As I get this blog up and running, I'm posting summaries of our past trips, starting in 2011. This is the third post about our trip to Spain, December 2012 - January 2013.
Day 8 - January 2, 2013
We packed up our things and caught a 9:00 a.m. train to Madrid, arriving around 1:30 p.m. We took the subway to our hotel, the
Hotel Regina. I'd found a promotion on Travel Zoo that gave us four nights with daily full breakfast and a welcome bottle of cava for $375 (we booked in October). When we arrived I was
very pleased with our modern room.
 |
| The bed (king size, comfortable) |
 |
| The bathroom, featuring a large shower with a door! |
 |
| The entryway, featuring a desk and a large closet |
After dropping off our stuff, we sought out food as close to us as possible since it was already 4:00 p.m. We ended up at
La Catedral, just two blocks from our hotel. I was feeling adventurous, and I ordered from the three course
menu del dia, and we ordered a bottle of wine with lunch. We'd already had a welcome bottle of cava, so we had to keep the party going, right? The wine was only $12.
 |
| Couscous topped with roasted red peppers and tuna |
 |
| Grouper with garlic baby eels, potato, tomato and zucchini |
 |
| Yogurt mousse |
I don't remember much about the appetizer and dessert, other than that they were good, but I've talked about the baby eels many times since this meal. They tasted almost like garlic pasta with a hint of fishiness, and I loved it. Madrid was definitely where I had my most adventurous eating experiences.
I'm fairly certain that for the rest of the day we just wandered around Madrid. We made our first of many visits to the
Mercado San Miguel, which always a feast for the eyes, nose, and tastebuds.
Day 9 - January 3, 2013
We started our day with breakfast in the hotel, which was fantastic. They have a spread of eggs, bacon, pancakes, sausages, cold cuts, fruit, yogurt, cheese, breads, baked beans... and desserts. Yes, breakfast desserts. We had a hearty breakfast every single day we were there, and did not get sick of it. Coffee, tea, milk, and juice was also available.
We knew we wouldn't be able to walk our way around the entire city, so we bought tickets for the Hop On, Hop Off bus to get the lay of the land. It took about 75 minutes to do the entire loop, and it really helped us get our bearings. Here are some of Aaron's photos from the bus.
We drove by the Real Madrid stadium and decided we'd add that to our itinerary, but decided to spend the majority of the day at the Prado viewing some of the world's best art.
 |
| Some of the artists with work in the Prado |
 |
| The artist list, continued |
 |
| The Prado |
We were there for about four hours, and ate lunch in the museum restaurant. I have to believe that it's impossible to see the entire Prado collection in a day. While I am by no means an art expert, I recognized a few things from art history, and enjoyed learning about some of Spain's treasured artists. For sure, I'm a Goya fan.
All that art was tiring, so we walked back to the hotel and took a siesta. We woke up and decided to get our art on once again, and take advantage of free admission to the modern art museum—the Reina Sofia. There we saw a few Picasso pieces and a lot of other interesting art, but we kind of did the museum at warp speed because we only had a few hours.
Day 10 - January 4, 2013
After another delicious breakfast in the hotel, we hopped the bus to Santiago Bernabeu Stadium, home to the Real Madrid soccer club. This trip was totally for Aaron, but it was pretty interesting. It's very clear that Real Madrid wants everyone to know they're the best. The stadium was huge, and included two separate museums. We also got to tour the locker room, sit in the players' seats, and take pictures in the press room. Soccer fans may find it humorous that Aaron did all of this in his Tottenham Hotspurs hat.
I thought it was interesting to see all the lights on the field. It was winter and the sun didn't come out too often, so they used artificial grow lights on the pitch to make sure the grass stayed green.
After the stadium tour we headed back to our hotel and chose to try La Catedral for lunch again. They were really nice and recognized us ... turns out, that's because we somehow left our passport copies there, and they had been holding them for us in case we came back. We never even knew we lost them. Oops!
This photo was taken in the Puerto del Sol at dusk. It's the symbol of Madrid—a bear and a strawberry tree. Aaron said he thought it looked like a bear eating a giant stalk of broccoli.
That evening we headed to
Museo Chicote, the famed cocktail bar where Hemmingway spent some time. He must have also spent some money, because the drinks were expensive! They were hand crafted and delicious, though.
I started with a Hemmingway Daiquiri. Aaron had a whiskey sour.
My next drink was a martini ... named the "porn star," probably just so the waiter could see people like me blush.
Aaron went with a brandy old fashioned. I believe this was the beginning of his appreciation for traditional cocktails.
After our cocktails we wandered around for a while, in search of "real Madrid food," by my request. Aaron ended up getting some really cool night-time pictures, and we stumbled upon a dress rehearsal for the following evening's Three Kings parade. We rounded a corner and saw/heard a choir singing Hendel's Messiah. It was pretty awesome.
We ended up one block from our hotel, at
Cafe del Principe. I had the
menu del dia, which came with two courses, and Aaron just had a snack, because apparently he had filled up on booze.
But not too much booze, because we had a pitcher of sangria.
I started with a ham soup, and he had the ham croquettes. Because obviously, we hadn't had our fill of ham in Spain yet.
Then, while Aaron sat there eating nothing, I had one of my best meals in Madrid. This was Madrid stew, and included beef, pork, chicken, chorizo, cabbage, garbanzos, carrots, potato, and blood sausage. There was no sauce or broth, but it seems everything was cooked together in one pot. And the blood sausage was amazing! (First time I'd tried it.)
It's a good thing we were so close to our hotel, because we were beat. I think this is the only night we ate dinner at a respectable Spanish time (after 9:00 p.m.).
Day 11 - January 5, 2013
For our last full day in Spain, we figured we'd take in one more palace. Of course, first we had a hearty breakfast at the hotel. Then, we were off. Aaron took a few photos on the walk from the hotel to the palace.
This is Kilometer Zero, in Puerto del Sol. All the mile markers in Spain are based around this spot.
Every bakery had lines out the door of people buying King Cake. This giant cake was in Puerto del Sol, and had been completely eaten a few hours later when we returned from the palace. We managed to get a tiny King Cake to enjoy in our room later that day.
Early morning shot of the opera house.
These were the gardens in the Plaza de Orient. Clearly, it was a bit chilly that morning. We've yet to be in Europe when gardens are in full bloom.
Then, we reached the Royal Palace of Madrid.
It was huge, and ornate ... and no photos were allowed. I remember seeing an impressive silver collection, rooms decorated in ridiculously expensive fabric, and an amazing armor collection. I kept thinking about how 25% of Spain's population was unemployed at this time and they were in the midst of a major recession ... and we were looking at more wealth than we could ever imagine existed in one place.
This was the final selfie of the trip. It looks warm ... but it's not. We took a leisurely walk back to the hotel. We purchased the small King Cake mentioned above, and Aaron got an Athletico Madrid jersey. Then we just hung out for a while before the parade. I had specifically wanted to end our vacation in Madrid because I had read that the Three Kings Parade was something that shouldn't be missed. It's a huge part of family holiday celebrations in Madrid. So we went early, got good seats, and here's what we saw.
 |
| People. Lots of people, everywhere. |
 |
| People brought ladders to stand on to see the parade (see the middle of this photo). |
 |
| Kids climbed trees so they could see. |
 |
| The first float promoted kids' reading. So I thought this would be an interesting cultural thing. |
 |
| The second float was the Nutcracker. |
 |
| But then ... the minions from Despicable Me 2 (Gru 2 in Spain). |
 |
| And what seems to be the Spanish version of Nickelodeon. |
 |
| And another kids' movie. |
 |
| The Wizard of Oz |
 |
| Elephants |
 |
| An acrobat doing tricks suspended from a floating orb. |
 |
| King #1 |
 |
| King #2 |
 |
| King #3 |
 |
| The camels—they bring the presents. |
And then everyone rushes away to eat King Cake. The parade maybe took 20 minutes, and was mostly advertisements for movies and television channels. Perhaps it's really cool if you're a kid.
We stopped at a cute little bar in a square to get out of the crowds on the street and had a drink. Even the bar was serving King Cake. Then it was back to our hotel to pack, because we were basically done with our trip.
Day 12 - January 6, 2013
If I was writing this shortly after returning from this trip, I'd write about how terrible JFK customs is. So terrible that a two hour lay over didn't give me enough time to go to the restroom. But now that it's been over a year and a half since I traveled, I'll just say this:
- I will avoid international flights that arrive at JFK.
- I will pay extra for fewer connections.
- Someday, I will be a baller and fly business class.
.jpg)
0 Response to "The Holidays in Spain: A Two-Week Adventure (Part 3, Madrid)"
Posting Komentar