Blogs from Madrid, District of Madrid, Spain, Europe - page 12

Excitement began to surge through our bodies as we prepared to leave Santiago de Compostela, after completing our 500 mile, 800km Camino or The Way of St. James. We are now on our way. A taxi ride to the railway station for a 9.05am train ride, only to discover the train had a mechanical failure. After 45 minutes hold-up we were on our way to Madrid, a 6 hour ride through magnificent country, rugged mountains, plains, farming, communities both large & small. The most thrilling part was going through tunnel after tunnel, some miles long. The trains are fast trains, traveling at high speed. One tunnel we were in went right under the mountain range for some 15 minutes; we were traveling at speeds up to 240kmh, which gives you an idea of the distance. It ... read more

Madrid capital of Spain 14 to 17 October 2014 We arrived in Madrid at about 1.30pm and dropped our bags off at our hotel. We then drove to the address of where we were to drop the car off. After driving around one of the squares several times to look for the Europcar office to drop off the car, I got Tom to drop me off so that I could walk around and try to find the office. In the end, I found we had to park the car in a multi story car park and then there was a very small office that I also found where we could drop off the keys. All was good. We then had a coffee at Starbucks before jumping on a metro to get into the city centre - ... read more

Życie jak w Madrycie czyli... bardzo dobre życie! Przede wszystkim, to wrzesień jest idealny, żeby tu przyjechać - ciepło, ale nie upał i oczywiście mniej turystów. Chociaz wyjątkowo mało tu Rosjan i jeszcze mniej Niemcow. Ale mniejsza o nich, bo ciągle jest high season. Co oznacza, że np. sightseeing bus jezdzi od rana do wieczora, a nawet w nocy. Tak tak, to prawda - kupiliśmy dobowy bilet na autobus turystyczny i przejechalismy wzdłuż i wszerz. Polecam na krótkie pobyty. Mnie zresztą autobus pasował dziś szczegolnie. Po prostu rano potruchtalam do Parque del Retiro i chcąc nie chcąc musiałam zrobic wiele podbiegow - ukształtowanie terenu nie oszczędza nikogo - więc chętnie korzystałam z opcji krzeseł :) Podsumowujac, to nasz pobyt tutaj kręcił się wokół rozmaitych tapacerii, cafeterii, panaderii i innych. Ale zaliczyliśmy tyle kulinarnych wpadek co chyba ... read more

We are now in Madrid, centre of Royal and Catholic Spain with its magnificent palaces and plazas, baroque architecture and wonderful art galleries. Unfortunately neither the Palacio Real, where we began our Madrid tour yesterday, nor the Museo del Prado which we visited today, allows photos so you will just have to take my word for the beauties we are seeing inside and see photos of the plazas, buildings and parks. The Palacio Real and Madrid Cathedral sit on either side of a vast arched courtyard. Inside the Palacio is room after room of sumptuous decoration, each individual in style and colour and including marble mosaic floors, fresco ceilings (several by Tiepolo), detailed velvet wallpapers and matching upholstery, gold and marble inlaid tables and some 250 ornate clocks, not to mention painting and sculpture. One room ... read more

You know the song "I Left My Heart in San Francisco?" For a long time after leaving and just moving across the bridge to Oakland I truly experienced a feeling of loss and as if a small piece of me and what felt like a lifetime of memories had been left behind. Eventually I adapted to my new home and grew to love it immensely. But I can't help but wonder if that new love for Oakland, California had something to do with the fact that in the back of my mind I knew that on any given day I could hop in my car or on the BART and find myself in this city that I loved so much. My love for Granada is unlike this experience in that once I return home, I know ... read more