(3rd largest city in Europe)
Population including Metropolitan area: 6.2 million
Mtrs above sea Level: 667 mtrs
The overnight train trip on the Elipsos Trenhotel from Gare Austerlitz Paris was a lot more comfortable than we’d experienced on the Amtrak in the USA because of the additional room and larger “couches”. It was also perhaps the most well behaved group of train travellers we’ve come across since the Chicago to New Orleans trek way back when i.e. no loud conversations, no pizza orders, and no mobile phone conversations detailing peoples love lives, and we were given comfort packages containing eye masks, toothpaste and brush, ear plugs, blanket and pillow .
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| Renfe Elipsos Trenhotel |
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| High Rise near Charmartin Station, Central Madrid |
Spain was about to play Portugal in the semi-finals of the Euro 2012 soccer. It was an exciting time to be in Spain and you could just about feel it.
That wasn’t all we could feel. A heatwave was predicted for the Madrid region with temperatures to rise to 42 degrees and remain that way for at least 3 days. At 10.am it was already 28 degrees. We were fairly used to heat and humidity but with Madrid being the highest capital above sea level in Europe and no humidity we could feel the effects straight away. So the fluid intake was essential, as was the need for Tony to try some new Spanish Cervezas.
Like most of our destinations even though the research is thorough there is usually some minute detail that gets lost in translation – literally. Google Translate is one of the best pieces of techno ever and we’ve used it a lot for various things including just translating signs we see, a name, things that take our interest in pamphlets etc.
We got to Charmartin Estacion central Madrid around 9.30am and after looking, checking and rechecking at the Metro and RENFRE lines for our next destination we couldn’t find El Pozo anywhere. We were starting to panic! The name of the Madrid suburb was called “The Well” and according to our instructions we needed to change at Atocha Estacion (this one was on the map), then about 3 train stations to “The Well”.
It became a case of “Help me Information“ and it turns out the The Well translates to….El Pozo. And there it was we could catch either the C2 or C7 Metro line. Just shows how good Google Translate actually is.
El Pozo was a great location, close to Cervacarias, supermacados, little cafes and as we finally found out – the train station. There were so many things to see and do in Madrid and what better way to tackle it and start straight away. The first stop The Prado Museum, free entry between 6-8pm, works of art on display by some of the most famous artists of all time, Picaso, Goya, Raphael.
Much of it quite dark, religious and intense, a reflection of the times these works were painted and public hangings, witchery and the like were in some way the norm. Then over to the Museo Reina Sofia, also free entry between 6-9pm, with modern contemporary art – more to our enjoyment. 
That was a pretty good intro for day 1 and we were to find that much like the artwork, Madrid had retained much of its architecture the same way i.e. a mix of the old and new.
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| An Aussie spotted in the El Tres Restaurant/Bar, Madrid watching the semi final of the Euro 2012 |
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| Parque del Retiro |
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| Plaza de Cibeles |
After sitting back on the night bus tour around Madrid and back to the Prado Museum, the start point of the tour, we took a slow stroll down to Plaza de Cibeles to catch the Night bus.
Hanging around a little while waiting, and waiting for the No. 10 bus out of town, we found out from one of the bus service guys that the last bus left at midnight. It was 12.40am by this time. One could be forgiven if we looked like we had consumed huge quantities of drugs because of our sudden wide eyes, sudden shuffling of feet and looking/turning in every direction, mind buzzing and thinking "What should we do next". But this guy was pointing to the other side of this huge roundabout for some reason and with gesturing ushered us over to that direction. Turns out the bus we were to catch was right, but after midnight it leaves from another point in the Plaza and has a BIG “N” (for night) on the front of it. What a huge relief!! We got back to El Pozo in one piece, laughing about what could have been. Some of the laughing was actually about some of the revellers on the bus who were so pissed and half asleep we wondered if they had missed their bus stop.
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| Museo del Jamon |
Malinka had told us about the Museo del Jamon, translated to the Ham Museum and there are 6 scattered throughout Madrid. Strange you would think to have a “Ham” museum. Check out the hanging hams.
The name is a great marketing tool to get you in the door and enjoy their tasty morsels of ham rolls, freshly made either plain, of with cheese, lettuce, maybe tomato, and served with a drink of your choice, including beer, wine or soft drink, for the princely sum of 1 Euro. That is not a typo – I repeat - 1 Euro (about ($1.20). This is sounding very much like Tony’s blog but is unbelievable. I managed 1, lost count of how many Tony had but I know he enjoyed all 4 of his, along with the complementary dish of marinated olives. The Museo del Jamon will be on our list of 'must-do' places to visit when we return to Madrid for a 6 hour stop-over on our way from Lisbon to Granada. Yum!!
Now, just getting back to the Double Decker bus tour. When it came to buying the tickets, the lady said that many roads would be closed from 4pm the following afternoon because of celebrations for the GUY PARADE. We didn’t think that would be a problem at all. Besides during most of our trip we’ve come to enjoy being spontaneously caught up in street parades or in traffic jams because of marches, rallies, protests e.g. New Orleans, Washington, Boston. We were used to them, what’s one more. I’m thinking – Guy Parade – yes, fireworks, crackers, sparklers – a Guy Fawkes Night in Madrid that should be fun!! It wasn’t until the following afternoon and we are back where we bought the bus tickets so I asked that lady – “Can you tell me what the Guy Parade celebrations are about?” She said, in her quite strong Spanish accent – “You know, Guy celebrations”. So I sort of agreed not really knowing until later in the day - when we saw the decorations and flags for the celebrations. It was something again that was very lost in translation. And if you say it fast enough, over and over - Guy Parade, Guy Parade, Guy Parade - it was not a Guy Parade but it was the GAY PRIDE celebration. Geez, did I feel like an idiot!! That poor girl must have wondered which rock I had been living under - how naive!!!
http://www.madridemotion.com/en/come-to-madrid-to-celebrate-the-gay-pride-2012/
Over the following days we had opportunity to see many sites including the Real Jardin Botanico where stall holders set up selling rare and antique books, and the Real Madrid Soccer Stadium, very topical and an even bigger attraction with the pending finals to be played in Kiev on the Sunday night. 
Now that the Gay Pride march was over and streets opened up again, we ventured into some of the older parts of the city, narrow streets, cast iron balconies, flower boxes, huge wooden doors, much like some of the Spanish influence we’d seen throughout Peru.
We even considered going into the Madrid Casino until we saw the sign which said: Dress Code “Gentlemen must wear a suit coat and tie” The suit coat or tie was just something Tony had NOT packed for this very occasion. So we gave that a miss.
Always a highlight of any new place for us on our travels is a visit to the local supermarket. Food is so cheap, so are the beers, wines and spirits. For example, baguettes/French sticks (a diet staple) is sold for anywhere between 0.5 – 1 euro each. Same with cheese, biscuits, fruit and vegetables – if taxed it is very low, and alcohol is not taxed at all – Australia we are getting ripped off!! In preparation for the Euro 2012 finals Tony bought a 6 pack of Estrella Galicia beer $3.94 and a bottle of Rose for $1.20. Not even Dan Murphy’s sells wine for as low as that! A couple of days before we bought a 2 litre bottle of Sangria for about 1.50. It is cheaper to drink alcohol than it is soft drink/Coco Cola.
On another one of our adventures we were curious about where these people were coming from carrying shopping bags and pulling trolleys. We discovered a Farmers market just like the one in Nanterre Ville that sold everything from fruit, veges, deli food, hardware, clothing and other accessories. We couldn’t believe the prices. 3kg of plums for 1 euro and Olives 1.99 euro for 1kg. We know that country was on the brink but this was almost giving produce away – and at that price we couldn't resist buying.  |
| Markets at El Pozo |
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| Atocha Regional Line |
Early that next morning on our way to the station we passed revellers just coming home from celebrating Spain’s win - they looked a mess. Espano los Heroes, 4 – Nil. We were also commuting with the workers just on the peak hour train and I witnessed something I had previously seen on the flight from Lima to Miami and that was seeing people making a sign of the cross and kissing a crucifix. This time it was as we were arriving into Atocha station, Madrid. Then I thought….there had been subway bombings a couple of years ago. Later we found out it was Atocha, the biggest commuter station for regional and metro stations in the city.
San Sebastian sounded appealing - Basque country by the beach on the Bay of Biscay. Looking forward to that and the tapas (pinxtos). Hope we can find somewhere to watch the final State of Origin game. Don’t like the chances !!
Off for the next adventure….or siesta, whichever comes first.
Liz and Tony
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| Prado Museum |
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| View over Madrid from El Pozo |
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