Madrid in a flash

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Madrid was always going to be a quick stop for us. Land, rent a car, get to hotel, sleep, wake up, go see the Guernica (that's a Picasso that Catherine really wanted to see), and then drive to Seville.

We landed at 11am, exhausted but jubilant that we were finally there. Picked up the rental car and headed out to find our hotel. After her 3 hours sleep in 24 Sahara fell asleep before we had actually worked out how to start the car!

I had forgotten to specify that I needed an automatic car, and so not only did I have to cope with driving on the right, I had to also remember to shift gears with the wrong hand!! As for directions - we had trusty Brenda (my GPS phone) there to help us out, her sweet voice instructing us at every turn. I swear she saved us several arguments, and definitely think travelling with a GPS is the way to go! Got to the hotel, thought about heading out to see the sights, convinced ourselves that was a bad idea, and pretty much slept the rest of the day and night away.

The next day, it was time to go see a bit of Madrid, visit the Guernica, and head out. Only one problem - Qantas had lost our pram (and carseat), so we were going to have to carry Sahara around all day. Our little girl is a lightweight, weighing in at 8.2kg, and we had in fact been worried about the fact she hadn't put on weight in the last few months. But you won't believe how many times I was grateful for that today, as we lugged her from place to place. Stupid lost pram.

The historical centre is beautiful. Lots of cobblestoned streets, 2-story buildings oozing style and individuality, brightly painted with wrought-iron frames. Grand plazas with impressive buildings. Great cafes with good coffee, and even better, churros con chocolat, which are Spanish doughnuts that you eat dipping into melted chocolate. Yum.

Speaking of choc - Catherine rediscovered a childhood delight - Cola Cao - a bowl of chocolate that you have for breakfast, dipping your bread (and churros) into. Other breakfast delights included your standards pastries, all of which seemed to incorporate chocolate or sugar in rather alarming proportions. I'm not sure how all the Spanish folk keep their figures if they eat breakfast like this every morning!!

We had limited time, so we walked around the city a little bit, went to see el buen retiro, the big park in the centre of Madrid, which would have been beautiful In summer, but was looking somewhat sparse in winter (duh). And of course, Catherine got to see the Guernica, while I minded Sahara outside the museum, and that really made her day. (The last time she was in Madrid, they had loaned the Guernica out to another museum, so she'd always regretted not seeing it. )

Also ate another Madrid special - Bocadilla calamares - which is basically a large bun with lots of deep-fried calamari in it. Very yummy, but if you'd served it to me in Australia, I would have never though it to be a Spanish dish. Also quite unhealthy, but given the amount of walking we were doing, figured I could afford it 😊

And that was pretty much it - 4 hours in Madrid, and now it was time to hit the road. For some reason, I'd always thought Spain was a bit more undeveloped than places like Germany and France, and hence was expecting Madrid to a bit less modern. I was surprised at how clean and efficient everything was. Very few beggars, nobody trying to scam us. In fact, the busy madrilenos went about their own business and pretty much ignored us. Very refreshing.


Next stop Seville! Our holiday starts for real now…

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Photos

Sahara in the square
While mummy was looking at the Guernica, Daddy made Sahara do calisthenics in the square..

Some monument we saw in the park
Nope we don't know what it was, but we thought it was impressive. Too bad lighting wasn't good though :(

Sahara loves Churros with chocolate
Unfortunately her clothes, the table, and the people around her suffer for it :)

Museum of HAM??
'Museo de Jamon' translates to Museum of Ham (we think). We saw several of these shops, and they're basically delis. Somebody want to tell us what the alternate translation is?

Another random street shot
Pretty colours!

Comments

[Emma]

ha!
Oh, the entertainment has started again and I am having backflashes of my morning coffee while reading your blog. Lesley is of course getting the hilarious bits read out to her while she is trying to work! Cant get over how cute pumpkin looks in Madrid! Goodness! That child is not allowed more stamps on her passport than me. I have some serious planning to do. Love that you guys are not roughing it this trip, even if it is only cause of Sahara. What a lovely way to turn 30 Kit! Love ya's and miss you lots. The Corolla is being very loved! :-) Em

[kit thambiratnam]

sounds arduous
hope sahara calms down so you guys actually get some fun on the holiday. i've heard that copious amounts of childrens panadol not only keeps the germs contained, but knocks them out (only kidding).

[Gus]

Your translation is right. "Museo del Jamon" is the name of those delis which speciallity is ham, cured ham. Cured ham (or 'Jamon Serrano') is probably the most appreciated food by spaniards. As a mediterranean country, our gastronomy is widely based on pork, or lamb but not beef. That's somehow shocking for many brits, americans or australians I've met. Most spaniards abroad I know, when asked "Is there anything you miss of Spain?", they always answer: "el jamon"

[Gee]

Sahara - you are doing a fantastic job. Get you lots of chochies when you get back. Give daddy a good taste of his own medicine!

[Jane White]

You guys sooo need to get yourselves an Ergo baby carrier! Damien went mountain climbing with Elijah on his back a few weeks ago and said he barely noticed the weight at all. Much easier than lugging a pram around! Hope you have a fantastic holiday : )