéed pig ears, we were not brave enough to partake in this Madrid delicacy. We did, however, enjoy a grilled pork kebab and some beers.

We finished off the evening at a favorite local place called Chocolatería San Ginés. Here we shared an order of churros con chocolate. For those unfamiliar with this delectable treat, a churro is a deep-fried doughy pastry (somewhat like a doughnut, but longer, skinnier, and crisper). Rich and I have enjoyed these many times on our trips to Mexico. However, the Spanish like to serve them “con chocolate” which means they dip them in a cup of pudding like hot chocolate. Here I am with a churro in hand ready to dip it into the cup of thick and creamy hot chocolate… It really doesn’t get much better than that!

On our way back to the hostel, I had Rich pose with this illuminated sign high on top of one of the buildings facing the Puerta del Sol. As it turns out, this was Madrid’s first billboard and has advertised the famous Tio Pepe sherry for over 100 years…
























Friday, June 8 – Day 11 (Madrid)

We started today at Madrid’s 18th century Palacio Real (Royal Palace)… Arguably Europe’s third greatest palace (after Versailles and Vienna’s Schönbrunn), this is the official residence of King Juan Carlos I, but no one actually lives in the palace. Today, it is used primarily as a tourist attraction and for special events and formal ceremonies. For example, Spain formally joined the European Union in its Hall of Columns in 1995. Today, we were able to walk through 24 of its more than 2000 rooms. My favorite was the Stradivarius Room. Only about 300 Antonius Stradivarius-made instruments still exist. King Charles IV commissioned the only matching quartet - two violins, a viola, and a cello – and they are displayed here…absolutely breathtaking pieces! Rich’s favorite was the Throne Room. This ornately adorned room had red velvet walls, gold lions, marble statues of mythological characters, and frescoes of Spanish scenes symbolizing the monarchy (the ceiling fresco dates back to 1764).

Across the huge square in front of the palace and through the gates is Madrid’s Cathedral of Almudena (shown here)… Built between 1883 and 1993, its exterior is a contemporary mix while its interior is neo-Gothic with a colorful ceiling, beautiful woodwork, and ornate stone carvings.

We paused at the Plaza Mayor to grab a bocadillo de calamares (fried squid sandwich) from the famous Casa Rua (they’ve been cooking up these things since 1940)…

We ended our stay in Madrid at the Puerta del Sol. This is the city’s central square and is the heart of Madrid (and Spain – all distances in Spain are measured from this point). In fact, on the curb directly in front of the entrance to the governor’s office you can find this scuffed-up kilometer zero marker…

From Madrid, we took a night train to Lisbon, Portugal. Unfortunately, when we attempted to purchase our ticket the morning we arrived in Madrid, all of the sleeper cars were full. So, tonight was a reclining seat night (Rich’s seat reclined…mine, not so much). Here we are in our lovely seats (self portrait)…