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Published: March 24th 2013
The first thing that I want to say is ... OUCH! I'm not saying this to be lamented really because there are worse things that could be happening to me at this very moment. But can I just say that my calves are so freakishly sore from the incessant hill climbing of Toledo yesterday.
My day started out feeling a little indecisive and therefore could not really make up my mind as to what I really wanted to do. There were still a few things that I wanted to do in Madrid itself but I was also really interested in two other places out of Madrid. I set out with the idea that I would spend the day here in Madrid and tomorrow go to San Lorenzo del Escorial and forget about Arenjuez.
First thing I did was explore Gran Via, one of the main arteries of Madrid and where my hotel is actually located. I compare Gran Via to the Magnificent Mile in Chicago, the mecca for shopping. Not really my thing and it is so early that even the McDonalds is not opened.
A young man comes up to me and decides to strike up a conversation which I was proudly able to maneuver in Spanish ... Bottom line, he kept asking me if I wanted my picture taken. At this point, I'm thinking that he may want the camera so I'm trying to shake him. He asks me if I have a boyfriend or husband and I say yes. Not easily fooled he asks why I am travelling alone ... to this I answer (in Spanish) ... he has no job and therefore no money for travel ... This is the thing, there are really only two verbs that I fully know how to conjugate and they are "to work" and "to travel". I knew that they would come in handy one day!!
As you head down Gran Via, you eventually reach Plaza España, a large square with two imposing fountains and the remnants of party goers from the night before (funny that wasn't mentioned in my guidebook). There is one guy dressed from head to toe in a bubblegum pink ensemble with matching pink angel wings who blows me a kiss and says buenas dias señorita. Something tells me I'm not his type. There are the two "Chippendale" hopefuls walking down the Plaza without their shirts on and as I head down the metro station, the guy who is belting out tunes while riding up the escalator on the railing as if it were a horse ... aaah the crazies are out on a beautiful Saturday morning in Madrid.
Like I mentioned, I was having an indecisive morning and felt bad that I was not spending that much time in Madrid if I ended up doing these two other places on top of Toledo. Four towns in about five days seemed a little excessive. But I decided that the lure of Arenjuez was calling and that tomorrow I would do San Lorenzo. Back to the train station I went. I had read in a fellow bloggers entry that it was hard to figure out where to buy tickets to take the train ... not my experience at all. I think with anything you need to do a bit of reading up and for Madrid, you have the regular train that will take you out of the city but they also have suburban trains, the ticketing for which is actually very similar to the metro. I purchased my ticket in a vending machine and realized that the next train was leaving in two minutes so I bolted to catch it. The suburban trains are actually quite modern and spotless. They are not as comfortable than a regular train but still better than a subway. I knew that I had made the right decision when all of a sudden a band got on the train and started playing music from the Andes.
The ride to reach Arenjuez takes about 40 minutes. The tricky part to this was that I did not have a map in my book so I was pretty much on my own once I got there. I asked one woman where the Palacio Real was and her answer was Madrid!!! Mmmm not much help ... a man overheard her and he proceeded to explain to me how to get there. Something something a la derecha and something something al izquierda, some waving of the hand in a general direction something something al fondo and something something mucho grande. From that I got take a right, a left and then go far it's so big you can't miss it. Just as I am heading in the general direction that he pointed to, I realized that there was a huge town map with all of the major sites highlighted. Mmmm that would have been handy right at the exit of the train station!!
That man was quite right ... it was mucho grande and no you could not miss it. This palace was the springtime residence of the Spanish monarchs in the 17th and 19th century. Although not as large, the main building design was ultimately modelled after the royal palace in Madrid and therefore once again has a huge parade square in the front.
As I went to pay for my ticket, the woman asked me if I was a student to which I said no that I was 38 years old. To that she proceeded to tell the woman beside her and they proceeded to talk amongst themselves. I was waiting for a face touching incident like in Bangkok but I was spared.
Just as I was going from room to room and telling myself that it was not as ornate as the Royal Palace in Madrid, I entered the Arabian room. The words "Take me to Your Casbah" came to mind. This was by far the most ornate room that I had ever seen. I was floor to ceiling carvings in the typical colours that you would associate with Arabian/Indian decor. There were long chairs covered in red velvet and this enormous chandelier made of bronze that had 81 arms from it. You then made your way to the Queen's dressing room and bedroom which again were lavish with these incredibly ornate furnishings and decorations. And just to top off the ornate factor, you made your way to the Porcelain Study where the walls were decorated with different carvings made of porcelain. This included huge trees that climbed all the way to the ceiling and monkeys hanging from the branches. There were Chinese men and women in different settings.
As you finished the tour of the Palace itself, the marked path lead you to a smaller museum that essentially depicted the daily life of the Royals. It started with gowns and suits recently worn by the monarchs. The next room contained five absolute exquisite wedding dresses that had been worn by members of the Royal family. The museum also includes saddles, leather chaps, a portable gym with red velvet covered dumbbells. There were items relating to the children of the monarchs such as their cribs, baptism gowns and bicyles. There was a full room dedicated to those handheld fans, each with differing designs and materials in which they were made. Once you completed that you could also tour the enormous gardens that surround this Palace, which I did a bit before stopping for lunch.
I then decided to walk a bit through the town itself. I realized that someone had given me a pamphlet for one of those little trains that goes around the town and goes to all of the tourist attractions which by showing the route had also provided me with a pretty good map. So I did a bit of walking and realized that many of the shops and such were actually closed. It either had to do with the fact that it was Sunday or that it was the vacation period. There were a lot of restaurants and shops so it must be a lively little town when in full swing. There was even a bar called La Cervaceria de Quebec! Had it been opened, I would have definitely stopped in.
The last site I saw was the Royal Church of San Antonio, where earlier I had seen a wedding. As I approached it, I realized that I had the best photo op. The rose petals, rice and confetti were all still on the stoop of the church. There was a man with his small puppy there and the puppy was rolling around in it. The smell was so beautiful.
I then returned to the train station and made my way back to Madrid. The train station is actually quite close to the Botanical Garden so I decided to end the day by a relaxing stroll through the gardens. I think that the season has passed and most of the flowers were past their prime. Still a beautiful green space. There was one area where it was this long archway covered in different varietals of grapes. Some looked quite barren but there were definitely varietals where the grapes were still quite abundant. It truly was a relaxing way to end the day.
I then commited the ultimate sin in travelling ... a cuarto de libra con queso ... a quarter pounder with cheese!!! I was hungry and it was across the street from the Botanical Gardens. In my defence, had the Pad Thai Restaurante been opened I would have been all over that. Can I just say that as North Americans we are seriously being giped in our condiments at McD's and that the meat did not seem to be as "mystery" to me here in Spain??? And they serve beer ... okay non-alcoholic beer but it actually seemed to be extremely popular.
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