Madrid's Mascot

Throughout Madrid

Maddrid is full of plazas, art museums, and people, and is topped with a grand palace, the largest in Western Europe. Our first day, we explored the city, starting from Puerta del Sol, heading west towards Plaza Mayor and then by the Palacio Real. It was much colder in Madrid than it had been in Barcelona (in fact, it was snowing for part of our train ride between the two cities), so we eventually headed up Gran Via to buy some gloves and warmer clothes in Madrid's main shopping district.

On the following days, we visited two of Madrid's three large art museusm, El Prado and La Reina Sofia. The first is filled with Rennaisance masters while the second is all 20th century art such as Picasso and Dali. The Reina Sofia also has a fairly bizarre collection of modern(ish) art and larger installation pieces. We also wandered El Retiro, Madrid's largest park.

Iglesia de los Jeronimos

Into the Night

In Madrid we attempted to explore the nightlife a little more, searching for the best tapas. It often felt like as soon as we were actually looking for a restaurant we suddenly could never find any, despite there being dozens around just a few hours earlier. Picking which tapas restaurant to visit could then be even more difficult, as they seemed to have a very uneven distribution of patrons. Half of the bars would be completely empty, while the other half would be overcrowded. In the end, we often ended up going to Canas y Tapas, a local chain which always had good food and drink at reasonable prices.

Even on the weeknights we were there, the city bustled pretty late into the night. We tried our best to adapt to the Spanish practice of a larger lunch and then a late dinner. We ate a lot of jamon y iberico (ham and cheese, but better) sandwhiches and patatas bravas (crispy little potatos with a spicy sauce).

Palace of a once mighty empire

Palacio Real

I can understand why the king chooses not to live in Palacio Real, the traditional royal palace for spanish monarchs. It is simply huge. Although only a small portion of it is open to visitors, walking into the entrance plaza immediately gives you a sense of the lavish wealth and grandeur once held by Spain. The open rooms are covered in paintings by Velasquez and others, the doorways have thick, rich curtains, and multiple chandaliers hang from the ceilings. The palace also holds a collection of fine instruments, although the Stradivarius violins were currently on loan to a symphony.

The palace also has a large collection of arms and armor, including full sets of plate mail designed for the five year old princes... they must have been so adorable.