I arrived at the Madrid airport around 8:30am on Monday morning. It was strange to me that I didn't have to go through customs or passport control to leave. I just walked out the door. I freshened up in the bathroom since I was still wearing clothes from yesterday. Yuck. Not what you want - airport scent. Again, I found the tourist center in the airport to get a map and directions to the metro. It was attached to the airport so that it made it really easy to get into town.
Spain from the airplane window!
I ate breakfast at a cafe in the park. This pastry was DELICIOUS. It was warm and chocolatey and so tasty after not having eaten anything in so long.
I walked back to the metro and headed to the Palacio Real de Madrid, or the Royal Palace of Spain. I'm not really sure what I imagined Spain to be, but it was not what I found. I think I imagined bright colors and people dancing all the time and bulls running around and spicy food and just exotic-ness. I guess I figured since it's a Spanish speaking country it would be about the same as a Latin America country (at least what my perception of those countries are since I have never actually been there) but it was definitely European. The buildings were old and magnificient. Everything is just grander here, if that makes sense? This area of town is for sure where all the tourist go. The lawns and gardens were perfectly tidy and the streets were clean. It was obvious to me that this place is for visitors and not actual citizens of Spain. I think after studying abroad I have become much more interested in what people who actually live in different cities do. I want to know how real people live and not what the tourist stuff is. Don't get me wrong, I love seeing all of these world famous things, but I think I more enjoy trying local restaurant and finding shops without the stereotypical souvenirs. Anyway, this part of town was gorgeous. I took some of my favorite pictures from the trip in Madrid, the colors were so vibrant and the weather was superb for photography. Below are all pictures of the Palacio Real de Madrid and the surrounding area.
LOVE this one!
The next part of the morning was more wondering around and exploring. I was lovin' it. I loved not having anyone else's agenda and doing whatever I felt like doing. I wound up in Plaza de Mayor, which I intended on visiting at some point anyway so that worked out quite well. It's basically a giant square lined with a beautiful building. The only way to enter the plaza is to walk through archways that are built into the building. It was pretty sweet, I hadn't really even seen anything like this before.
You can see the red brick through the archway. Plaza de Mayor was absolutely beautiful in person. This pictures doesn't do it justice. Notice how enormous the arch is compared to the people.
Plaza de Mayor
Just looking at these pictures now, makes me want to be back in Spain. Seriously.
I walked through one of the archways and found something to eat. I'm always all about the food. I ate a kebab. It was cheap and absolutely do die for. So many flavors going on! Kebabs here are not what you think of in the states, meat on a stick (haha.) They are pita bread with tender meat inside (this one was lamb), filled with raw, fresh vegetables and draped in a spacy sauce. Yummm. I got my order as a "take away", no one say "to go" in Europe and walked to another famous tourist space, Plaza da Sol. It was a bit different than Plaza de Mayor. I remember it feeling a little more vibrant and lively. There are lots of restaurants, shops and street performers in this area, just more to do in general. Sol was also on my list of places to see in Madrid so I was happy to be eating lunch here. It's not an open area instead of enclosed like Plaza de Mayor.
I finished my kebab and pulled out my trusty map. I read about a market that was is typically only on Sundays but since it was a holiday (All Saints Day) it would be open! Sooo excited! I'm definitely growing to LOVE markets since they are everywhere in Europe. It's like a scavenger hunt each time to find something amazing! I was hoping to get some more gifts for people. The setting of the market was pretty great. You get off the metro (I have to consciously keep myself from typing "tube" since we call it that in London) and there is a large open area with the rest of the market trailing down an incline to another flat surface that ends the market. I probably spent over an hour walking through each booth, I ended up buying a handmade leather purse that I love and a Christmas gift for Caleb. I'm pretty excited about his gift. I know he is going to like it. :)
No, Caleb I didn't buy you one of those jackets...
Here's the stall I bought my leather purse from.
Next I headed to the Reina Sofia art musem. After studying in Paris, Florence and Rome this summer I have a new appreciation for art. I love going to these museums and seeing the painting, sculptures, etc. that I have learned about in classes. For some reason I got into the museum absolutely free. I'm not really sure why, but hey I'll take it. I knew if I didn't take pictures of the artwork that I saw, I would never remember which ones I did see. I labeled the most famous ones after the pictures of the museum.
Glass elevator to get into the museum
This huge artwork was outside the entrance, again notice the size in comparison to the person in the background.
The most famous work of the Reina Sofia, Picasso's Guernica. Guernica means war and it's huge mural, probably double the height of me. It's unbelievable to me that my junior year of high school I was studying this artwork in Spanish class and now I got to experience it in real life on my own adventure in Spain. On another wall, there were priliminary sketches of Picasso's ideas for this masterpiece. It was cool to see his original thoughts. Another wall, had a photographs of the work as he completed it. I was suprised how many parts he painted and then completely covered and changed into something else. I guess I figured you would just paint it all at once....I was so wrong. Guess I'm much more ignorant about painting than I thought.
Pablo Picasso - Mujer en Azul (Woman in Blue)
Salvador Dali - El Gran Masturbador (You can probably figure out the translation.....)
Salvador Dali - Muchacha en la Ventana (Woman in the Window)
After the Reina Sofia I just walked down another main street in town, Paseo de Prado. The world famous Prado art museum is on this street (couldn't have guessed by the name?) It's a VERY busy street in Spain and VERY long. I was basically killing time until I was due to meet Maggy at Sol. At this point, my feet were absolutely killing me, I had been wearing my new boots over over 24 hours since I slept in them in the airport.....not what you want. I had been carrying around my bookbag with five days worth of clothes and new things I had bought. I was exhausted and just ready to collapse on a bed. I spent well over an hour walking down the street just looking around. I knew I was tired but I was determined to not waste time since I was only going to be in Madrid for a couple days. Besides, when have you know me to just sit around and do nothing? Not often! Gotta keep busy! Below is pictures from Paseo de Prado. The sun was setting and it was a beautiful night. Honestly, as I am writing this, I just want to be back sitting on a park bench, enjoying
the beauty and just being there.
The Prado Museum. I visited the next day and will have more pictures on the next blog update.
There were several fountains on the extra wide median for pedestrians on the street.
Palacio de Comunicaciones where the Madrid mayor's office is. Wouldn't be too bad of life if you worked here, huh?!
Roundabout at Paseo de Prado
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