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Palacio Real
Built by the Grandson of Louis xivWe both slept very well last night, the bed is very firm, and add 2 days with no real sleep we were out like lights and slept straight to the 7:00 am alarm. We did not actually get up at 7 but allowed a little late sleeping before we started our first full day of Madrid. Breakfast is included with our room, but we nearly missed it only caught the last 30 minutes, which meant all of the hot items were gone. There was still plenty of good Spanish hams, cheeses, bread, pastries and fruits. The coffee was strong one of those Nespresso machines.
Royal Palace and Cathedral
Our day started with a tour of the Palacio Real, the Spanish version of Versailles, however, it doesn’t really compare with Chateau Versailles, I really don’t think anything can. But with over 2400 rooms, it was still pretty nice. The Madrid Pass, allowed free entrance and avoiding any waiting in line. There was a 2 hours guided tour, but we opted for the self-guided tour, which worked out just fine. The furnishings and decorations in each room are in amazing shape, unfortunately
we were not allowed to take any pictures, I guess the Spanish Royalty is a bit more protective than the French when it comes to their luxurious way of living. The palace has not been lived in by the Royal family for quite some time, but it is still used for state dinners and other official visits. The great banquet room was the largest of all the rooms and could hold quite a large dinner party.
From the palace we walked across the grounds to the Cathedral de La Almundena, a relatively new Cathedral as it was only sanctified in 1993. The cathedral of course sits on the ruins of a Masque, which many cathedrals in Spain do. We took the stairs to the top of the cupula and were rewarded with a great via of all of Madrid. We then viewed the inside of the cathedral, which was nice, but they really do all look the same to me, and not being catholic most of it is lost on me. But the art, stained glass windows and architecture are always interesting.
Arab Wall
From the cathedral we found our way to what remains of
the Arab Wall, which was replaced by the wall of old Madrid upon the re-conquest of the Christians (catholic church) over the Moors. The wall is in good shape but you are not allowed to go in to the section of the park where the wall is located, you must view it from outside the park.
Lunch and walk of the plazas
From the Arab wall we wound our way down Calle Mayor stopping at Plaza de la Villa. There were a couple of architectural buildings of note Casa de la Villa, built in 1629 in classic Madrid design and Casa de Cisneros with its plateresque style. The next stop was Plaza San Nicolas de Los Servitas were one of the oldest buildings in Madrid built in 1085 after the Moors were ran out of town. We roamed a few more streets until we came to Plaza de San Miguel. This was a very busy plaza with restaurants surrounding the plaza and in the center the Mercado de San Miguel, which originally was an actual market. The building has been turned in to what I call upscale street food. Stall after stall of different types of
food, cheeses, beers and wines. It is a food lovers delight. A word of caution, it is not for those in a rush or looking for a casual sit down lunch. In fact, you may not find a place to sit at all. Much like shopping at Trader Joes, in New York, there is a system to enjoying all there is to offer in the Mercado. One very good thing is that the purveyors of fine Spanish wines come to you wherever you are offering a glass of wine while you ponder you dinning choices. So our approach was to walk through the entire market to determine what we were in the mood from and they really have something for everyone, from calamari to pizza. Once you have decided what you want, the next step is to get a glass of wine and find a place to sit, patience in the name of the game here, we were lucky and found a spot close to the wine bar very quickly. Once you have your wine and seat you then, one at a time, go purchase your food goodies. Jerry had a lobster gazpacho and a ham and manchego turnover for
lack of a better description. I had something Madrid is actually famous for, a calamari stuffed roll, nice crispy calamari rings in an excellent roll. We had a few glasses of wine and then a second course of salmon topped with caviar and a crab salad topped with caviar. We then ended with a selection of cheese including one we have never tried a cheese from Cadiz called Payoyo, it was really good.
After lunch we continued our stroll through the streets and plaza’s. Madrid is much like Venice if you get off the main streets and walk the less travelled path, you come to a plaza about every 50 feet, each with its own character and several cafes and bars. The next Plaza was Plaza de Paja where the Varga Palace stood and a bishop’s house. From there we walked up calle cava baja, this street lined with tapas bars and restaurants, it was after 4 so everything was closed and in the process of getting ready for the evening rush, but this gave us a good opportunity to see the street without the crowds and to pick a place for dinner later to night.
We continued
on to Plaza Mayor, this is one of the largest plaza’s in the city and is similar to San Marco Square in Venice. It has a large bronze statue in the middle and on every side there are numerous sidewalk cafes and several shopping venues. It was at one time the central market square for the city it now houses the tourist office and other businesses. Jerry looked for a hat but could find none to his liking. We then headed towards our last stop for the day Puerta Del Sol, which is the never center of Madrid, in fact there is a bronze plaque where KM 0 is indicated, which is where all distances from Madrid our measured. So it is the center of Spain one could say. The square is lined with stores, government offices and most metros intersect here. There are two statues in the square the first King Mayor Carols III on horseback and the second is Madrid’s official symbol a bear climbing a strawberry tree (I didn’t know the grew on trees only seen them on bushes on the cold cold ground of Oregon.
From there we hopped on the Metro back to the
Hotel for wine thirty, blogging and dinner reservations. I was very proud of myself today, I managed to make two separate reservations solely in Spanish, not great Spanish but I did get the job done. Well we will see how good I was at it when we show up for dinner tonight and tomorrow night.
Not all dinners are equal
As we were waiting for the metro to go to dinner an announcement came over the intercom. Of course it was entirely in Spanish but I didn’t need to speak Spanish to know what they were saying, I am pretty sure it was something like this “after an earlier incident at . . . the 3 train is running with delays in both directions” Now if you live in New York, you understand, if you don’t trust me I hear it every day at home. This caused us to be 15 minutes late for our reservation, and I worried all of my hard work at speaking Spanish may have been for nothing, but it all turned out well.
Dinner was ok, not outstanding, but not I need to get up and leave either. Overall it
was basically home cooking, not that there is anything wrong with that, but I can do that at home don’t really want it on vacation, unless I am actually in someone’s home. The place was small and ran by a husband and wife team and one server, who was apparently new as she was very confused and messed up a few orders, not ours but several other tables. Jerry’s experience was damped by the bitchy French women at the next table. I didn’t even really notice them, but evidently they had quite the attitude. We had a bottle of Cava (Spanish sparkling wine) with our meal, normally we have a glass before dinner, but they did not sell it buy the glass.
Dinner consisted of two tapas, a salad each and our entrees. The tapas were by far the best part of the meal and we should have just stayed with tapas. The rest of the meal was just slightly above mediocre, so better than anything in Hell’s Kitchen. Dinner was as follows:
Tapas Croquetas caseras de Jamon (house made corquetas with ham) they seemed to be lacking the ham and were actually probably cod.
Pimentos
del piquillo rellenos de setas y gambas banado al jugo de propia pimiento (roasted red peppers stuffed with mushrooms and shrimp in a red pepper sauce) Very good,
Jerry had an ensalada de lechuga tomate y cebolla (tomatoes, lettuce and onions) average
I had an ensalada de tomate cebolla y ventresca (tomatoes, onions and tuna belly) the tuna was disappointing but the dishes were average, needed more oil and vinegar.
Jerry’s entrée was Lenguada a la plancha (grilled sole) very simply cooked bone in so he had to learn how to use a fish knife and it had a bit too much salt for my taste, served with a side of very buttery sautéed potatoes.
I had the house specialty codillo (pork shank) served with paprika boiled potatoes and turnip greens, could have done without that. It was very tender and tasted good, just really lacked a nice sauce to bring it all together.
We ended with Creama Catalana Casera, it doesn’t translate to anything else and I had Brownie casero con healdo de vanillia. Again I think you can figure that out.
The meal ended with a complimentary aperitif of a Spanish liquorish
liquor.
The name of the restaurant was La Cava de Illan, it had several very good reviews on trip advisor, but I don’t think that did them any favors as they seem a bit overwhelmed by the extra business.
The metro ride back was long as the trains run very far a few between after 10, but we are back safe and sound in the room preparing for another day. Unfortunately, I have to start my day by checking work e-mails.
Until tomorrow, adios.
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