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Published: July 26th 2013
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Puerta del Sol
The bear on the tree is the symbol of Madrid - from when bears lurked in the Royal hunting grounds, and the madreno tree produced potent berries. My AC clicked off last night and never came back on in sweltering Pamplona, making for a night where I seemed to go in-and-out of fever dreams, waking or maybe sleeping at the same time. So I gladly set off bright and early, into the cool morning air, for my bus to Madrid, and for an actual home base for something like 5 days. I caught up on my sleep during the 5 hour ride, but was surprised by how arid and dry it continued to get as you approach Madrid. By the time we hit the city outskirts, the surrounding fields were like dust, absolutely desolate. Actually, the drive for some reason really reminded me of the drive to Grand Junction from Denver. A lot of the same type of scenery.
Finally in Madrid, I had my first encounter with the Metro. The Madrid underground truly is this weird world of its own, with passages twisting and turning into each other, lines going every which way, and even the occasional, and ominous, passage that just dead-ends at a solid concrete wall. Actually felt a bit like Neo in one of the Matrix films, when he's trapped at that Metro
Another View of Sol
The big building is actually where Francisco Franco's police used to reside - few people ever left the building alive. And this literally is the center of Spain. There's a marker in the pavement showing how all the major highways technically begin right here. Also where demonstrations take place. stop. At one point I even mysteriously went back and forth on the same line, getting off at the same stop I had just left like 5 minutes before. But I finally got the hang of it, and arrived at the literal heart of Madrid, Puerta da Sol, like an hour after I got in.
After checking in to my great hotel, the Plaza Major, I spent the rest of the day getting to know the city, taking a guided walk from my guide book. The main highlight was the absolutely massive Royal Palace, which at like 2500 rooms is hands down the largest in Europe, even surpassing Versailles. It also is one of the most lavish and beautiful, and, for a person who usually finds palaces somewhat dull, I truly enjoyed my time here. Room after beautiful room, and ceilings wonderfully decorated by Tiepolo, the great Italian painter of the 1700s. What's cool about his work is that he merges 3-D with 2-D, meaning that some of his figures literally come out of the painting, like a leg actually literally is now a sculpture on the ceiling. The painting comes to life!
Also realized how I've been
Plaza Major
The Medieval center of town, just up from Sol. The two towers with uniform windows on brick is a Madrid trademark. truly in the borderlands for awhile. I haven't seen an American I think since Lisbon. But suddenly I can't seem to not see an American. They're everywhere! And one thing I always find so interesting when you observe foreigners is how truly loud Americans are. I don't know if it's because we talk loud, but you always for some reason know when Americans are nearby. They make their presence know, for better or worse. Other people, especially the French and Germans, and especially the English, are just so quiet, almost like they whisper when they speak. They blend in more I guess.
Tomorrow I honestly spend the whole day at 2 of Madrid's incredible museums, the Prado and the Reina Sofia. Madrid, after Paris, is probably the best city in all of Europe, if not the world, for art. Some of the world's most famous paintings literally hang just down the street from where I'm sitting right now. Looking most forward to Picasso's masterpiece, Guernica.
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