Madrid and Its Surrounding Towns

My good friend Ruben is fiercely proud of his country and for years conversations during dinner gatherings and weekly mountain bike rides often turned to Spain, its culture, geography and food.  When my wife and I were researching where to go for our next trip, Spain was at the top of the list.

We arrived in Madrid and headed straight towards our apartment we had rented through VRBO.  It was perfect for our needs with ample room and centrally located.

Our host got us orientated, we signed the necessary documentation, were given our keys and went to sleep…We had a full day ahead of us!

The sun was high in the sky when we awoke.  Oh no!  We overslept and that meant we were already a half day behind my carefully crafted itinerary but nonetheless it was time to see the city.  From the Prado Museum, a double decker bus follows a route throughout the city giving passengers a quick but nice overview of Madrid.  We boarded our bus and really enjoyed the roughly one hour ride as it took us past Retiro Park, Palacio Real, Atocha train station and other landmarks.  It was a great way to get orientated without having to walk around while we got our sleepy heads focused on the task at hand.

Heading straight inside the Prado afterward, we went to their cafe/cafeteria for some cafe con leche (similar to a latte).  What is it about Europe that they have absolutely amazing coffee even in museum cafeterias?   I may never know, but I was happy to have one.  The Prado Museum has a world class collection of Goya, El Greco, Vélázquez, Rubens, and other artists.  After a few hours at the museum, we walked over to our apartment for a quick nap and freshen up before embarking on night of eating.

TIP: As a reminder to Americans who aren’t used to renting in Europe, many apartments have washing machines but no dryer.  With energy costs so high, a dryer is something that most do without.   Plan accordingly when doing a wash.

Our first night in Madrid was a lazy meander through the city searching for food with stop number one being Los Gatos.  You may not notice the wonderful counter you stand next to, as your eyes dart around the space filled with soccer jerseys, statues, posters, a bull’s head, beer steins, and more.  Safe to say the walls are garishly covered with trinkets, but the tapas are good.  Since this place isn’t located at one of the main tourist areas like Plaza Mayor, or Puerto Del Sol, I think it gets overlooked by tourists.  The guy working behind the counter was very cordial and was more than accommodating with my limited Spanish.  We had green olives, some fried pork, Iberico jamon, manchego cheese, and beer from the tap.

Next stop was Museo del Jamon.   A Museum of ham?  Count me in!  Evidently, it is a fairly popular place with a lively mix of customers both local and tourist, and because I vowed to have copious amounts of jamon every day, a necessary stop.  Even early in the evening (9pm) it was overflowing with patrons looking for ham.  I ordered a ham and cheese bocadillo (sandwich) filled with serano ham, and my wife Chris ordered paella, and we shared a plate of shrimp.  All were decent and the prices were sensible.

We felt reasonably full after just two stops, and so we decided to walk around the city where we stumbled on the Mercado de San Miguel, a covered market with an early 20th century feel, is a fun place to walk through looking at the vendors and food.  There are stools to sit bar-style and almost unlimited food options.  A definite food stop.

As we worked our way back to our apartment, we found Café del Príncipe, and ordered wine and had more tapas.  The cafe has a more formal feel with a big, dark wood bar crowned with an ornate ceiling above.  We went there twice during our time in Madrid and during our second visit met a British woman with whom we had a crackling conversation while she was waiting to meet up with friends.

It was around midnight when we decided to head back to our apartment feeling completely exhausted.  A pitiful example we were.

SAN LORENZO DE EL ESCORIAL

“El Escorial” is in the foothills of the Sierra De Guadarrama – a short, westward train ride from Madrid’s Atocha train station.  The Royal Monastery San Lorenzo de El Escorial is a complex of buildings which include the royal palace commissioned by Felipe II (for his father, Carlos I) and completed in 1595.  Heading up into the hills from Madrid, the scenery changed and so did the mood.  By the time we disembarked the train, the clouds were low, the light was subdued, and the mood was somber.  Designed for piety, it is an austere place with the King’s Apartments consciously modest for a king who seemed to prefer monks over royal courtesans.

Around lunch time, we left the formal grounds and walked around the town which, maybe due to the weather, had a central European vibe.  The leaves turning on the trees only added to this nice moment.

TOLEDO

Olive trees along the way, and one of the most interesting train stations was how our journey to Toledo, the former capital of Spain, began.  The short train ride through the Castilla-La Mancha region ended at Toledo’s neo-Mudéjar train station giving us our first taste of something exotic.  A romantic town of Don Quixote and El Greco –  where knights and sword shops are as common as the museos and hospitals that hold amazing El Greco paintings.

In addition to the presence of Cervantes’ hero, the city is a wonderful showcase of Christian, Islamic and Hebrew influences.  Cathedral Primada, Mezquita Cristo de la Luz, and Sinagoga de Santa Maria la Blanca collectively show the different cultures that have played a part in Spain’s history.  We had only been in Spain for a couple of days, but were starting to appreciate the rich and complex heritage of Spain.  A heritage that showed itself as we walked around the hilly town seeing a new, interesting wall or door around every corner.   Most of the buildings we saw had delicate wrought iron on the windows and balconies adding flair to their facade.   We used the Plaza de Zocodover as our reference point to walk around yet we still got lost and I had to ask for directions walking back…twice.  We had a late lunch at El Foro de Toledo in the Plaza, then got back to more walking before heading back to Madrid via the train.

Leaving Atocha station, we walked back to our apartment but not before stopping at Museo Reina Sofia.  The museum features mostly modern art by Dali, Gris, and Miró, but is famously home to Picasso’s Guernica which is certainly one of the most important modern paintings in the world. A painting full of violence, sorrow, pain, and bleakness, it is immensely powerful and I found myself deeply moved by the despair of the senseless 1937 bombing of the Basque town of Guernica.

A quick nap followed by a freshening up, and we were ready to head back out for a night among the Madrileños.  One block from our apartment was the sleek contemporary Urban Hotel with their Glass Bar – complete with backlit and floor lit glass and a giant chandelier.  We ordered drinks and gnashed on their homemade potato chips not filling up too much because we had a dinner date night at La Bola.  The Urban Hotel bellman hailed a cab that took us over to the restaurant.

A small restaurant with a big reputation, the 19th century La Bola is famous for its Cucido Madrileños – a rich, brothy stew with a variety of meats served in its own clay pot cooked over oak charcoal.  The restaurant has great, old world, formal atmosphere and we had a no-nonsense waiter who was all business serving us our Rioja Bordón wine along with our appetizers and then our main course.  The stew is definitely not for everyone but I loved it. As we got up to leave, I walked over to our waiter to shake his hand and say thank you, and he invited us over to the bar for a drink.  He showed us some different wines and was extremely cordial to us as we talked about the history of the restaurant.  You never know who you are going to meet and I was reminded that you can’t judge someone by their outward appearance.

It was a nice dining experience and we headed out into the mild evening air to walk over to the Palacio Real.  All lit up, it created a striking image.

We meandered our way back to our apartment taking our time to stop and drink in Plaza Mayor and then Puerta del Sol and finally Plaza de Santa Ana.  We finished up things by returning to Café del Príncipe for more drinks and a late snack, and so it seemed we were adapting well to the life of a Madrileño.

SEGOVIA

Our last full day in Madrid started with coffee, aggressive gypsies at the train station, and sold out trains.   We tried to purchase tickets for the early train but ended leaving later in the morning from Atocha, and so we waiting for our train in one of the station cafes enjoying cafe con leche and pastries.  While breaking our fast, an extremely aggressive Roma wasn’t heeding our repeated “No”.  She moved throughout the cafe working the crowd for money until finally a well dressed, very dignified older woman laid into her.  It was impressive.

Due to the late train, we missed one of the main reasons for going to Segovia – to worship a large plate of suckling pig at Mesón de Cándido.  Denied but not deterred, we’ll have to come back during a future trip to taste that magical meat.  Situated on a rocky bluff, we traversed from one end of the city starting with Segovia’s aqueduct.  It’s still in fantastic condition, and one of the largest in Spain.

From the aqueduct, all roads lead westward to the Alcazar.  Earlier, we met a guy at the aqueduct and so the three of us walked through the city streets along with hundreds of other like-minded tourists heading towards the Alcazar.  Jutting out from the bluff with its the turreted towers, the castle has that classic, romantic castle look that would feel at home in a Disney story.  It really is stunning.

The interior is equally interesting with ornate rooms including one with wooden carvings of past kings.

Upon returning to Madrid, our last night happened to be Halloween.  Everyone was out and the atmosphere was festive, but it was about to get more festive with Flamenco dancing and churros.

Don’t let the drab exterior of Las Tablas fool you.  What the outside lacks in character, the inside makes up with incredible flamenco.   We were seated front and center of the stage and were presented a bottle of Rioja with jamon and manchego cheese just prior to the show.  Once the show started, we were completely mesmerized by the performance for the next hour.  It was absolutely amazing!

Flamenco is something that everyone needs to experience live.  It is extremely emotional with an ebb and flow between almost playful sexiness and intense sorrow.  There’s tension, at times, to flamenco especially with the hand clapping and the shoes clacking on the wooden floor and there’s excitement.  And this all comes from a guitarist, a dancer and  sometimes a singer who can evoke so much emotion.  After the show, we walked out in cool evening air.   We somehow forgot it was Halloween night, and young people all over the city walked around with their faces painted with variations of Tim Burton’s Nightmare before Christmas or Heath Ledger’s Joker.  It should have got us in the proper mood, but our minds were elsewhere.  You see dear reader, we may not have been in costume, but a treat is what we wanted and we got it at Chocolateria San Gines in the form churros!

It was so good.  Small churros paired with a dark, rich chocolate.  You have to have Jamon Iberico while in Spain, but you must have Churros at Chocolateria San Gines.  It was getting late and so we walked around afterward working our way back to our apartment as we needed to pack up and fly to Granada in the morning.