Grand Circle: Spain and Portugal in Depth

Mon., 8/29/11 - Barcelona to Madrid, Spain
            This morning we went down the street to a bakery we saw yesterday on our walk.  We bought pastries for breakfast.  Marge's had a cream filling; mine had a hot dog in the middle.  We took them back to our hotel room with a 1.75 Euro cup of Americano coffee and ate.
            At 9:45 we took the Salles (hotel) Ciutat Del Prat shuttle back to the airport and flew SpanAir to Madrid.  It was about 45 minutes in the air.  At the Madrid airport we took a "white cab with red diagonal bands" to our new hotel, Catalonia Gaudi right downtown.  The ride cost 27 Euros instead of the 35 Euros we were expecting because the nice cab driver dropped us across the street instead of driving around six more blocks to drop us directly in front (for more Euros).
            We checked in and then took a walk around the area.  At 5:30 we met in the lobby with our tour director, Victor Santos, who took us for an orientation tour, which followed the same path we had chosen earlier. 

The old

The new EU - E=Espana or Spain

Bear and the Mulberry tree - the symbol of Madrid

City symbol is stamped on the sewer covers

        There are many interesting buildings with iron balconies and shops and cafes at ground level.  The main square, Puerta del Sol (Gate of the Sun), is like Times Square and was filled with people.  In the square is a cute statue of a bear eating the fruit of a mulberry tree.  It is the symbol of old Madrid.  Victor pointed out the grocery stores and major buildings, recommended restaurants, and told us how to orient ourselves for walks in the city.  Victor speaks good English and seems organized and accommodating to his travelers.  He gave us each a city map marked with our hotel and places of interest. 

Street scene

Street sign on the side of a building

Balconies, plants, and paintings

Valley of the Fallen - Monument to those who fell in the Spanish Civil War

Basilica of the Holy Cross at the Valley of the Fallen

Opera and ballet theater

Isabel II

We passed the opera and ballet theaters and the statue of Isabel II.

Phillip IV

Romans and Visigoths

           We walked through some gardens east of the palace (Plaza de Oriente) with a bronze statue of Phillip IV and marble statues of many of the Roman, Visigoth, and other early rulers of Spain.

           While waiting for the line to go through the Palacio Real (royale palace) to shorten, we walked through the Cathedral of Saint Mary the Royal of La Almudena, which is just opposite the palace.

Palacio Real

Cathedral of Saint Mary the Royal of La Almudena

Interior of the Cathedral of Saint Mary the Royal of La Almudena

Interior of the Cathedral of Saint Mary the Royal of La Almudena

Interior of the Cathedral of Saint Mary the Royal of La Almudena

        As you can see, the interior of the Cathedral was stunning - so colorful!

        The Palace tour was also very impressive, but no pictures were allowed. There are 2,800 rooms of which we saw only a few. 
        The first area we entered was the pharmacy with the old ceramic jars that held the powders and liquids used by doctors and the lab where they made the medicines.  Inside the palace we walked through the throne room, anterooms, bedrooms, a green room, a yellow room, a room with porcelain covering all of the walls and ceiling, and three rooms that opened into a huge dining room with one long table.           Our favorite room was the Stradivarius room, which displayed two violins (1690's), one viola, and one violoncello (1709), all decorated around the edge, and one plain cello.  We can't imagine their value or if anyone will sometime have the opportunity to play them.

In the market

            We walked on to Plaza Mayor that was once a bullring.  We ate lunch at Mageril's in the plaza and watched mimes, Disney characters, Spiderman, statues, and lots of people.  It was pleasant weather and very entertaining.

Plaza Mayor

Mageril's, our lunch spot in the Plaza Mayor

Plaza Mayor - Casa de la Panaderia

            We decided to continue walking back to the Prado to take pictures (outdoors) of what we saw yesterday without a camera because they are not allowed in the Prado.  We took pictures of the Prado (building and statues), the Saint Jerome Church behind the Prado.

The Prado Museum

Statue of Velasquez

Statue of Goya

Saint Jerome Church

        We continued walking back toward the hotel, passing the Neptune Fountain and the Cibeles fountain in front of the old Post Office, which is now the "Communication Palace."  This fountain used to be where soccer team victories were celebrated until damage was done to her.  Now it has a police presence.  We have many pictures of street scenes in Madrid.  The ironwork on the balconies and the decorations (statues) on top of buildings are unique. 

Neptune Fountain

Cibeles Fountain

Communications Palace/City Hall

Metropolis Building

         Later in the afternoon, we joined the group and 15 additional travelers (who had finally arrived) for a briefing and sangrias and then took a bus tour of Madrid. 

         Our first photo stop was at the Espana Square and monument to Cervantes who wrote Don Quixote.  At the top is an orb (the world) and people from around the world reading his book.  The front and back have statues of Don Quixote and Pancho Panza and Cervantes’ fabled true love, Dulcinea del Toboso.
            We stopped at another nice park (there are many green spaces in Madrid) with a fourth century BCE Egyptian temple to Amun and Isis, Temple Debod.  It was a gift from Egypt for Spain's help in saving antiquities from Lake Nasser.  We looked at another monument to Spain's Civil War - sandbags and the broken man.  It was impressionistic. 

Monument to Cervantes

Temple Debod

Monument to the Spanish Civil War