Second Last Day in Madrid

Friday, January 11, 2008

It's raining here again today, so after an earlier hearty breakfast across the street and down a bit from the hostel, I went back to the post office building and then to a couple of art galleries. This means I've been inside somewhat, though I walked to them and didn't realize quite how far I'd gone. I ended up taking a taxi back, because I was cold and wet, even though I finally bought a cheap umbrella when I had to stand in a long outdoor line-up to get tickets for the Prado Museum.

Located in an 18th building designed by Juan de Villanueva, the Museo del Prado is considered one of the most important art galleries in the world. It houses masterpieces by Velázquez, Goya, El Greco, Zurbarán, Ribera, Titian, Raphael, Botticelli, Fra Angélico, Rubens, Bosch, Van der Weyden, Poussin, Lorrain, Watteau, Rembrandt, Dürer and Mengs, among others. I couldn’t retain it all and didn’t actually see everything….my head was swirling with images and names that I wasn’t liable to keep straight, though some pieces were so extraordinary I spent quite a bit of time looking at them and I noted them in the fabulous program they gave you with a description and background of each piece.

The gallery building is about three blocks long and two and ½ stories high, so you can imagine how much there was to see. I tried taking a kind of overview shot of the corner ticket office and entrance, but I couldn’t get back far enough so had to take two photos.

I took another shot of a statue of Goya, and behind him is the Ritz hotel. An interesting cathedral was just above the hill from the Prado Museum, but it didn’t seem to be open when I was there.

The focus of my walk today seemed to be on fountains. I’m constantly impressed by the workmanship and sculpturing of them; even the small ones are beautifully done.

I also noted a modern public porta-pottie and the recycling ‘bin’, both of which are on the sidewalk outside the post office….I went back to the building to take another look and counted 80 wickets inside.

I also wanted to take my own photo of the fountain in the middle of the road.

Next I walked to the La Casa Encendida Gallery to see the Warhol Sobre Warhol (Warhol on Warhol) exhibition. Through seeing this exhibition I came to a much greater understanding of his work and influence on the world of art, as well as the inspiration of at least one of my artist friend’s work. I found a couple of interesting Web sites for this museum, which isn’t as well known as the three major ones. http://www.lacasaencendida.com/LCE/lceCruce/0,0,73537_1659708_73523$P1%3D421,00.html and http://www.sitebits.com/2007/rooftop_la_casa_encendida.html


There are a couple of other major art museums I’d like to see too, but I don’t know if I’ll have time or the inclination tomorrow morning, before I leave Madrid. I’d especially like to see the Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, which houses a splendid collection ranging from primitive Flemish to contemporary works, including more than 800 paintings and sculptures, carvings, tapestries and other items. I’d especially like to see the tapestries. I’m sure they’d be marvelous. (Museums in Madrid: http://www.aboutmadrid.com/madrid/museums.asp)

By this time, I’d been on my feet for about four hours, so I decided to find some place to grab a quick bite to eat and rest for a bit. I wandered in to a Spanish café, where the waitress became quite flummoxed about how to converse with me to take my order. She didn’t even attempt to let me try my Spanish, just started running around in circles as soon as I asked if she spoke English at all, which I sometimes do when I get lazy. She started asking people at other tables if they could speak English to me, but no one could. I’ve never seen anyone in such a flap like that before.

They didn’t have a menu, but I didn’t need one in English (some restaurants have one printed in English they can provide, but this was a very authentic small Spanish place). At any rate, they didn’t have a Spanish one either, so the owner came over with his specials written down in Spanish and I picked what I wanted….I can read Spanish quite well now (well not a novel, but certainly a menu). Low and behold, their special of the day was paella and it was delicious! Well worth the wait! I’ll probably try to have it again somewhere in Barcelona.

The paella was the first course, and then I had salmon for the second course, but I didn’t have room for it….I brought it back with me and will have it for supper. I don’t have any kitchen facilities or a fridge, but there is space on the ledge outside my window to keep it for a few hours, especially as it’s such a cool, rainy day and it looks like its going to stay that way. All I've got is a drink machine for pop, water and beer.

There's another for coffee, tea and hot chocolate. Whoops..I was wrong, there's no tea....I also don't have any utensils to eat my meal that I brought home.....yikes...guess it's eating with the fingers time!

I had planned on going to the vegetarian restaurant for lunch, but I wasn’t near it. I had gone by in the morning when it wasn’t open and grabbed a quick couple of shots of the menu…not good ones, but the metal pull-down door that covered the front of the restuarant was only half up and the light was bad and I was squished in beside a tall prickly plant, then was surprised by someone coming out of the door. I stepped back and he drew the metal overhead door down all the way, so that was the end of that.

The servings of food here are quite big like most major cities around the world and the prices higher too. Meals often range from $8 to $14 Euros on the low end. (Times this by approximately 1.5 to change to Canadian dollars.)

On my way back to the hostel, I had the taxi driver swing around a couple of the historic buildings I haven't seen yet: The Plaza Mayor and the Royal Palace The palace was beautiful, but I decided I didn’t need to tour it, nor did I need to walk around the Plaza Mayor.

Madrid is definitely a neat place! The parks and gardens are astounding (well they would be if it was the right season—still they have an amazing design) and the cultural is wonderful. There are theatres, operas, musicals, performances, art galleries, museums and restaurants of every kind imaginable, fashion shows, concerts, sports, exhibitions, fairs and conventions, parks and gardens and tours and ballets.

One thing I've noted here is that there are quite a number of men who seem to be suffering from osteoporosis. Their spines and necks are severely bent over. I've not seen that anywhere else before.

I plan on going to the theatre (to watch a play) tonight, but will dress warmer! It's within easy walking distance. I love my central location!

I leave for Barcelona tomorrow late afternoon. I hope it's not raining there, though now I have an umbrella!

Oops. I was just out looking for a place for tea and realized again that I can’t get any….they don’t serve tea here, only coffee and colacao or chocolata (hot chocolate) – I just had a hot chocolate that a spoon could stand up in…hit the spot though to warm me up.

Part of my brain thought it was Thursday today and I would be going to see a play, and then the other part of my brain remembered it was Friday and the play isn’t on tonight. C’est la vie or as the Spanish say "así es la vida!"

It’s cold and damp out anyway, so best I stay in…I’m feeling a little chilled after my day out and the heat in my room isn’t working either, but they should be fixing it soon. It wasn’t on all night either, so I wore my socks to bed….oh, the life of a travelling gypsy…good thing I don’t mind the rough spots….at least my bed is comfy although I wouldn’t mind having my nice thick duvet right about now!

Second Day in Madrid

Thursday, January 10, 2008

Wow, only two days left in Madrid...the time is going by so quickly, especially today because I spent most of the morning writing. It was dreary and raining oustide, so this seemed the best idea. Only hunger drove me out about 11:30 am to ferret something to eat...

Along the way, I captured some photographs of my route....starting with the haunted elevator (exterior and interior) in the place where I am staying...

then to the corridor that leads outside (looking back into the interior hallway)...

To the exterior of the building where the doorway is almost hidden...It's by the Pension Carrera sign, but recessed.

... quite a contrast from the Astoria Hotel (Hotel Asturias - photo to the right)

I sauntered down a side street and came across at least fifteen or more cafés and restaurants, many of which didn't open until 1:00 or 1:30 pm....I'll never get used to the times of openings of things in this country. It changes from city to city and business to business and days of the week in each place.

I eventually did find one that was open: Raciones, where I ordered ensalada mixta and hamburgesa. I suddenly had a hankering for some North American food, but alas, it was not the traditional kind of salad and hamburger that I was expecting, but very tasty none-the-less. The salad had a lovely mixture of greens, tomatoes, hard-boiled eggs and tuna with a balsamic vinegar dressing - no heavy olive oil! The portions were big, though I managed most of the salad and the vegetables. The vegies were delicous and unusual: artichoke hearts, asparagus, broad beans, cauliflower carrots, and peas.

The only drawback of this place was that I was seated directly facing a huge chunk of pork (ham leg) with the hoof pointing in my direction. At least it was 'dressed!'

I meant to return to writing as it was going so well, but I again became intrigued by the architecture and ambled along the streets taking plenty more photographs, this time trying to capture the details.

The buildings range from medieval times to 19th and 20th century. The photos don't do them justice, at least not on the blog, though I'm including them here anyway.

I finally went back to writing and about four hours later, decided that
I needed another break and a little snack to tide me over until supper time at 8:00 pm.

I dashed out to the Italian restaurant (Pizza Nortes) where I'd had supper the night before, passing a pastry shop next door on the way.

The waiter at the Italian restuarant remembered me and they had fresh Tiramisu and of course I had my agua (water.) I loved their food presentation..simple yet elegant.

I did a little research today, as I particularly wanted to know about the magnificient building I'd seen yesterday. I found some better photos on the Internet and at last a description of how it came to be. It's called the Palacio de Comunicaciones or Communications Palace.

It is the most prominent of the buildings at the Plaza de Cibeles and the most famous it seems, as there were pictures of it everywhere on the net in conjunction with Madrid. What suprised me most was the date of its construction.

"The cathedral-like landmark was built between 1905 and 1917 by Antonio Palacios as the headquarters of the post office. Inside the impressive building is the Postal and Telegraphic Museum, which displays the history of the postal system, from the 18th century postal pigeons to the modern communication satellites."

http://www.arup.com/spain/project.cfm?pageid=7988



At the centre of the Plaza de Cibeles is the Fuente de la Cibeles. This fountain, named after Cibele (or Ceres), roman goddess of nature, is seen as one of Madrid's most important symbols. The Cibeles fountain depicts the goddess in a chariot pulled by two lions. The fountain was built between 1777 and 1782 by Ventura Rodriguez. Whenever the local football team Real Madrid wins a cup, fans flock around the fountain to celebrate.

Madrid is of course famous for many things, including it's bullfights. There is a specatular bullring in the city, though I'm not going to walk there...it's quite a ways and I'm not that keen on the sport. (Vera also had a beautiful one that was built in about 1879.)

Madrid is is the capital and largest city of Spain . The entire population of the Madrid urban area and suburbs is calculated to be 5.84 million. The city spans a total of 607 km² (234 sq miles). Located on a plateau in the Castilian planes Madrid enjoys a dry and temperate climate. It has been the capital of Spain since 1562, is located on the geographic center of the Iberian Peninsula. These web sites will provide more info about Madrid http://www.travellady.com/Issues/September07/4436Madrid.html and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madrid.

Tomorrow I will set out early to see the famous park, art galleries and the Palace Real. Or at lesat attempt to see of them...each gallery has thousands of pieces of art, so I could spend a week or more in each....well mroe like a month of more, but I'll have to capture the highlights only.

First Impressions of Madrid

Wednesday, January 9, 2008

Today was one of those day where nothing quite goes right to start with, though it turns out all right in the end. Luckily my wake-up call at 7:00 am was right on time and I’d packed the night before. Even getting to the airport by taxi turned out okay, although there were big trucks in front of the parking area so the taxi had to stop in the middle of the narrow street and we held up traffic while we loaded up my gear. There was just something in the air all day. Perhaps it was because I wasn’t quite with it, because of getting up earlier than I’m used to for the past little while.

At any rate, I stumbled over to the only open kiosk at the airport and bought a precious bottle of water and one of their pre-made sandwiches, then headed towards the security line-up. I was turned away in Spanish in no uncertain terms because taking water through was not permitted (and I seemed to be trying to go through the staff security gate).

I immediately turned around and tried to return the bottle of water to the kiosk only a few feet away, but the attendant wouldn’t take it and made it clear that she didn’t know I was going to try to go through security with it, so it wasn't her problem even though she'd watched the whole transaction. (I hadn’t had to worry about taking water on a plane since I’d left Canada. Who started that dumb rule anyway?) C’est la vie….

I realized I had plenty of time before I needed to go through security, so I sat down to drink the water and nibble on my breakfast sandwich….alas, the bread was very dried out around the edges and the only filling was in the centre. I gingerly ate a few bites from the middle and gave up on having a morning meal, thinking I’d be having breakfast on the plane….at least that’s what my ticket said. Alas, the online info was wrong…no breakfast. Sigh! At least I was full of water!

I boarded the plane and took my window seat, pleased that I’d be able to see the geography of interior Spain as we flew. All at once another passenger arrived and insisted I was in her seat. She, in Spanish, told me I was to move, but I in English said, ‘no, I’d asked for a window seat and I was sitting in Seat A to which I'd been assigned.’ After a few minutes of back and forth with her insisting seat B was by the window, she gave up and sat down with a final shrug to her shoulders that said it doesn’t matter, but she obviously thought I was an idiot. A short while later a flight attendant came by and I asked her….I was in my proper seat. This seemed to appease my fellow passenger and we had a pleasant 45 minute flight.

I discovered from the air that I was quite right and the greenhouses for grapes go for miles and miles. Some days I wish I had a camera with a wide angle lens….I just couldn’t capture the extent of the operations, but all the white patches are greenhouses for growing grapes which will eventually become Spanish wine.

For the past few days while staying at the B&B I’ve been trying to do some writing of the third book in my series of “Secret” books (The Secret of Sentinel Rock, The Secret of the Stone House), but I’d been struggling with it. Creating the plot around a mirror that I’d already described in the previous book was proving to be a problem and I spent a great deal of time researching various aspects and potential story lines, but mostly thinking, instead of writing.

Wouldn’t you know it, but I suddenly had an inspiration and I just HAD to write while I was in the cramped seat on the plane. I dug out my small 76mm by 127 mm notebook and pen and began scribbling for all I was worth. The second chapter was writing itself and melding into the third one, which I’d already written sometime earlier....feverously I wrote, filling tiny page after tiny page, but alas I had to eventually quit, because we'd arrived.

I caught a cab and gave the driver the name of my 'hotel', but he didn't know where it was. I dug out my laptop and started it up to find the address, but it took so long to boot up to my files that he eventually phoned someone and found out.

I arrived smack dab in the middle of old Madrid and stood on the sidewalk stunned by the view. An apartment building with rounded sections that joined together, many historic buildings with their intricate architecture and relief designs, one after another.

I finally entered the hotel after taking a few photos and it looked quite comfortable and cheery. However, they couldn't find my reservation. Once again, I dug out my laptop and looked for my online confirmation (I hadn't had anywhere to print out any of my travel plans). That's when we discovered I was at the Hotel Astoria not the Astoria Hostal. Big Sigh!

Fortuitously, my accommodations were around the corner and down the block, four stories up, I was told, which seemed rather odd to me, but heh, that's the kind of day I was having.

I hauled my luggage down the street searching for the sign everywhere. I finally spied it at the very top of a building. (It's the tiny white sign at the top of the building behind the big, long Hotel Santander sign in the forefront.)

I discovered a very narrow little doorway between two shops and entered a long hallway. It turned out the place I was aiming for was five floors up, which really meant six, because they started counting at zero.

My prayers for an elevator were answered. Around a corner and down the hall I found a tiny half-glassed in lift of the old-fashioned kind that I could barely squeeze into with my luggage, but I was grateful to have it. The alternative would have been gruelling. The lift groaned its way up and it was dark and creaky and spooky. I could feel another story coming on...but I was scaring myself, so I'll have to wait until I leave the place before I write it....

As I travelled upwards, I realized there was a different hostel on each floor (above the bottom row of shops and cafes). At last I reached the top. I pushed the outer elevator door open and stepped into a hallway that looked like I was in some very old office building from the 1940s, though there were no signs. I opened the door slightly to my left and entered.

I was assured by a perky young woman that I was in the right place though I felt like I'd stepped back into time in an old detective novel. Everything was quite rustic and small, though tidy and clean, from the little wooden counter to the wooden pigeon holes that kept the keys.

Okay, so I'd booked myself into a hostel instead of a hotel...not so bad, I figured though a little 'rustic.' I could use the experience. I just about backed out though when they led me to my room. It wasn't much bigger than my little writing room at the B&B, but dark and gloomy with a small bathroom at the end of it. There was only a tiny little drop leaf counter that hung precariously by a couple of chains from the wall, about 12" square and not big enough for my laptop. I began to panic....I wanted to write now, had to write, what would I do? I'd feel buried alive if I stayed in there.

Eventually we toured around the various rooms and found the one I'm in now with a small desk and a window with a view that's not particularly inspiring, though I'm sure I'll use the description in my writing someday. The room reminded me of a 1950s bedroom with well-worn wallpaper that had scrapes and scuff marks and moisture drips on it, but still a serviceable room--clean but tatty. The bathroom was so small it only held a half a bathtub with no room to dry oneself off...more like a laundry tub. (I'll see how the bed is tonight!)

As per usual, I dumped my luggage and immediately went out to explore, and to find some breakfast/lunch. The buildings were fabulous and I spent most of the time staring upwards trying to capture and remember what I was seeing, sometimes stopping dangerously in the middle of the street while I gawked.

At last I found a little restaurant which I thought might be good. They seemed to have a fairly decent menu with a great deal of choices...big mistake. They handed me about six different menus with tons of items from pasta, soups, and stews to meat dishes and pizza. I spied paella on the menu, about 8 different kinds, but I wasn't taking any chances. I could be patient and find a more upscale place and pre-order.

Good thing too, as I'd chosen what looked like a delicious pizza and ordered it. (I knew in the back of my mind that I should have waited until I got to Italy before eating pizza). That's when I saw them take the pizza out of the freezer and pop it in a toaster over. The fact that they didn't have a kitchen should have been a clue...but I hadn't noticed that until later. No wonder they could have such an extensive menu....it was all pre-made stuff, frozen.

The one great thing they had was freshly squeezed orange juice which I watched them make. The pizza? cold in the middle, hot on the outside and the crust burnt. It was otherwise tasty.....Another sigh!

I went back to the hotel for a short while to regroup and get myself a map, then I headed out again to explore in the other direction, enjoying the sites: a palace that had been turned into a hotel, (The Palace Hotel), old buildings that were now art galleries holding work by world famous artists, and office buildings for 'official' things, and a park down the centre of the boulevard of a very wide main street, the Paseo del Prado.

The most magnificent sight was a palatial

building that was now what they referred to as their telecommunication building, but was really just the post office. They used the entire thing for the post office.

It was immense inside with about 3 dozen wickets for various things, and another bunch with tons of mailboxes in the basement. The details on the exterior were impeccable and awesome.

So far I haven't been able to find out what the building was used for in the first place, but I'll keep asking.

By the time I got back the gentle mist that had been in the air had turned into a light drizzle, and I decided to stay in my hostel to continue writing....and until it was time to search out another place to eat my supper and find more agua (water).

Then I discovered a drink machine where I could get water at a reasonable price. By 8 pm I was hungry and also tired, so I didn't go far to find my supper...just next door...an Italian restaurant...yeah, I thought I should wait 'til I'm in Italy, but the place looked authentic and was actually excellent with service from waiters that could speak 4 or 5 different languages. Besides now I can compare it to the real thing! They were out of tiramisu, but I promised them I would be back tomorrow to try some that they were going to make fresh.

The greatest part was that they had a non-smoking section that was entirely away from the smoking section, and it was wonderful to enjoy my food without second hand smoke swirling around my food. Spain seems to be more progressive that way than many of the other countries I visited. In fact they have small smoking rooms in their airports, at least the big ones, and the rest of the place is non-smoking. They're also big on recycling here, which is great to see.

Like most European countries (as well as Egypt) the card keys they give you are also used to stick into a slot that starts the electricty in the rooms. The problem is though that sometimes you just want to pop out for a few moments and don't want to turn everything off, including the computer. In this hotel there is no alternative, but in some of them I've found other cards will work in the slots....the towel card at the hotel in Egypt worked fine to keep my fan going so it wasn't stifling in the room when I returned.

I've learned a few tricks on my travels and encountered a few twists too. All part of the great adventure and many laughs!