Val set the alarm for 7:30 on Thursday morning, and while he got up to go for a run to get orientated with the city, I had a better idea and turned over to catch a few more minutes of sleep. It was chilly and damp, he told me when he got back, but at least it wasn't raining!
He had a great run in a nearby park and got the lay of the land around the square as well. After a breakfast of cereal and fruit, and armed with our top ten places to see in Madrid map, we set out. We took the umbrella and I wrapped my foot in a plastic bag before putting my shoe on - brilliant, I thought - so we were prepared for rain! First, Val wanted me to see the park he found on his morning run. It was a beautiful place, called Retiro Park - kind of along the lines of Central Park in NYC, an oasis of green in the midst of the concrete, hustle and bustle of a big city. Although quiet and peaceful, the park had a lively atmosphere - joggers, bikers, rowers, walkers. It was the place to be for morning exercise. We imagined how much more beautiful it will be come springtime with the green grass, sunshine and flowers blooming. We spent a good hour walking along, enjoying the park and taking pictures.
Our next stop was the famous Prado museum where we stood in line for only about 30 minutes to get in (another benefit of going to a place like that in the off season) Amazing works of art by many of the artists I studied waaaay back in college in my art history classes. It was impressive to see the actual paintings and sculptures in real life and not as a picture in a book. One of Val's favorite artists was the Spanish artist, El Greco. He liked the vibrant colors he painted with. He was amazed at how old the paintings were - most pieces were from the 15th and 16th centuries.
During our whirlwind sight seeing day, we also stopped for yummy paella for lunch, saw but did not go into the Royal Palace, the largest and most beautiful building in Madrid (The palace seems to be the equivalent of the White House but we were able to walk in the courtyard and look through the gates. The monarchy must have another residence in the city. Why else would there be such low level of security?), and toured the famous squares surrounding city center.
About 5:00, it started to cloud up again and as the first sprinkles started to fall, we had the great foresight to pop in an Irish pub and grab a table by the window. A couple beers later as it really began to rain and people streamed in looking for a dry place to wait it out, we were comfortable at our table for two.
Since we couldn't stay there all evening, we eventually joined the crowd of people outside who were gathering for the annual Easter Semana Santa procession. There were thousands of people in the city center along the procession route. The closer it got to the start time, the more people crowded in, hoping to get a glimpse of the procession of religious relics. People were very passionate, in tears at the emotional significance of the event. Passions ran high both ways. As we turned to try to make our way out - nearly impossible packed in as we were - some people in the crowd began yelling angrily at us. We don't exactly know why. We can only assume they may have felt we were being disrespectful by disrupting the crowd on our way out of the madhouse. It was a bit upsetting and we left as quickly as we could.
We ended the evening by stopping at a wonderful tapas bar near our hostel. "Tapas" means "little dishes" and started as a way for restaurants and bars to get rid of the leftovers from the day before. Buy a beer, get a free tapas (a small serving of whatever was on the menu the day before). The tapas at this place, though, were artfully arranged little dishes of scrumptiousness. For a few Euros, you could order a small portion of sushi on a piece of bread, a mini-burger topped with a hard-boiled egg and a few French fries, or a small Spanish omelette - to name just a few of the 2-3 dozen offerings. The great thing about it was that all the food was on display, you chose what you wanted and a few minutes later were digging in. Fabulous! (Val just observed that many of our blogs are about food. I said "And your point is?")
We returned to our hostel to pack up, expecting an early morning on Friday. We were heading to the airport to pick up a rental car to make our way south to a couchsurfing host near Sevilla. We didn't know it at the time, but we were in for a real treat!
He had a great run in a nearby park and got the lay of the land around the square as well. After a breakfast of cereal and fruit, and armed with our top ten places to see in Madrid map, we set out. We took the umbrella and I wrapped my foot in a plastic bag before putting my shoe on - brilliant, I thought - so we were prepared for rain! First, Val wanted me to see the park he found on his morning run. It was a beautiful place, called Retiro Park - kind of along the lines of Central Park in NYC, an oasis of green in the midst of the concrete, hustle and bustle of a big city. Although quiet and peaceful, the park had a lively atmosphere - joggers, bikers, rowers, walkers. It was the place to be for morning exercise. We imagined how much more beautiful it will be come springtime with the green grass, sunshine and flowers blooming. We spent a good hour walking along, enjoying the park and taking pictures.
Our next stop was the famous Prado museum where we stood in line for only about 30 minutes to get in (another benefit of going to a place like that in the off season) Amazing works of art by many of the artists I studied waaaay back in college in my art history classes. It was impressive to see the actual paintings and sculptures in real life and not as a picture in a book. One of Val's favorite artists was the Spanish artist, El Greco. He liked the vibrant colors he painted with. He was amazed at how old the paintings were - most pieces were from the 15th and 16th centuries.
During our whirlwind sight seeing day, we also stopped for yummy paella for lunch, saw but did not go into the Royal Palace, the largest and most beautiful building in Madrid (The palace seems to be the equivalent of the White House but we were able to walk in the courtyard and look through the gates. The monarchy must have another residence in the city. Why else would there be such low level of security?), and toured the famous squares surrounding city center.
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| This was a really cool mural painted on the side of the building. Not not the graffiti you see at the bottom, but that whole image in the photo is actually a three-dimensional painting on a perfectly flat side of the building. It was so realistic, though, we had to walk closer to see it wasn't what it appeared to be. |
About 5:00, it started to cloud up again and as the first sprinkles started to fall, we had the great foresight to pop in an Irish pub and grab a table by the window. A couple beers later as it really began to rain and people streamed in looking for a dry place to wait it out, we were comfortable at our table for two.
Since we couldn't stay there all evening, we eventually joined the crowd of people outside who were gathering for the annual Easter Semana Santa procession. There were thousands of people in the city center along the procession route. The closer it got to the start time, the more people crowded in, hoping to get a glimpse of the procession of religious relics. People were very passionate, in tears at the emotional significance of the event. Passions ran high both ways. As we turned to try to make our way out - nearly impossible packed in as we were - some people in the crowd began yelling angrily at us. We don't exactly know why. We can only assume they may have felt we were being disrespectful by disrupting the crowd on our way out of the madhouse. It was a bit upsetting and we left as quickly as we could.
 |
| Two ladies watching the festivities from a safe distance above the crowds. |
We ended the evening by stopping at a wonderful tapas bar near our hostel. "Tapas" means "little dishes" and started as a way for restaurants and bars to get rid of the leftovers from the day before. Buy a beer, get a free tapas (a small serving of whatever was on the menu the day before). The tapas at this place, though, were artfully arranged little dishes of scrumptiousness. For a few Euros, you could order a small portion of sushi on a piece of bread, a mini-burger topped with a hard-boiled egg and a few French fries, or a small Spanish omelette - to name just a few of the 2-3 dozen offerings. The great thing about it was that all the food was on display, you chose what you wanted and a few minutes later were digging in. Fabulous! (Val just observed that many of our blogs are about food. I said "And your point is?")
We returned to our hostel to pack up, expecting an early morning on Friday. We were heading to the airport to pick up a rental car to make our way south to a couchsurfing host near Sevilla. We didn't know it at the time, but we were in for a real treat!
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