Return to Madrid

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Today was another early wake up as we had to reboard our bus for the drive back to Madrid. Before leaving, the entire group gathered in front of the bus for a group photo. Since we were such a small group compared to most Contiki tours, an "official" group photo was probably cancelled. We drove for most of the morning back to the capital, arriving in Madrid just before noon. We were finally back to where it all started almost 2 weeks earlier at the Hotel Praga. The rest of today was a free day as there weren't any planned activities. However, the group was going to get together later in the evening for dinner.

Shea and I decided to venture into Madrid and visit a few of the famous museums. We knew that they were going to close early today so we pretty much set out right after arriving at the hotel. Today was a warm muggy day in Madrid and the line to enter the Prado Museum stretched pretty far. While in line, we discovered that there was no admission fee to get into the Prado. This must have explained why there was so many people there. The Prado is one of Europe's best known museums. Many famous works of art are on display from famous Spanish artists. However, I was only vaguely familiar with a few works by Goya and Picasso. We spent about an hour just walking around the museum and admiring all the paintings and statues. There wasn't anything in particular that we wanted to see. It was just nice to just wander one of the world's greatest museums. After spending time at the Prado, I wanted to visit the Reina Sofia Museum to see my favorite painting, Pablo Picasso's Guernica. Painted in the late 1930's in response to the bombing of the small Spanish town of Guernica, the painting has become the world's most famous artistic representation of anti-war sentiment. After paying our entrance fee, we headed straight for the painting on the third floor. It was much larger than I had anticipated, roped off from the public, and closely guarded by security. The no photography rule was strictly enforced as every time I thought it was safe to sneak a non-flash photo, it seemed like security was looking right at me. So I refrained from sneaking a photo and just settled on admiring the painting and examining all it's details. We were at the Reina Sofia Museum no more than 30 minutes. With the exception of the Guernica painting, there weren't any other notable works to see. After leaving the museum, we just wandered the immediate area trying to decide where to go next. We stumbled across the Atocha train station which was where a few of the bombs exploded during the Madrid train bombings just 2 months prior. Just a few minutes from one of the world's most famous anti-war symbols, we run into the site of one of Europe's deadliest terrorist attacks. It was a moment of tragic irony and a reminder of the times in which we live.

We made our way back to the hotel as Shea wanted to relax a bit before dinner. Earlier in the day, I had overheard Mike talking about seeing a bull match this evening. I had thought about it during the day and decided that I wouldn't mind seeing one as well. Although I am personally against the sport, it remains a very important part of Spanish culture. I was looking for Mike back at the hotel but was unable to find him. So I just decided to make my way to the Plaza de Toros de Las Ventas by myself. I took the metro to the bullring and was a bit nervous doing it myself. I was paying close attention to every stop and kept looking at the map to ensure I was going in the right direction. When I made it to my stop and exited the station, I was surprised to see just how many people were here to see the bullfight. I made my way over to a ticket counter but was getting a little intimidated by all the Spanish being spoken around me. That's when I noticed a sign stating that all tickets were sold out. I settled on just walking around the stadium, taking photos, and purchasing a few bull fighting related souvenirs before making my way back to the hotel.

At around 7pm, most everybody in the group met up in the hotel lobby for dinner. Not really knowing where to go, we basically wandered the surrounding area and settled on a small tapas bar. It took them awhile to find a place to seat all us. It was a bit difficult as the waitor did not speak any English and most of us did not speak much Spanish. There wasn't really much to choose from. I only ordered a few tapas, some kind of fish, some sausage, and some manchengo cheese. Afterwards, some people went back to the hotel to hang out in the bar. Others were a bit more adventurous and wanted to go to a local bar in town. I went out with the more adventurous lot. We wandered aimlessly around the streets of Madrid searching for a watering hole that had some dancing. After about 2 hours of walking and checking out a few places, we settled on just going back to the hotel bar. The rest of the night was spent here just hanging out and drinking with some of the tour members.

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Photos

The Group
Leaving Valencia

The Prado Museum
One of the many beautiful paintings

The Reina-Sofia Museum
Home of the Guernica

The Plaza de Toros de Las Ventas
Madrid's bullring