{ rachtravel }: Day 14-15: Quick stop Madrid

It was an early flight out of London Monday morning and a very expensive cab fare (I was too lazy to take the Heathrow Express to save myself some sterlings!) to Heathrow airport. I boarded Iberian Airlines to what looked like a retirement village (a whole group of British retirees I presume planning a holiday to the more weather friendly Spain?!) - and I was the only Asian on the plane...oh well! From what I remember, the flight was decent but delayed for a while, so by the time I actually arrived in Madrid it was about 2:30pm! Another half day wasted!

Upon arriving at Madrid airport I was very impressed with their airport! It was modern, spacious and very clean! Just wished i bothered to take some photos of the place as I was quite impressed with the architecutre. I must say I was a bit nervous getting to this country by myself as I never did quite get to learn Spanish. My Dad had arranged the hotel to pick me up from the airport - to my delight of course, and to save me from trying to work out the best means of transport into town. I had a very helpful and friendly Columbian driver pick me up from the airport. He spoke great English so was able to talk to me and point out sights as we drove into town. My memory is slightly fuzzy now, but I do remember the land being drier than other cities I had visited thus far. The air was slightly drier too - almost felt dessert like (not that I would know!). And it was definitely warmer than the colder London! The city is definitely still growing as evidenced by the numerous development projects on the outskirts of the city.

When I finally got into the city centre, I was welcomed by grand buildings and lots of traffic everywhere...as you would expect from any grand old European city! It was hard to imagine I had actually arrived in a city with a decorated past and vibrant history! Although there are many old buildings everywhere, it still felt very modern...not quite sure why? I guess it was just the vibe I sensed, especially when I went out for a walk during the early evening after I had settled in the hotel and taken a nap.

I'm not sure how other travellers find Spain/Madrid, but the minute I got to Madrid, I decided I was going to take the 1.5 days I had in this city in a more relaxed way...just to blend in with the Spanish culture a bit! All I managed to accomplish in Day 1: Madrid, besides physically arriving was walking along Paseo del Prado and that is pretty much all I did! I walked right up to Estacion de Atocha - which is a huge train station! At the time, I didn't have a map with me (always fun to be random once in a while...) and I forgot to bring my camera. But the Estacion de Atocha was quite a sight. The reason why I walked into it was because I saw heaps of people walking into this huge glass building - at first I thought it was a shopping centre of some sort...then I saw people with suitcases everywhere and figured it wasn't so! It's quite unusual as it houses a huge indoor palm garden, so you can understand why I was confused upon initially entering the building! The building itself was quite a magnificent sight...and definitely stood out from the surrounding buildings. I almost couldn't find my way out of that building...actually, more like I couldn't find my way back across the other side of the road! Anyway, after I had worked that out, I decided to grab some very un-spanish dinner - MacDonald's. (My first on this trip...and my last!) Yes I know that is such a dumb thing to do, especially when there was food galore everywhere...but it was meant to be my snack! My Dad was supposed to be arriving later at night, so I thought we'd grab a late dinner when he arrived...since no one serves dinner until 8pm in Madrid! Well, turns out my Dad's flight was delayed by 3 hours (it was only an 1 hour flight from Lisborn!) so I didn't quite get the Spanish dinner I was hoping for. (Way past midnight by the time he arrived...and I was worried sick about his whereabouts!)

After feeling guilty for not accomplishing much on Day 1: Madrid...I decided to start Day 2 early and to make sure I covered the famous sights - I went on the Hop-on/Hop-off tours to try and jam pack everything into my 1 day!

First Stop: A visit to the Prado Museum (Museo del Prado)...just across the road from my hotel.
Surprisingly, I had to queue for quite some time before entering the museum. I got myself an audio guide since I can't read Spanish...and thought I may as well have the artworks explained to me. (Best decision ever! It really does make a difference to your appreciation for art, especially if you are not an Art History expert!) The collection was amazing! And it houses the world's greatest collection of Spanish paintings. Before entering this Museum I was not too familiar with Spanish Art...and the only artist I knew of was Valazquez. (Now I know more - Goya, Ribera, El Greco) It was a good change for me to visit this museum, the Spanish collection definitely felt darker, more emotional, grand...and the religious themes were heavily pronounced. There was no shortage of paintings of stories from the bible or stories of various saints. Besides Spanish paintings - Flemish and Dutch paintings were also prominant - such as Rembrandt, van der Weden, Rubens, and Italian Paintings from the early Renaissance. I must have spent at least 3 hours+ in the museum wondering around various rooms. Also managed to eat my first Spanish meal in the Museum Cafe - Seafood Paella!

Prado Museum (can see construction cranes in the background...)

For 14.50 Euros you can board the "Madrid Vision" Hop-on/Hop-off tour. I stayed on the bus more than I hopped off it! (hey, I was limited for time!) And surprisingly, most other tourists just sat on the bus too! The tour actually operates 2 routes - Madrid Historico & Madrid Moderno. Guess which one I chose? Madrid Historico.

So according to the Madrid Vision pamphlet I still have - these are apparently the sights I visited whilst sitting on the bus!

Teatro Real
Palacio Real (Got off the bus to explore Real Palace and its surroundings)
Puerta de Toledo
San Francisco el Grande
Catedral Almudena
Plaza Mayor
Puerta del Sol
Circulo Bellas Artes
Museo Thyssen
Museo Reina Sofia
Jardin Botanico
Museo del Prado (Started th tour at this stop)
Puerta de Alcala
Barrio de Salamanca
Plaza de Colon
Plaza de Cibeles
Plaza de Espana
Templo de Debod

Now I just need to sort through my photos to figure out which building is what!

Snapshots of Madrid from the tour

As mentioned, I took some time to explore the Palacio Real - which is the Spanish Royal Palace. I didn't actually go into the Palace (upon reflection...i can't remember why i didn't go in...must have been the time constraint factor), so I just admired it from the outside. It's a very grand building which apparently took 26 years to construct! Next to the Palace is a garden which kinda reminded me of Schonbrunn in Vienna, except it's by no way as grand or big! Still, it was nice to sit around the gardens and enjoy the good weather! The palace is built on high headland overlooking the Rio Manzanares and its an impressive view. If I was a King - I'd definitely want a view overlooking your territory too!

Palace de Real

Well I think that's about all I can write for my highlights of Madrid! And it's already far TOO LONG for my liking too! I definitely didn't get enough time to explore Madrid, but I guess I'm happy with what I managed to achieve. Despite my limited time, I still managed to fit in some shopping (it was a very fast walk around the department stores and shops!) and a good dinner at the Hotel with an excellent glass of Spanish red wine :)