Marvellous Madrid

I´m in the capital of Spain at the moment and it is impressive indeed with rococo styled buildings and beautiful historical architecture that has been superbly maintained - in essence, Madrid is gorgeous.

I had been worried that my three star Travelodge accommodation in Torrelaguna was going to be on the outskirts of the city, but while it wasn´t close to all the action, the taxi fare was reasonable, and my afternoon walk with multi fold map delivered me within 10 minutes to a Metro stop.

I love Metros (light underground rail) and have used both the London Tube and New York´s Subway in the past, not to mention Beijing´s brand new transport system during last year´s Olympics; and I love how they can get you to just about every location in the city you could ever want to visit. They are fast, easy to figure out and economical, and unlike trams (sorry Lian!) they don´t mar the skyline with electrical cords.

A handy tourist pamphlet gave me a rundown of a transport deal - 11.60 euros for unlimited travel for 3 days on all transport systems in the city. So that was my first order of business Monday morning (you´ll need to provide proof of identity so keep your driver´s license handy - on another note, if you pay anything by credit card in Spain, all vendors will also ask for photo ID, so don´t leave your license home, else you´ll be carting around your precious passport).

I decided to visit the sumptuous Palacio Real, the royal palace which dominates Old Madrid, and was reminded that yup, it´s the summer holidays here in Europe when I was greeted by a long queue at the entrance.

A Spanish fan (they´re not just decorative!) and my hat kept me cool for the 45 minute wait, but I then got me a guided tour (in English) of some of the amazing rooms housing the most grandiose chandeliers, furniture, interiors and design - heavily rococo and with just about everything gold plated (even parts of the walls and ceilings!)

There were fantastic painted frescoes in most of the rooms, and one particular waiting room brought gasps from just about everyone as the exquisitely detailed and carved stucco was exceptionally fine, done in a Chinoise style - apparently all the rage during the height of Spain´s Bourbon royalty. Unfortunately no interior photos allowed :( and the palace is still a working building, receiving heads of state and used for royal galas and events for the current monarchy which was returned to Spain after decades of Fascism.

After the tour we were invited to view the extensive royal armoury, now exhibiting medieval suits for both men and their war horse steeds. I imagined draught horses of old (that may be particularly English) but the amount of armour that these horses would have had to carry, not just for their own battle protection but in addition to the weight of a fully suited up and weapon wielding knight...!

Shockingly, there were full suits of armour for children too - obviously the princes of royal blood were sometimes taken out onto the battlefield to view the art and tactics of war.

I cannot emphasize the amazing detail that a lot of this armour had; engravings on not just the helmet but also the torso pieces, and this would continue though to the saddle, shield and broadsword as well.

I spent the rest of Monday afternoon wandering around the Parque del Retiro and the Plaza de Espana, taking pictures of anything pretty which included the Monument to Cervantes, the lovely Gran Via and the Monument to Alphonso XII which faces Retiro´s Boating Lake.

The next day it was straight to the galleries with the Museo del Prado being the biggest and therefore to be tackled in the first part of the day.
As usual, there was a queue, but at the taquilla (ticket booth) I scored a Paseo del Arte, a 3 museum pass for access to the Prado, the Museo de Thyssen-Bornemisza and the Centro de Arte Reina Sofia - pretty much all the galleries worth hitting if you are visiting Madrid. All for the discounted price of 14.40 euros (each gallery´s average entry cost is about 8 euros each).

I´ve now visited all three (took me two days!) and my favourite would be the Prado, though the Thyssen has some great works too, especially from the last 200 years. The Reina Sofia is mainly work from the 20th century and mostly houses modern art which I forget sometimes is not so much images as installations.
This means large tracts of space devoted to abstract ideas or expressions and while I was allowed to take a few flash free photos there (I especially liked the opportunity to see Dali´s works and also a gigantic Man Ray metronome); the priceless historical art in the Prado was a standout from the hundreds of pieces I think I have now viewed.

Reina Sofia also used to be Madrid´s General Hospital and I dunno, the converted space has a slightly spooky facility feel about it, especially if you´re in one of the large ward/ spaces on your own.

I had quickly visited Madrid´s Mudejar facaded Plaza de Toros this morning after I realised from my DK book that it was only open until about 1.30pm most days. The tour in Spanish and English was pretty good and my small group got right down to the sandy grounds where some of the bloodthirsty fights actually take place. The space, which houses about 24,000 is also used for major concerts (Kylie, the Red Hot Chilli Peppers and the Rolling Stones have been recent acts) and has got great acoustics, though the guide didn´t actually know why, professing that he´s "not a architect!" :)

So it´s a early night tonight as I´m catching the 8.00am train out of Madrid and onto Bilboa tomorrow morning!