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Published: June 11th 2012
We began our time in Madrid with a three hour afternoon walking tour which took us through the main sites and orientated us to the city. Madrid is a large city yet with its numerous squares and plazas it has quite a lot of charm. In the afternoons the locals gather around their community plaza or garden area drinking and catching up on gossip while the children play in the streets. The sun does not go down until 10pm in summer and their life style reflects this with siesta in the middle of the day for resting and long nights.
After our walking tour we wondered around the main plaza, ate dinner and planned our following day. We have discovered our productivity as travellers is at its best when we have a list. So the next morning we awoke with a plan, more specifically a list of things that we wanted to see. First on our list was to walk to the Casa de Campo and catch the cable car across the city, we had heard that the trip is quite beautiful and takes you right over the Palacio Real. Three hours later we still hadn’t found the
Couple shot
At the top of Toledo cable car and the worst part was that we could see it. We tried following the cable and ended up very lost. Finally we decided to cut our losses and instead move onto the second thing on our list, the Museo Arqueological, which is suppose to be a fantastic museum with one of the most popular exhibits being an underground replica of the
prehistoric cave paintings. Our hopes were high until Aaron spotted a sign stating the museum was temporarily closed.
We were having some terrible luck; however there was more on our list to do, so off we went to discover the Parque De El Retiro which was absolutely beautiful. We walked to the Monumento Alfonso XII in the centre of the park which was surrounded by a manmade lake where people were rowing boats. The Park also houses a few art museums; we entered one which was showing some installation pieces. After a long day of walking we needed some refreshments so we settled down in the park with glasses of sangria (a perfect way to hydrate). Our day ended with a visit to Museo Nacional Del Prado which was free from 6
-8pm and was outstanding.
The following day we decided to do a day trip to the city of Toledo which was an hour bus ride away. Toledo was once the capital of Madrid and is now a UNESCO listed site. The city is perched high on a hill and is surrounded by a moat which gave it a good defensive advantage throughout history. After making the hike to the centre of the city, Zocodover square we decided to take a mini train ride throughout the city. I’m glad we did the train not only took us through the city but also around the protective walls where we were able to take a few photos. The city has inspired many artists, poets and writers in its time with is fairytale cityscape. We found the city itself very unique in that the buildings have been very well persevered. It was very easy to imagine what the life of the city was like in its golden years.
After the bus trip back to Madrid we visited Museo Centro de Arte Reina Sofía which is free from 7 until 8pm during the week. I
Parque De El Retiro
Monumento Alfonso XII was looking forward to visiting the museum since we decided to travel to Madrid and it didn’t disappoint. Seeing the originals from artists such as Pablo Picasso and Salvador Dali was amazing and in particular seeing the painting “Guernica” in all its glory was absolutely breathtaking.
After four extremely busy days in Madrid it is with empty pockets and sore feet we say farewell as we get ready for an early morning flight to Malta!
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liliram
liliram
I miss Madrid already!
Hey, these photos reminded me of my 10 week trip to Spain where I was based in Madrid mostly. It's nice to be reminded every so often. I love the Retiro Park and the free museums too. I have also tried Botin but didn't order the pricey set menu. We had a cochinillo and cordero shared among 4 of us and saved a lot. :))