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Published: January 15th 2009
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Destination: Madrid, Spain
December 13, 2008
Local Time: 15:10
First off, the airport delivered my luggage. Thank God! I immediately brushed my teeth, took a shower, washed my hair and changed to fresh clothes.
Woke up at 7:30 this morning to catch some breakfast and my Segway Tour (MagSegs) was at 10:00. Spain was definitely not a morning city, the streets were empty, stores were closed and most restaurants weren't opened. I walked out to Gran Via St. and have a cafe latte and a croissant at Starbucks. The Segway Tour meets at Plaza de Espana but after 30min I didn't see the tour guide anywhere so I left and went to see the Templo de Debod, an authentic 4th century b.c. Egyptian temple donated to Spain as a thank you for their help with building the Aswan Dam. It was free and located in a very open park. Not much to see inside, basically three rooms and a hallway displaying hieroglyphics and artifacts. Walk towards the back of the temple and you get a good view of the city.
I went back to Plaza de Espana and saw the Segway Tour people/guide. I asked him about
the tour and he did not know about the pre-paid (Expedia) Segway tour and also told me this was the 3rd time it happened in 2 months. However he kindly asked me if I can come back tomorrow at 14:00 because it was fully booked for the day. I didn't mind so I said "ok." So I took the Metro to Santiago Bernabeu Stadium, where the world renowned Real Madrid Futbol club plays. The tour of the stadium was 15euro, which I opt to pass since I'm not a big soccer fan. Walked around the stadium, took some pictures and bought some Real Madrid souvenirs at the Adidas store. It was not cheap! Went to a supermarket to buy some food/drinks and had lunch in my hotel because my legs were killing me. Cured jamon (ham) and baguettes were delicious and only came out to be ~3euros. A bottle of wine at the supermarket literally cost cheaper than water.
Local Time: 20:20
Went to Reina Sofia museum because it was free on Saturdays 15:30-18:00. Why pay to go?! Reina Sofia has a wide collection of early 20th century art including works of Picasso, Dali and Miro. Did not wait in line to get in. Reina Sofia consist of 2 main floors with arts displayed everywhere, including portraits, paintings, films and sculptures. The amount of arts were overwhelming and after the 1st floor I began to zone out. Some of these "modern" art were so simple, it looks like a 3 year kid can do it. The most memorable pieces from this museum were Salvador Dali's "El gran masturbator" and Picasso's "Guernica" which stands 776cm wide and 350cm high, the largest painting in the whole museum.
Next I went to Museo del Prado, which was only a couple of blocks away from Reina Sofia and it was also FREE from 18:00-20:00. I had to grab a coffee before heading there. This museum, however, had a long line for the free tickets. I waited 20mins.
Museo del Prado, which was one of the most famous museum in the museum in the world has an extensive collection of masterpieces from the 1100-1800. Prado was best know for their collecions of "El Greco," Goya and Velazquez work. This museum was even bigger than Reina Sofia but I charged through the museum with my caffeine surge. I was able to see various memorable masterpieces such as Durer's "Adam" ("Eve" was taken for restoration), Raphael's "The Cardinal", El Greco's "The Holy Trinity", Poussin's "Parnassus", Velazquez's "Las Meninas", and Goya's "The Family of Charles IV" just to name a few. As you can imagine two museums back to back was a bit much, so I suggest to only visit one per day.
My take on Spain so far. People of Spain are very friend/family oriented, I rarely see people eating or drinking alone, besides me. Groups of 4+ people are regular in restaurants and I even saw a cafe with a table of about 25-30 people. The outdoor table stretched like 20 feet. Friends and families congregate in the streets talking and singing. Family style food servings are very common and seem like alcohol is a very big part of the culture. I went to a coffee shop and they even have 1 or 2 beers on tab.
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