Gallivanting Grandma

Monday, November 23, 2015

Another chilly 50 degree day in Madrid with brilliant sunshine. The Metro system is easy to navigate, spotlessly clean, and punctual. We rode the train from our hotel to the Opera station.

The Madrid Opera House: 

It’s just a couple of blocks to the Royal Palace which is a huge rambling building of 2,800 rooms finished in 1763.  

The palace was built to rival Versailles and the reputation is well deserved. I took a few pictures in public areas but photography was not allowed inside the ornate royal rooms.  

The palace was magnificent and very impressive. We wondered if the king had ever seen all the rooms.  Across the courtyard was the huge Catedral de la Almudena.  

Afterwards we walked around the center of the city and ended up at Mercado del San Miguel.

The market has been transformed into an upscale eatery where a variety of stalls offered yummy treats at reasonable prices. We found a couple of stools and shared some tapas and cidre.

We winded our way along narrow streets admiring the architecture and the life style.  Shadows lengthened as the sun dipped behind buildings and the air became colder so we returned to our hotel.

Madrid is an interesting city to explore. There’s much to do, great food, helpful friendly people, clean safe streets, beautiful historic architecture, and a tapas culture.

Sunday, November 22, 2015

El Rastro is the famous Sunday flea market which takes over many streets between La Latina Metro station and Ronda de Toledo in the Embajadores district.  We rode the Metro from our hotel to the closest station and followed the crowds. 

The temperature was 45 degrees this morning and perhaps a bit warmer by the time we got to El Rastro so we couldn’t believe how crowded it was. A mass of humanity moved at snail’s pace through narrow ancient streets.

One person’s junk is another’s treasure. I love the pink plastic flamingo! If I lived in Madrid, I would have made an offer to buy it. :-)

Street musicians provided entertainment for the shoppers who seemed to be buying used clothing and jewelry.

Crowds of multi-generational families were gathered in the Rondo del Toledo square buying, selling and trading ‘football’ cards.

We escaped the crowds and found a metro to take us to the center of the city. We walked to the famous Plaza Major which was undergoing preparations for the Christmas season.

It’s late November and the days are short with darkness settling in about five o’clock so our tourist time felt limited. We stopped at a small restaurant for a hot drink and enjoyed the ambiance of the Spanish culture of “tapas.” Our Potatas Bravas and Gambas al Ajillo were delicious!

We didn’t have dessert, but the pastries in a window looked very inviting:

We explored more of the city and then found a Metro to take us back to our hotel.

Saturday, November 21, 2015

Today was our first full day in Madrid.  We took a public bus along the Paseo del Prado to see the magnificent boulevard and the historic buildings which line the street.

Our first priority was to visit the famous Museo Nacional del Prado. No photography was allowed in the galleries.  We wandered through the impressive building to see the fabulous collection of paintings by Goya, el Greco, Velasquez, Titian, Tintoretto, Durer, Gainsborough, and Heranomus Bosch.

Madrid is a large bustling elegant city and very different from Barcelona. There’s a lot of traffic, people, shops, restaurants, and beautiful classic architecture.

We walked up the main street to Plaza del Sol but as the wind picked up and the temperature dropped, we began to feel cold.

The building in the photo above is supposed to be the largest Apple computer store in Europe.

We took the Metro back to the hotel, rested, and then went out for tapas at a local restaurant called Fanegas 29. Of course, we were too early! But we’re working on adjusting our clocks to “Spanish time.” :-)

Friday – November 20, 2015

Today was a travel day so we left Barcelona in the morning and took the high-speed train to Madrid. The distance between the cities is almost 400 miles (624 km) however the AVE train travels at speeds up to 185 miles per hour so the trip took just 2 hours and 45 minutes exactly.

We traveled through the Spanish countryside which was surprisingly flat and dotted with farms.

We arrived in the capital of Spain at exactly 1:45pm.  The Atocha Station was very modern and clean.

We found our hotel easily with the assistance of a taxi. We checked in and they gave us a large comfortable room.  We rested for a while then explored the hotel and walked around the neighborhood.  We found the closest Metro station and purchased a 10-trip pass to use during the week.  It was chilly so we returned to the hotel to relax and had a light supper.

Thursday, November 19, 2015

Today is our last day in Barcelona and we wanted to see a couple of different sites. It was a cool, bright sunny day and the city glowed. We walked through the Gothic Quarter to the magnificent Palau de la Musica Catalana, a concert hall built in 1908.

We took the guided tour and were treated to a mini-concert going on in the magnificent auditorium.

A quick stop in a cafe:  

A brief stop in La Boqueria: 

We had a rest/siesta on the roof terrace of our hotel then went to see Casa Lleo Morera, another Modernista house designed by Lluis Domenech i Montaner. The house was built in 1906 for a wealthy Spanish family.

It was a beautiful building with incredible design elements.

Our final supper in Barcelona was ‘tapas’ at Irati Pintxos Restaurant followed by churros and chocolate at Granjala Pallaresa.

Yes, that’s whipped cream heaped on thick unsweetened dark chocolate! 

What a way to end a great week in Barcelona!!!