Storyline: Winter 2025: Portugal and Spain
Sat, Feb 1
I’ve been wondering at what time Alex will take his wrong turn. Usually, it happens at least once per trip. (Emphasis on at least. As a kid, we used to call wrong turns ‘dad’s shortcuts’. I think its an inherited trait. I’m kind of proud about it – A.) We had to check out of our accommodation before 11am. Still about 2 hours to the departure of our train to Madrid. And the train station is about 20 min Google time. We can stretch it a bit walking slowly in the crisp but sunny morning.
And so, we start walking with Alex giving directions from his phone. 20min later we didn’t see any train station and the area was not familiar. He checked the Google time to the train station. It was 29 min from that point on. Yes, you guessed it. He had taken the wrong turn from the start. So we were moving in the opposite direction. (not quite…it was perpendicular to our intended trail – A). Well at least we’ve got to see Cordoba’s new neighbourhoods. An hour later we were still dragging our luggage towards the train station. Not so confident in Alex’s directions I asked twice a passer-by to confirm that we are on track. Eventually we found the station and had enough time for breakfast before departure.
Last time we were in Madrid was in November 2016 and we had great time. We didn’t have the blog then and although during Covid I tried to fill the gaps and have a few posts from past travels, Madrid, Toledo and Segovia didn’t make it. Things got busy with Alex’s CLL diagnosis, Covid lock downs, campervan purchase and travel across Canada, and many more.
We are back to Madrid almost 9 years later. Things have changed in 9 years, says the son of our hosts who greeted us at the apartment. Yeah, they changed everywhere, didn’t they. Madrid this time was an intermediate stop. We wanted to get from Cordoba, Andalucia all the way to Vigo in Galicia. The train route was through Madrid. And then the train to Vigo departed from Madrid Chamartín train station, way too far from Madrid Atocha where the Cordoba train would bring us. In a way we had to have at least a night or two there.
In this post I’ll try to bring some memories from 2016 back.
Nov 2016
Madrid is an amazing city! We’ve been to quite a few cities together and I’ve been to a few more. I don’t remember ever been so excited about the lifestyle in any of them. Just came back from our last walk (for now) from the jam-packed streets. Rain peeing down the last 3 days had no effect on the crowds.
People sitting out on patios under what we’d think as summer umbrellas barely protecting their heads and surely dissolving their drinks with rain water. At around 9 PM stores were still open, crowds barely thinned, music, umbrellas and water everywhere.
They say there is not much to see in Madrid, yet we could only cover 2 museums: Reina Sofia with Picasso’s incredible Guernica, and Prado with masterpieces of so many (Titian, Tintoretto, Rubens, Rembrandt, Goya, El Greco, to mentioned a few). We don’t see how one can pack 2 or 3 museums in a day; that’s like saying one has read the complete works of Shakespeare over lunch. These days the younger generation runs with their selfie sticks take photos in front of artworks that one can spend days absorbing before running off to catch the next selfie. It has nothing to do with the art and what stays behind.
We also saw art classes in every museum, with teachers explaining the history and relevance of different pieces and styles. There was an art class in the Reina Sofia in front of Dali’s “The great masturbator”. I wonder how a North American would explain this to the children.
Spanish museums are particularly good in organizing their collections and providing brief but useful information on the history and relevance of different styles and artists.
We only covered part of the centre of Madrid, including the night life. There were so many affordable shows, places to eat, and things to see. Madrid is extremely tourist friendly.
From the moment we got off the train (the information kiosk, right in front of us) and the information clerk giving us maps and books, through our last minute here, everything is tourist friendly (most residents have at least a little English for when our limited Spanish runs out).
Madrid Atocha central station feels more like a user-friendly airport than a train station, with multiple terminals, a topical forest in main hall, boutiques and food with competitive prices and quality, deserves another chapter.
All we know we had a glimpse of Spain beyond Catalunya and we hope we have the health and resources to come back for a more in-depth experience.
Hasta la vista España.
And so we did although for a short period. On Feb 1, the high-speed train took us to Madrid in about two and a half hours. The first-class compartment of this Alvia train was roomy and clean. On Saturdays the seniors discount is 40%. Eh, in Portugal the seniors discount is always 50%, but their trains are not in par with the Spanish ones. Not even close.
Arriving at Madrid Atocha we did not recognize it.
Then exiting we realized that we’ve been delivered to a different section and our exit didn’t go through the central hall. We were some 500m away from our accommodation.
The genial hosts had tons of activities and restaurant recommendations. But we’ve been here before we told them. Not far from our current location, very close to the Prado Museum.
We fondly remember Mercado de San Fernando. It has become very touristy our host says. He recommended two other markets.
Later we’d walk through Mercado Antón Martín, but a bit early for it to be open. From our window we could see the crowds in front of one of the recommended bar/restaurants. Cerveceria Cervantes.
We had in mind a Flamenco show at the same place as in 2016, but since we didn’t book it in advance the chances to get in were slim. Below is what my notes from 2016 say:
The photo can’t portray it, words cannot describe it and a recording (not allowed) would not have captured the intensity and emotions this show evoked. It was the shortest and the most emotionally loaded hour of entertainment we have ever experienced.
Yes, trying to describe the indescribable Flamenco show we experienced tonight at Villa Rosa, Madrid. The singing and dancing was like an exotic trance. All the artists played off each other, providing additional rhythm and dynamic range to actions of the soloist of the moment.
The € 70 entrance fee for both of us, including 2 drinks and snacks was well worth it.
Back to 2025. Our second day in Madrid. We walked up the street from our accommodation to Convento de las Trinitarias Descalzas de San Ildefonso.
Apparently, the nuns are not allowed out, but the tourists were allowed in. Not sure we’ve got the host’s message right, because the only place we could actually get in was the church. Perhaps it was the wrong day, because he did say one can go in and see how they live. But on Sunday morning we could only glance at the church.
The significance of it is that the famed ‘Don Quixote’ author Miguel de Cervantes was buried here in 1616. His remains were lost during reconstruction. However forensic scientists discovered them in 2015 and they are currently resting in the convent.
Time for a light lunch at Cerveceria Cervantes. Just drinks and tapas (padron peppers and fried squid). Drinks came with good bread and cheese, so no more was needed. Here as everywhere else we, as the locals, ask for aciete de oliva (olive oil) to dip our bread in. This by itself is a meal.
(When it came time to pay, I asked them to round up the charge as a tip. Unlike at home where one can add a tip percent or amount on the machine before processing, this is how I had learned it was done in Ronda and Cordoba. Not here. And not in a few other restaurants we would later dine. They were unable to process any amount other that what was on the bill. Could they accept a cash tip? I don’t know since we didn’t carry small amounts of cash. But there was really no expectation of a tip, so there was no perceived insult to the server. – A)
It was a sunny Sunday and the main artery by the Prado Museum, Paseo del Prado, is closed to traffic. Pedestrians, mostly local, are enjoying the sun strolling or jogging up and down the boulevard.
Big lineups for Prado Museum, but we’ve been there.
And the line ups 9 years ago were not smaller. Our goal was to explore the huge park east of it – Parque de El Retiro. We spent a good part of the day in it.
We reached Av. de Menéndez Pelayo to the east, lined up with bars, cafes and restaurants. By then though, the skies had become rather threatening.
Knowing that the kitchen of any restaurant wouldn’t open before 8pm we opted for home.
This time we were after discovery of small statues depicting ordinary life. A statue of a dog just below our window, the street sweeper, the bear and the strawberry tree…
On our last day we’d visit Plaza Mayor. Somehow, we thought that that that’s where the big Christmas tree was in 2016.
I wanted to see the famous statue of the street sweeper El Barrendero again and it wasn’t at the Plaza Mayor. After using our guide, Google, we found that the statue is on Plaza de Jacinto Benavente, half way from Puerta del Sol in the direction of Lavapiés. Makes sense since we walked many times in this direction in 2016. El Barrendero is fashioned after Jesús Moreno, the most seasoned sweeper in Madrid who in 2001, had served Madrid for 48 years.
He hasn’t aged at all!
We also found the square where the Xmas tree was. There is a little monument of a bear at the end of it. El Oso y el Madroño (The Bear and the Strawberry Tree).
It has a long history, but it is a heraldic symbol of the city with first appearance of a bear and a strawberry tree on the city’s coat of arms in 13th century.
The statue of the dog, Paco the Dog (El Perro Paco), appeared on this place Jan 16 2023, the day prior to the celebration of St. Anthony, patron of all animals. It depicts a street dog much loved in the 19th century.
Speaking of dogs, in every train station in Spain there were sniffer dogs being walked around. Also, all bags and people were scanned as in an airport.
Our last meal in Madrid, believe it or not, was in a parrilla, which translates as ‘Grill, and is the Argentinian name for a steakhouse. There were quite a few on a pedestrian street lined with restaurants. Off to Vigo the next morning.
Wonderful post, Diana. Brings back our good memories.
Wish we could stay longer