September 16, 2023
Madrid
I spent a longer time in Madrid than other cities. I'm wondering if I could live and work here too. It has such a laid back vibe for a large city. And even though my hotel is on the main avenue and I heard police and ambulance sirens all the time on Gran Via, it still felt like a home away from home. I can't explain it, I just felt very comfortable in Madrid.
I think from here on I will try to get a hotel with a rooftop bar and pool. The service at this hotel wasn't all that prompt, but with these views, lingering for a while is not a bad thing.
In Spain, take a late night Paseos with thousands. But as hungry as I was, I resisted the KFC.
For the first time on this trip, I have a mostly open schedule, with a few places of interest in mind to see. I started my first full day with a visit to Royal Palace of Madrid. The palace is the official residence of the Spanish royal family, and mostly used for state dinners, ceremonies, and declarations.
Spain is a constitutional monarchy with a parliament and prime minister who serves as head of the government whereas King Felipe VI is head of state.
These are the photos I was able to get before the docents disallowed further photos. But the frescos on each bedroom ceiling are fantastic. I almost got the photo until I was caught! But go visit if you can, if only for the frescos.
I was finally able to get some paella for one in Spain, a couple of times. The first at a restaurant off of Gran Via about 15 minutes from my hotel name La Barraca, one of the oldest in Madrid. The family cam from Valencia and use that style of paella here. I ordered the Senyoret Shellfish Rice, with prawn, crayfish, king prawn, giant red prawn and mussels, “Everything peeled”. Presented to the table in a big cast iron pan, then dished onto the plate by the staff. You do have to select for two, even if eating alone.
I also selected chicken paella at the Mercado de San Miguel the next day. This is a place to visit multiple times. A cacophony of sights and sounds and smells. Amazing. More on that in a bit, but the paella is cooked in cast iron also and available in a couple of sizes for individual tasting.
Visiting the Prado Museum, officially Museo Nacional del Prado is 100 percent worth it. Spectacular. However, absolutely no photos allowed. It has the best collection of Spanish Art anywhere and a good collection of European art as well. The centerpiece may well be The Garden of Earthly Delights, by Hieronymus Bosch. A triple paneled painting, usually associated with gothic style, but the subject matter isn't typical of that and highly unlikely painted for any church.
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| Public domain image of Hieronymus Bosch: The Garden of Earthly Delights |
The nearby Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum (Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza) is worthwhile too. I actually purchased a combo ticket Art Walk or Paseo del Arte, which covers Prado, Thyssen, and Museo Reina Sofia. The Thyssen houses a vast collection of centuries of artwork from gothic to modern. I toured it a little bit backwards in time, viewing modern, post-impressionist, impressionists, renaissance, gothic.
They have some Van Gogh, Pissarro, and others I had not seen before. I always love to see an Edward Hopper also.
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| Edward Hopper: Hotel Room |
And while on the art subject, a few days later with extra time, I visited Tate Modern in London for even more modern art. I took photos at Thyssen and Tate, allowed this time.
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| Composition C (No.III) with Red, Yellow and Blue, 1935. I bought some Mondrian socks |
Back in Madrid, I wondered around the city.
Parque El Retiro is a must see. A pleasant, vast urban green space with a park, rose garden, and a big lake where you can rent a canoe and crash in to others. Oh maybe not, but I saw some near collisions!
However, the Temple had a very long line every time I tried to visit. The entry is free, but only allows 12 people in at a time. With a 30 minute average time to visit, the line moves s-l-o-w-l-y. Instead I took in the views from this high point of the city.
A few steps from here, a 5 to 10 minute walk, the magnificent gluttony that is the Mercado de San Miguel. Meats, cheeses, seafood, tapas, paella, bocadillo, "tacos", pizza, and unbelievable assortments of olives and mixtures. I pointed to a couple of skewers I liked. They were pretty, had meat and cheese and tomatoes and artichokes. Snacks but made in to a meal. And this isn't a tourist place. It was quite full of native Spanish speakers from Madrid. Likely on their late lunch or snack break, maybe after their siesta. I suspect many of them will be going back to work at this 5:00 pm hour.
It was madness and perfect!
I wondered around squares, plazas, went in to shops, avoided Taco Bell, KFC, Burger King, Subway, and McDonald's. Well ok, I did have a breakfast bacon Egg McMuffin at McDonald's once. An 8 Euro bargain of a breakfast.
That evening I ended up eating Italian food again. A restaurant steps away from the hotel with pesto tagliatelle. I was obviously solo, the only one at the table, it was so curious and funny that the wait person asked if I just wanted one order.
Italian food seems very popular here after tapas. Other than the tapas and paella, I think that makes up most of Spanish cuisine. But the variety of tapas is extraordinary. Well, that and the Iberian Jamón and Queso everywhere. I even had marinated anchovies and grilled octopus in tapas. These are not the anchovies we get in the US. They are delicioso. And I know, I've already been chastised about eating octopus, but it is a very popular dish in Spain. I had it once. I may try some tapas places back home to compare, but like my previous trips like Japan, I never found ramen or sushi as good at home than abroad. But I keep trying.
The rest of my few days in Madrid was just a relaxing escape from vacation. Just more exploring, paseo, and a lot more sitting at the hotel rooftop pool and bar.
I'm thinking I could live in Madrid and since I work from home, what is the difference? Except for the 7 hour time zone. I can do Teams meetings at 4:30 pm instead of 9:30 am. And eat dinner at 10 pm. Work ends at 4pm/11 pm anyway.
As mentioned, I flew to London for a final few hours and had time to see the Tate Modern museum I had been missing for 3 London trips now. So I was finally able to visit. It is quite wonderful and puzzling. But that is modern art. I love a bit of it, perplexed by a bit of it, interested in all of it.
St. Paul's Cathedral is right across the river on the Millennium Bridge so you an visit that too. I got soaking wet since the rain followed me from Madrid.
London's Tube is more complex than Barcelona or Madrid, but navigable. The Circle line takes care of most places in Central London. After spending money on the Heathrow Express to get to my hotel near the airport, I realized I should have just taken the Elizabeth Line to Heathrow. It gets to basically the same terminal. That was dumb but next time I'll know.
I picked my hotel near Heathrow to be able to get the airport shuttle and to return to a pub I once visited on New Year's Eve Eve in 2014. But they ran out of Fish and Chips! At 7 pm! Crazy! I picked something else and had a Boddington's. Not bad but not as fun. Some of my Brit friends say go to the coast anyway for better fish and chips. A future Bath area trip maybe or Island trips, or even Wales which I haven't been to yet.
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| There's a Sherlock Holmes Museum? |
Now of course I'm already thinking of the next place to visit. West coast of England? Austalia? New Zealand? Croatia? Peru? Back to Asia? It might be a while. Time to care for the house with floors and appliances.
Until Next Time, Travel My Friends!
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