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Published: August 5th 2007
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I think most of all we've been looking forward to some warm weather, and going from news reports, Madrid had been through a heat wave already, and other parts of Mediteranean Europe have been fighting bush fires for some time, but that was not the heat we were hoping for. Luckily for us the whole week we were there we had warm and sunny weather, so that was all just honkey-dory! Tick 1!
Place of residence was one of the High Tech Hotels, Calle Arenal, 200m from Plaza Sol, so right in the heart of the old town, and barely a minute away from Plaza Mayor! Some reasons behind that. Most hostels didn't seem to have availability for the whole week, so moving up on the scale we found ourselves booking a 3 star hotel. Also keeping in mind that it was the heart of summer season, meaning it might be hard to get accomodation anyway, and running around with 2 heavy bags after over 7 months is not an option anymore. Apart from the slight smell issue (sewage), and 3 bus loads of Yanks (2 under age, 1 retirement age, all 3 inconciderable again) the hotel was a good
pick, even just for being IN the centre. Why they are High Tech hotels is still a mystery, as one of the internet PCs continuously crashed, ans it is highly questionable if any guest really wants to look through a glass door into the bedroom whilst sitting on the white throne...... but our guess is that the name comes from the super dooper massage showers!! Either way, tick 2!
Anyway, plenty more ticks, it pretty much was a really great week. Sunny, warm, friendly people, good coffee and food (mostly), and managed to get lots done.
The jet lag hit us a bit harder than expected, so the first few days we didn't manage to get out of bed at a decent hour, or manage to get to sleep anywhere near midnight, so the first 2 days were a bit lost, although we did manage to walk around a lot, and enjoy a walk through the magnificent palace.
After that, we managed to wake up a bit earlier day by day, but first up, of course, was the obligatory bus tour! And being a major capital, this one was of the hop-on hop-of type, even better, so
we did it all in one go and didn't bother hopping of or on, except for changing from the red route (old Madrid) bus to the blue route bus (new Madrid). Open top of course, which makes for a nice tour in the sun. The best part probably was realising that most of the things we saw, we could've actually walked to!
Saturday night we tried to line up for last minute tickets for the end of season concert in the Teatro Real, with Placido Domingo performing! No such luck, but they had erected a very large screen outside the Theatre, so we could watch most of the concert there (albeit a bit delayed). Nearly halfway the concert, the sound dropped out, and then the screen as well. Some disappointment in the crowd, but it was soon clear that this was as planned! The old Tenor, together with the director and Soprano came out on the balcony, and sing a Madrid madrid tune, together with the audience of course! The last minute tickets would've been very cheap, but this was all free, so quite a nice way to spend a Saturday night!
On Sunday we managed to get
to the Prado museum in good time, but there was already a large queue in front of the entrance! Sundays are free entry days here, so again, not much to complain! An interesting mix of art here, with local greats such as Miro and Velazquez, but also Rafael, Bruegel, Rubens, and many more. On a global scale, the building is rather large, with not much to charm visitors with. Some roof windows let in rather bad lighting on some of the masterpieces. And quite frankly, I was glad to see some Belgian greats, as the Spanish greats didn't do much for me.
At night we made a mad dash out to one of the local theatres, to see Bizet's Carmen, but this time addapted to flamengo music and dancing. Quite fun, although it did feel a wee bit touristy (making it quite appropriate I guess).
Then a mad dash via Metro to the Placa de Ventas, for the Bull fighting !! No Bull, I took a vegetarian to the bull fighting, and she wasn't too happy with it. Well, these bulls really put up a fight, what can you say, so it wasn't always pretty. A bit like
being IN the movie Gladiator, but very up close and personal! Anyway, if anyone also likes to look at very arragant men in in very tight pants, sequent covered jackets, and pink socks, this is the place for you! I still don't know why any man would wear womens leggings, I mean, we do know at least a little bit of room to stow away you know who.......
Monday we first had planned to go to Toledo by train, but as the long queue in front of the ticket counter disolved, it was apparent that the 12.20 train was full, and the next one would not give us much time in Toledo. So we bought return tickets for the next day, and headed to the Reina Sofia museum next door!
The museum is a bit of a mix, with the new wing housing a lot of temporary (modern) art exhibitions. One was even highly interactive (watch video). The old building houses predominantly Spanish art, arranged in either order or time or style. It also houses Picasso's "Guernica" monster painting, plenty of work by Miro, and some surrealist works by Picasso.
After a spot of lunch we headed
for the Retiro park, Madrid's equivalent of Central Park (NY) or Centennial Park (Sydney). The park also has the Crysal and Velazquez palaces, but both were closed. The big pond with the rowing boats was open though, even though we prefered a beer over rowing in circles (or squares).
Monday night again, we tried one more time for last minute tickets for Madam Butterfly (directed this time by Placido), but allas, no luck again. Tried to find some flamengo cafes, but also no luck there. Nevertheless, it was still quite a late night, in true Madrid style!
So Tuesday we did make it to the train, an earlier one this time. Quite surprisingly, or maybe after recent events not really, the whole checking in to the train was quite like getting on an airplane, including a bag scan! The main difference with a plan being, again, that the seats are bigger and more comfy. Most trains here seem to be hight speed ones though, which is surprising again, making the 70km journey to Toledo only a 30 minute experience!
Toledo, in the heart of the La Mancha area, is known as the area where Cervantes had his
mad knight Don Quichote roam around and fight windmills, and also for it's blacksmiths. So just like alpaca products in Peru, in Toledo every second shop can seel you big swords or knives, and mideieval body armour..... and at the door usualy Don Quichote is trying to lure you in! The old city walls, cathedral, churches, monestaries, and the hill it is all set upon make it a true postcard town. Also meaning that there were hoards of tourists out and about. The funiest expreince was sitting down in a bakery for lunch, and the lady running outside to the bakery opposite to buy bread for our lunch...... the strangest/scariest was me shopping for a true Toledo made stainless steal knive, forgetting the train procedures, getting caught out at the scanner, but still being allowed to take a very big and sharp knive onboard of the train back to Madrid...... but then again, if half the town is selling them, you cannot expect people not to buy them!
Last night in Madrid, with another lovely meal, and next day we were heading out through the Metro again towards the airport. And unfortunately after a lovely week in Madrid, we
had to go through an experience which we'd planned to avoid..... the BA flight was being operated by Iberia...... we'll spare you the details, but we were missing the good service of LAN very very much indeed......
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