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Published: August 19th 2011
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Plaza Mayor
Famous of course but look how empty it is. The whoel city is usually roaming around in here. Its been a while so lets just get to it.
The Madrid apartment was great and we enjoyed 5 event filled days there loving it all and taking in one beautiful Castillian city. The one thing we did notice was that the longer we stayed the less crowded the city became. More stores and restaurants closed their doors and more suitcase laden travelers were jumping on the Metro or bus to head out of town. I would have thought that Madrid would be a Mecca of sorts but it seemed that was not the case. We were to find that the beach cities like Barcelona were where everyone was going but that story can wait a while.
The upside to the city emptying out was that we were free to roam with a feeling that the city was ours alone. The Museums we wanted to visit were all still open so we enjoyed small crowds and unhindered viewing of the art there. Of course the Prado was a favorite and that was our primary objective. We had read about the Thyssen as well and we added that to our list for later during our stay. None of the restaurants we intended
Casa Botin
Suckling Pig is a specialty in what claims to be the oldest restaurant in the world (est 1623 or there about). Food was fantastic to visit were closed so that was not a problem but getting used to their hours was a small issue. Lunch in Madrid started at 1300 and went most places until 1600 or 1630. However, you would start to get a little push back on seating if you showed up around 1530 because kitchens were starting to shut down. Tapas was a little less of an issue since that was being cooked constantly and intended for a quicker stay. We liked to linger for at least an hour over our lunch meal which has become the big meal of the day for us. Anyway, it was never a real problem as you can see from the pictures we ate well everywhere we went.
We did a fair amount of walking here. We lived in the La Latina district which is in a very old part of the city. As such it had an eclectic population with young folks as well as older more established people. We strolled through the narrow winding streets most everyday looking for interesting stores or restaurants. Those daily trips usually included a walk through the Plaza Tirso Di Molina (also a metro stop). That was a
Tirso Di Molina
We passed this statue named after the monk who was briefly a heretic. curious place, not very wide but kind of long, where you would see drunks, musicians, mothers pushing kids on swings and tourists like us walking through. We went past that place especially on the last two days in Madrid because we had found something there that we have yet to find in Torino. VO or Verion Originale movies. If you didn't know well now you do , that Debi and I love the movies and this was a real find. In the states we are usually at a movie the week it comes out (if we are interested) but in Italia we were weened from that habit because 1) we don't understand Italian that well yet, 2) we know what Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie, and every other actor of our generation, sounds like so it is very annoying to listen to a movie with faux voices while reading subtitles. Anyway, we saw Rise of the Planet of the Apes and Harry Potter in Madrid (Capt America in Barcelona which is next) all in VO so we could ignore the subtitles. One small problem which actually happened a couple of times. Apes has a sequence where two apes are signing
Chapel at the Prado
On the way to the entrance to the Museum is a beautiful lawn and this lovely Chapel in the distance. The weather has been like this the whole trip so far. (with their hands of course) to each other. That dialog was translated into Spanish so we missed that, a small annoyance.
The Prado was magnificent and a lot more spacious than we remember it being in 1976 when Deb and I were there on our honeymoon. Like I mentioned it was uncrowded and we strolled for 2.5 hours seeing art from the masters over the centuries. Very close to and a bit north of the Prado, the Thyssen was more eclectic and from our POV not as good. The museum is the representation of a great private collection sold to Spain for 35 million Euro some years ago. So the pieces are beautiful in many cases but many represent lesser works from some great artists but mostly not what one would consider their finest works. Still it was uncrowded and it was worth a look. We read that the restaurant atop the museum is fantastic and we even got reservations but we opted for other things so maybe next time.
One of the most interesting things we did in Madrid was to attend a Flamenco show. We did a little research and found that may exist but some are considered
Just sitting
Having a great time together!! commercialized and less authentic. So after a little Google searching and blog spying I found what appeared to be an authentic Flamenco show that was very nearby the apartment. The place was called Casa Patas and the show (32 euro each that included the 1st drink) started at 2230. It was amazing! Deb was not so enthralled with the music but I found it pretty exhilarating. The dancers and musicians put on an emotional, sweat drenched, show that lasted for 1.5 hours with a 20 min intermission. That time just flew by . It is highly recommended that you try to see some Flamenco if you visit here.
We strolled the winding streets, toured museums, ate like kings and relaxed as well. One lovely and empty city down and a train to Barcelona ahead. We were to find that most of the people who were leaving Madrid seemed to end up in Barcelona with us but that is another story.
Buenos Dias
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