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Published: June 20th 2013
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Train is new.....no dramas getting there..putting our bags in the train and the views of the country side awesome ...the view in front of me of the spaniard not bad either...train is doing 299km...tells you..and you can watch movies...
Get to know your city. First stop. The bear with the strawberry..it's situated in Puerta del sol. It is also a central point for everyone to meet. it's where the roads of madrid start..there is a zero point where they are all measured by. Shopping centre and quite a few buskers..dressed as Mickey Mouse, Minnie, sponge bob and others..I thought I was back at Disneyland.
Madrid is such a pretty city....after walking, walking and walking...we decided to stop for a beer and empanadas. Yes it was a Chilean one too. Fancy having a little of Chile in Spain. So while we were having our beer al fresco. We looked over to Macas and what do we see...street girls...yes I'll have chips with that and a prostitute thanks...we later walked down the street and yes there there were more...in the middle of eating and shopping.
We didn't catch much of the metro. As pretty much you can walk all or
most of Madrid. In our stay we visited a beautiful crypt, The Almudena cathedral, Neon Roman style, 400 columns, 20 chapels.We then headed off to the Royal Palace of Madrid. Weren't allowed pictures as the Royals still live there.
The markets for fresh food, tapas, coffee, beer, fruits, olives (heaven for me), seafood....and all this other food including sweets.
The Jardines del Buen Retiro. Is a massive park where all spaniards go to escape the heat, play sport, have beers and picnics. It also has a big lake in the middle where you can hire boats. We went on a solar panel boat as Carmen didn't want to row the boat. The park also boasts the crystal palace...used to have a pool but pretty much it's all concrete now...the garden of roses ...where the roses where a bit dead due to the heat....we walked and it was pretty hot. Carmen went home to rest and I went off to explore some more...I found more parts of the park with these weird little trees. i then headed off to the botanical gardens and I found a Spanish wedding in this beautiful gothic church. That night after I rested for
a little while we went off clubbing. First stop a club called "planet"...we paid for the entry and discounted drinks...a bit of a dance more and more drinks and fries. We went off to an Irish pub...we keep going back to them. I think we got home early in the morning. Hangover the next day.
Bullfighting was a total experience for both of us. It's one of those things that you need to see even though you know it's going to end up badly for either the bullfighter or the bull. This time it was the bull..there was six bulls, we lasted through one. And it was hot. Carmen even bought a cap.I think it was to cover her growing helmet...cap didn't even fit properly.
i don't know if its us? every time we looked outside our hotel, something was happening in our street. One morning I woke up to a loud bang but then went back to sleep. Then it was siren after siren after siren. I said to Carmen I think there is some thing going on today. When Carmen we to have a shower. I poked my head out the window and the I saw
cops, firemen outside our street. The whole street was closed. Then a fireman came up in the cranes. It was entertaining until the cops saw me..then 15 minutes later we were evacuated. Lucky Carmen was dressed. They would have brought the swat team then lol.
The next two days there were protests...I asked the taxi driver why they were protesting? he said if they could they would do it everyday three to five times a day...well I don't mind I just keep perving at the cops....
Prado museum was amazing. Paintings by Goya, el Greco, Raphael, Rubens and many more...our feet were so tired ...Carmen things her bones in her feet are now broken...lol
.It's been a lot of fun in Madrid. Shopping was great..i even took Carmen for a hair cut...Bit over the tapas and paella for a while. But it was nice to end it at the top level of el Cortes ingles restaurant with a mojito and have one more look at this beautiful city.
Yes ! we then had to say goodbye to the girls at McDonald's with a beer and empanadas.
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