Madrid Sites

We didn't have any pictures yesterday because it was Museum Day, so here's a summary of what we did in Madrid.

But first, I'm sure everyone is wondering about the laundry saga. The first load of laundry we did in the washer/dryer finished in about 3 hours. The clothes were damp when it finished drying so we hung those up and they dried in a few hours. Feeling cocky, I decided to wash two pairs of jeans. I set it for the "rapid" cycle.  Two hours later, the machine stopped and the jeans were soaking wet.  I got out the instruction manual to try to find the "dry only" cycle. The choice was between a symbol of a leaf and a sun or a cotton plant and two suns. Unfortunately, I chose the former. The machine ran about an hour and a half before we went to sleep and who knows how long afterward. When I got the jeans out this morning, they were damper than the clothes of the first load. They are now drying in the closet.

On Friday, we had tickets to the Prado that allowed us to go at any time of the day. It's close to this apartment/hotel so we walked there to see a long line of people waiting to buy tickets but we walked right into the "no-line" entrance.  The museum is huge but we navigated it in around 2 hours. There is much to see, according to your own tastes, but we were especially interested in the works of Bosch and Velazques. Seeing The Garden of Earthly Delights and Las Meninas were my only two flashbacks to Madrid from being here, with food poisoning, in 1970. I remember dragging myself to the Prado to see these paintings. I probably did other things here, too, but I have no memory.

Then we decided to go to the Thyssen Museum which is close by and much smaller than the Prado. We took a rest and downloaded tickets to the museum but when we got there, we had to print the tickets from a printer they have set up in the lobby.  This was the only "no line" ticket experience which was unnecessary. There was no line at the museum and we could have bought tickets quicker than filling out the information they wanted on their printer.  We probably rushed too much through that museum but the Italian primitives and other ancient art wasn't that interesting. Or maybe we just saw too many paintings in the same day.

To complete the all-the-time museum day, we planned to eat dinner at the Museo de Jamon which I call the Hambone Museum.  There are a number of locations of the Museo de Jamon which was recommended to us by Johnny. At first, we thought it would be like the chocolate museum in Barcelona--detailing the history of ham and displaying ham art, but no. It's simply a restaurant chain which serves Iberian ham, the "treasure of Spanish cuisine," as reported by both Wikipedia and Johnny. Gigantic hams hang from the rafters of every restaurant. There is also a deli where the locals buy the ham and other products. We had the Iberian ham sandwich and french fries. The sandwich was made on a hoagie bun which was too much bread for the amount of ham they give you. We should have chosen what most other people seemed to order--a plate of ham and cheese with a side of bread.

Today, we took a cab to the Royal Palace (we are very, very tired). Again, we bought tickets online (half-price for old people) and downloaded them on a phone. And once again, I predicted the lines wouldn't be long since I keep thinking tourist season is coming to an end. Once again, I was wrong. The ticket line stretched for blocks. It had to be around a 2 hour wait. We marched right into the "no-line" entrance and the download actually worked.

Apparently, the Palace hosts art exhibits; the one today was called "From Caravaggio to Bernini." However, neither of these artists was represented in the collection. Instead, it featured the artists in between, most of whom were unknown to us. Still, it was a very nice collection and it was free with the price of admission to the Palace.

Once inside the Palace itself, you are allowed to wander around at will but that is impossible since group tours force you to follow the plan in the correct order. There are around 21 rooms you can see, including the crown room with a real crown and scepter and the Stradivari room with 4 Stradivari instruments.  It is everything you expect a palace to be. For people who don't like touring the inside, the outside of the building and its huge square is worth a look.

The Royal Palace

 From the Palace, we were very close to the Market so we walked over there, went in and quickly out. It is not as big as the Barcelona market and as most reviews say, it has become a food court rather than the market it used to be. We were also there at prime time Saturday; I'm sure there are times it wouldn't be as crowded and you could eat there. Today, you couldn't even walk in it.

San Miguel Market

Since these places are in Old Town, the stuff we wanted to see is very close together. We went on to the Plaza Mayor which is a gigantic square, lined with restaurants and shops. It's a great people-watching place but we didn't stay too long because we had a goal--to get to Botin, the oldest restaurant in the world and beg to have lunch there.

Plaza Mayor

Botin is famous for its suckling pig. It comes highly recommended by Johnny and most tourist guides. I had checked online and we couldn't get a reservation for lunch or dinner in the two days we had left. But it seemed many reviewers reported that the restaurant was nice enough to "fit them in." We arrived for the 1:00 opening, along with a few other people who were also trying to be squeezed in. After about a five minute wait, we were taken through two kitchen areas into a very nice room where they must put the stragglers. Of course, we ordered the suckling pig which neither of us had had before. It was delicious.  Even though it was obvious that our room was an "overflow" room, the service was impeccable and it was truly a "fine dining" experience.

Botin--the oldest restaurant in the world

After the fine dining, we walked around the shopping area and then decided to go to Chocolatieria San Gines, founded in 1894.  This place serves beer and other drinks but everyone goes there for a cup of hot chocolate (melted chocolate) and churros (fried bread) to dip into the chocolate. It took about 15 minutes of waiting for people to get up so we could snag a table. We have seen other restaurants serving this combination but this is definitely the "in" place to go.  As you can imagine, it is a very rich dessert. We had to hail a cab to get back to the apartment because we were both nearly comatose.

We head out to the hotel at the airport tomorrow and fly back Monday.  There will be no more laundry attempts before then.

Madrid: Big City, Big Streets, Big Sidewalks

High speed trains are really great. We got to Madrid in a little over 2 hours so we had time to see something today. After we checked into the apartment, we took a walk to have lunch and then onto the Parque del Buen Retiro. It . The walk to the most populated area was a long, gradual incline or, in other words, a big hill. The park is about 350 acres with many paths, fountains, and monuments. It's great to see green grass and trees after spending all this time in cities. The park belonged to Royalty until 1868 when it became public so many of the monuments and statues are relatively new.

Monument to Alfonso XII

We sat by the lake/pond (it's not big enough to be a real lake) and watched people row boats. Then we  went on to the Crystal Palace (inspired by London's) and Palacio de Velasquez. The Crystal Palace is especially beautiful. Both of these buildings house art exhibits sponsored from the Sophia Reina museum. There is nothing in the Crystal Palace now but the other palace had an ultra modern exhibit that was really terrible. Fortunately, it was free. The best part of the exhibit was a display called "When the Shit Hits the Fan."

The Crystal Palace

There were lots of people in the park--joggers, people on bikes and skateboards, many people just sitting and reading or drinking at one of the small huts that serve pizza, drinks, or ice cream.

A fountain in the park

Of course, the walk back to the apartment was down all-the-time down so that was pleasant enough because it was shady. Once we hit the major streets, the sun was blazing and it felt like a big city again.

Currently, I am waiting for a load of laundry to finish in this washer/dryer machine. Our other washers just washed the clothes and then we hung them on the line and they dried in an hour.  I was very excited to see English instructions but they weren't very helpful. I was hitting different buttons when all of a sudden, the machine locked and started. At no time did I touch the on/pause button.  I believe it set itself to run for 3-6 hours. I'm also not sure whether it will dry the clothes since there seemed to be a "hang on the line" option,

On the Road Again: Carmona

I thought I posted this on Wed. but I didn't. It's Thursday now; we're in Madrid

We didn't want to take another long drive today so we went to Carmona, which is about 20 miles outside Seville. People like Rick Steves say you should go to Carmona and Cordoba on the same day but that's a lot of driving and walking up hills. Also, it's blazing hot here again so walking outside of any kind is a problem.

Carmona is one of the white towns. The highlight of this town is the Alcazar or Fortress, dating back centuries. There are remains dating from the 14th to 12th centuries BC. The first structures were built by the Carthaginians and remains of some of the original walls are visible.  Around the 3rd century BC,  the Romans reinforced the fortress and gave it the  basic shape that remains today.

View of Carmona from the Fortress

 The Tourist information center is also the way into the structure under the arch. It's a clever way to ensure all visitors go to the center, get a map, and tour some of the town. You pay the 2 euros (1 for retired people), walk up some steps and go into the first roof level. Then, you keep walking up to tour the various sections.

The Gate of Seville (Carmona is in the province of Seville)

After touring the fortress, we walked up more of the town and saw only the outside of some churches and convents because visitors' hours are very limited. We lunched at the town square which is round which we have noticed is true of most of the town squares.  This one, however, had a roundabout around it and we were  sitting for lunch at a table that was actually in the roundabout.

Ancient Ruins

View of Church Spire from Fortress

Once again, in our walk up the hill of this town, we were forced to slam ourselves against the walls of buildings in order not to be hit by cars or motorcycles.  Maybe because it was so hot today, but walking in the narrow streets/sidewalks has lost its charm.  The drivers are extremely nice about stopping for pedestrians both in crosswalks and if you're walking right in front of them in a narrow street. But eventually, the pedestrians have to get onto a narrow strip of "sidewalk" or in a doorway. Residents seem to take it in stride but it is getting tiresome.

After this short adventure, we returned the rental car and came back to the apartment to get ready to take the train to Madrid tomorrow. We are hoping there are sidewalks there.

Cordoba: Lola drives, V navigates

Of course, that's not true. Two gps systems navigated us to Cordoba. On the way, we took the expressway and on the way back, taking Nicole's advice,  the national road which goes through some small towns and is more picturesque. Either way, you see lots and lots of olive groves and beautiful, if dry, hills.  Driving on the highways went smoothly, but in the city, it was a little confusing. Mostly, we went around and around roundabouts until we figured out which exit to take. All these historic centers of tourist towns with narrow streets should be required to post street names at least on the corners, if not every two feet. The best signage is usually how to get to the nearest McDonald's.

Before renting a car, we probably should have done that search on "Spain highway signs" but we didn't. Most are self-explanatory except for the one that seems to say "only red cars can pass other cars" and the one that shows a reindeer leaping into the air.  It turns out that sign means "wild animals" as opposed to "Rudolph ahead." Other countries have similar signs but not exactly the same one. All the wild animal signs, though, seem to have something to do with deer.

It's almost a two hour drive to Cordoba and we had to stop at a service area just to see what services they offer. We went to a restaurant to get coffee but decided before we wasted time sitting and drinking it, we would look to see what the gas station offered. For one euro each, we got one of the best cups of coffee ever, in a travel mug.  The attendant made espresso , filled it with steamed milk and we were on our way in under a half hour.  Besides the fact that good coffee takes awhile to brew, the other reason it took so long is that it takes a long time to pay for anything in Spain. Two customers who bought gas were ahead of us in line and each took about 5 minutes having a conversation about who knows what and waiting for the attendant to put all the credit card information into his register.  As for other facilities, even the gas station bathroom wins as best gas station bathroom ever. It's clear--Spain has the best bathrooms of any country in Europe.

The reason anyone goes to Cordoba is to see the  Mesquita which is a mosque-cathedral which dates from 784. The site was originally a temple from the Visigoth era, but when Muslims conquered Spain in 711, they divided the church into Muslim and Christian halves. The Muslims bought the Christian half around 784 and demolished the original structure. They built a mosque which lasted until 1236 when the site was turned into a Catholic Church.

The structure is huge and full of arches. I counted around 25 as you look down one of the many rows.  Many arch designs are represented. There is some significance to the arrangements, I think, but I don't know what they are. Here are some Lola shots with her designations:

Dramatic Arch

Row of Arches (and there were lots of rows)

Eyebrow Arch

Organ (having nothing to do with arches)

It's gotten really hot here again so after the tour of the cathedral, we walked around the Jewish section of town for awhile and then made our way back to the parking garage which is very close to the Cathedral.  Once you get out of the city, navigating back to Seville is not difficult. We rented the car and parked it for the night close by the train station. We can walk from the apartment so that's been convenient. By the time we got back, we both had dead phones so we charged those up a little, walked to a restaurant for tapas and wine and more wine and called it a day.

Granada: Too Many Downhills

We were doing that thing again where we think it's a good idea to take a bus or taxi up a mountain and then walk down. Sometimes that can be fun but we did it about once too many times.  The good news about walking down mountains is you don't have to use a map. Well, I would but Lola has the "all the time down" strategy of navigation.

Traveling to and from Granada was a different experience from what we anticipated.  I had bought the train tickets a few weeks ago and didn't notice the fine print in Spanish which says you have to travel by bus for part of the journey.  There were other Americans on our train as confused as we were when we were told the train's last stop was not the Granada station. We arrived at what looked like a new, huge train station in the middle of nowhere. There are no towns in sight, yet the parking lot was full of cars.  Everyone got off the train and boarded a bus for Granada. We later found out there is construction underway to equip the tracks for high speed trains. Everyone is excited by that. We didn't find out how long the construction will last.

Once we got to Granada, there was a slight problem with the hotel I had booked. When I booked it, the site said elevator; I try never to book walkups.  It turns out they do have an elevator but not on the side where the rooms with Alhambra views are located. And, of course, rooms with a view are on the top floor. Our room was on floor 3 which is really 4. Luckily we had to walk that only 3 times.

The hotel and much of old town is located off a narrow street which is also serves as a sidewalk. Only small buses and taxis are allowed to drive on it but there are plenty of them. To avoid getting run over, the pedestrians often have to stand in a doorway or flatten themselves against a building. The problem with this approach is pedestrians are doing that on both sides of the street. Drivers are fairly patient with the pedestrians,  just honking every once in awhile but Saturday night was hopping. The streets were mobbed with young people. We thought there might be a festival but the hotel clerk said it was a typical Saturday night. 

The first thing we had to do when we got there was go to a Ticketmaster machine to retrieve the Alhambra  tickets we had bought online. No one can explain why you can't just print the tickets but you can't. You have to use the credit card you bought the tickets with to retrieve them.  The Granada bookstore has been the site to get the tickets for a long time. We walked there to find out they no longer provide that service but their other location does. The other location is not a bookstore but a historical site that is basically an empty shell of a building. There is a small office with 2 machines but when we got there, several people were waiting for the one attendant to come back from her break and open the door. Once she did, she told people to hand her the appropriate credit card which she inserted in a machine that printed the tickets. 

Since we got there in the afternoon,  we had time to tour the Cathedral.  This cathedral is the second largest church in Spain after Seville's. It is huge and ornate. It's listed as one of two Renaissance churches in Spain but it was started as a Gothic church and decorated in Baroque style.

Granada Cathedral

Main Altar

Side Altar

After touring the cathedral, we walked a little more downtown but it was getting hot so we went back to the hotel. We asked the hotel clerk to book us a reservation at a restaurant recommended by Tripadviser Johnny. It's called the Mirador de Morayma which is at the top of a mountain.  I have taken to calling it More Rayma just to annoy Lola. We took a cab which took us most of the way and then the cabbie pointed down to show us where to walk. It is a steep path but there are signs pointing to the restaurant so it was easy to find. We saw plenty of women walking the cobblestones in stilettos,  including a bride. We both stumbled around in sandals.

This restaurant is very popular so we felt lucky to get a reservation.  When we arrived, a waiter asked for my name so I spelled it in Spanish.  I don't know why. He had a gigantic book with names written in it but just randomly,  not by times. When I finally found my name and showed it to him, he insisted my name is Rahmet and said the reservation was for 8:30, not 8. After 5 minutes of this discussion,  he just pointed to a 4 top and said sit there. It is the best table in the restaurant.  Many tables overlook the Alhambra but this one is in a room of 2 tables,  closest to the wall  and about 2 feet higher than the lower level of tables. A truly great view. After the meal, we used the "all the time down" navigation system to get back to the hotel. That path included a lot of stairs as well as a steep path but it wasn't too bad since that was the first major downhill trip. 

It's much cooler in Granada than in Seville. The overnights get in the 50s so it takes awhile to heat up in the morning. We needed hoodies to go to the Alhambra and needed them until around noon.

  Again, thanks to Johnny's advice, we had booked an 8:30 start to the timed area of the complex, the Nazaries Palace so it wasn't  crowded when we toured that area. To get to that part of the huge complex quickly, it is best to enter through what is called The Justice Gate instead of the main entrance. We took a cab to get there.  The palace is breathtaking. Much of the original tile work, molded-plaster walls, and filigree windows remain. There are also many water features throughout the complex. Arches are a prominent feature of this style of architecture. There are many variations throughout the complex.

One of the Reflecting Pools in the Palace

Arches in the Palace

Window Arches

A view of part of the Alhambra from another part

The other highlight of the complex are the Generalife Gardens. The gardens originally were fruit orchards and vegetable gardens to feed the 1000+ residents of the Alhambra. They are now flower and plant gardens, replanted 600 years ago. There are several layers to the gardens and many water features. 

Arches in the Garden

On a side note, tributes to Washington Irving appear in several places in the complex and you hear tour guides talking about him. There is even a room dedicated to him. He wrote The Tales of the Alhambra while staying in that room when he lived in Spain in 1829. He seems responsible for making it into a tourist attraction with the publication of the book and his time as a US ambassador to Spain. 

  After the visit to the Alhambra, we walked down a very steep path to the city. Visitors to the Alhambra were walking up, full of energy, laughing and talking.  I would have liked to have seen them at the top.

After that, we went for lunch on a covered patio that houses outside dining for 4 restaurants.  We couldn't get seating at the restaurant we wanted to go to or the 2nd or 3rd choices. We had to eat at the paella only restaurant which wasn't very good. Nevertheless, it was cool and restful under the canopies so we sat there until a man, who was probably the owner, told the waitress to bring us the check and made us leave because people were waiting for tables. That has never happened before. Usually, you have to beg to pay for a meal and you get the impression they will let you stay forever.  

After lunch, we took a small bus up a mountain to the Albayzin or old Moorish area. The bus had about 8 seats so we had to stand and hold on for dear life while the bus whipped around corners as it climbed up the mountain.  At one point,  I lost my footing and fell on some guy. The people with seats were sympathetic but didn't offer me a seat. Apparently  there was an exciting soccer game on the radio so  the driver turned up the volume so everyone could hear. More and more people got on the bus at the stops and the atmosphere got so unbearable, we just got off the bus. We walked around the narrow streets for awhile.  By this time, the sun was blazing and we decided to once again,  use the all the time down approach to get back to the city center where mostly we sat in the shade until it was time to go get the bus at the train station. 

The bus/train ride back to Seville was fine but by this time, we were exhausted. We walked back to the apartment from the train station since it isn't that far and went for tapas at the closest restaurant which looks touristy except no one speaks English there. The tapas was some of the best we've had in Spain which explains why it is crowded with locals all the time.