Madrid – a whistle-stop tour

The first thing that strikes you as you fly in over Madrid is its sheer size and scale – this is the LA of Spain.

I am en-route to Kalymnos in Greece and have stop offs in Madrid then Athens – such is the path for budget airlines – and I want to make the most of both cities and take a look around.  I take the first day to rest from a very late flight from Santiago de Compostela, a whirlwind tour of Galicia and arriving at my AirBnB accommodation via metro at 2.00am.

 

Madrid is warm when I arrive – around 20 degrees in the evening and 27 during the day.  It is a dry heat and I am reminded that this is inland.  This is a big city and I miss the coastal view and surroundings having been in the Pyrenees and now here with a brief respite by the sea in Galicia.  The people have a big city feel to them – busy and fast-paced. 

My hosts are a young couple, Libertad (she)  a Madrid local who has travelled the world including 4 years in India and he, an Indian moved to Madrid to follow his love.  Aloq has two loves, Libertad (his girlfriend) and travel.  He is doing his masters in hospitality management.  Libertad is furiously replying to emails and “multi-tasking’ on her computer.  She has recently swapped an education and career to move to Microsoft's marketing department - and working every hour she can to keep on top of things.  'This is crazy.  There's all different things you need to be dealing with at the same time and just as you think you are on top of something, another thing comes along.'  I smile.  This sounds familiar - though not a current problem in my life.

I have my shopping list of sights to see.  Before I left Galicia, Maria gave me a list of sights - she went to University here and spent 11 years here. She has given me some contact details for various friends of hers in the city in case I need rescuing. Thankfully I don't need to use any of those contacts.

 I make the most of the metro to see the sights.  There are a number of nice squares and monuments in the city, some nice parks and he famous Museum Del Prado to see.

 

The heart of the city is the (aptly named) Plaza del Sol place of the sun).  A number of streets radiate out from this centre and offer a selection of food, fashion, technology and other retail.  This is the first place i have been on my travels where the square is busier at 1.00am than 1.00pm.

I go to a large local park - Retiro  This has a large lake in the centre with people rowing small row boats   - in some cases serenading as they go, in other cases trying their best to stay afloat.  Surrounding the edge are wonderful statues that I later find out are from the Palace.

Museo del Prado is astounding.  I am (ashamed to say) a little bit over museums at this stage in the trop and budget 2 hours for taking a look,  I could have taken the whole day.  I see my first Caravaggio  "in the flesh" and get goosebumps just looking at it.  Prado is a wonderful museum - more an art gallery that has a spacious and majestic feeling to it.  The marble statues are alive, the paintings large and bursting with colour or sombre and reflective. 

I spend my last day on the Sandemans walking tour - a staple of my travel diet in many major cities I have been to - and have always been impressed with them.  This one also lives up to their high standard.



It's been a relaxing few days - I have not run around trying to fit too much in.  Madrid is nice - it's a world away in pace and scene to Barcelona or Galicia.  Time to head to Athens.