Dates: 17-21 September 2012.
After skiing and a stay-cation earlier in the year we chose to take-in the Spanish capital for some Autumn sunshine.
Some silliness on arrival in Madrid airport:
We arrived late in the evening so checked into the hotel and headed straight out to the nearby Plaza Mayor for a quick look around.
The Sweeper in Plaza de Benavente, a tribute to the essential workers of the city:
Plaza Mayor by night and the statue of King Philip III:
On the floor near the Puerta del Sol is the Origen de las Carreteras Radiales plaque which marks the origin of the six national radial highways , which leave Madrid for the Basque Country, Catalonia, Valencia, Andalusia, Extremadura and Galicia:
The next morning we set out early to take-in all the major sights. First-up was to see the Plaza Mayor by daylight:
West of the Plaza Mayor is the historic food market, Mercado de San Miguel:
Casa de La Villa on the nearby Plaza de la Villa:
Catedral de la Almudena on the southern edge of Plaza de la Armería:
Also on Plaza de la Armería, at the northern end, is the magnificent Palacio Real de Madrid (Royal Palace of Madrid):
Monument to Felipe IV in the palace gardens:
I would love to live on the top floor of this building, overlooking the palace and gardens:
Esteve, my name in French, if my old French teacher was to be believed:
Back to the Puerta del Sol, this time during the day:
On the edge of the plaza is the El Oso y el Madroño, the statue of the Bear and the Strawberry Tree which is the coat of arms of Madrid:
We headed north from here to take-in the architecturally stunning Gran Vía, the “Spanish Broadway”:
We walked east on Gran Vía to reach Plaza de Cibeles.
Palacio de Cibeles:
We continued east to see Puerta de Alcalá, one of nineteen city gates:
The nearby Plaza de la Lealtad is home to Monumento a los Caídos por España, a monument to Spain’s fallen heroes:
From here we strolled south through the Real Jardín Botánico to find the CaixaForum cultural centre.
San Jerónimo el Real:
Museo Nacional del Prado:
The CaixaForum with its curious wall garden:
We didn’t go in, instead we headed to Madrid’s huge Atocha Cercaniase train station.
The Ministerio de Agricultura opposite the station:
There is a the monument to the victims of the 11th of March 2004 terror attacks in the centre of a busy intersection outside the station but we weren’t able to reach it due to road and renovation works.
The incredibly grand station entrance:
Our reason for visiting the station was primary to see the amazing indoor botanical garden with its turtles and terrapins:
That evening Real Madrid were hosting Manchester City in the Champions’ League group stage and we were able to order tickets online and pick them up from a ATM-style machine at the ground.
The Santiago Bernabéu Stadium:
We found a place to eat and then walked north on the wide and busy Paseo de la Castellana to Plaza Castilla to view the Puerta de Europa towers:
On our walk back we stopped for a drink to soak-up the pre-match atmosphere. Unfortunately, the local police were a bit heavy-handed with the Manchester City fans who appeared to only be singing boisterously. We thought it best to get in the ground and out of the way, just in case.
We had a great view from the top tier (seemingly reserved for football tourists!):
It was a pulsating match, particularly the second half. City took the lead twice to lead 2-1 with five minutes left. However, it was one-way traffic for those last five minutes and Real duly equalised three minutes from the end. Cristiano Ronaldo then popped-up to grab a dramatic winner in final seconds.
For our second day we headed back to Gran Vía but this time strolling west to find Plaza de España.
Monumento a Cervantes (sculptures and a fountain dedicated to novelist Miguel de Cervantes) with the the layer-cake American-style skyscraper looming in the background:
We then took a short walk to the Mirador del Templo de Debod (Temple of Debod), an ancient Egyptian temple and museum:
Next we jumped on the underground to visit Plaza de Toros de Las Ventas on the eastern side of the city in the Salamanca district.
The bullring is the largest in Spain:
The underground advertising was intriguing:
We got off the metro at the Church of San Manuel y San Benito:
We then stopped for refreshments in the huge El Retiro park opposite. The park contains a number of monuments but the most impressive was the colonnaded Monument to Alfonso XII:
The evening’s entertainment was to be tapas and flamenco dancing, so we headed back to the accommodation to change.
Statue fun with the Curious Neighbour on our way to find food:
Our guide book had a number of options to see flamenco dancing and in the end we chose Las Carboneras.
It was a fascinating watch, the speed of movement was particularly impressive and the pictures doesn’t come anywhere near doing any of it justice:
More statue fun, this time with the Madrid Lamplighter, a tribute to the gas lamp lighters of the 19th century:
For our third day we headed north on the metro to Madrid Chamartin station to see the iconic Cuatro Torres Business Area:
From there we jumped back on the metro in search of the Faro de Moncloa, which is a 92-metre-high transmission tower with an observation deck at the Plaza De Moncloa.
The very grand Tarjeta Transporte Público at the exit of the Moncloa metro stop:
The Francoist Arco de la Victoria with the Faro de Moncloa behind:
We continued the metro surfing and headed to Lago Casa de Campo, a man-made 16th-century lake:
We hired a boat and took a leisurely sail around the lake:
Afterwards we walked south along the banks of the Manzanares river towards Atletico Madrid’s Vicente Calderón Stadium.
The Vicente Calderón Stadium in the distance:
The Vicente Calderón Stadium from the south side of the river:
Another of the nineteen gates, the Puerta de Toledo:
The nearby beautifully-tiled Villa Rosa restaurant, which we didn’t eat in:
We ate centrally in the evening, and en route to our chosen eatery we came upon a demonstration around the Puerta del Sol:
The leaflet I was handed suggested the demonstrators were showing solidarity with the victims of fascism.
We didn’t hang around long just in case:
For our final full day we travelled north west out of Madrid on the train to the historical city of Segovia.
The 250kph air-conditioned train passed through sparse and yellow countryside for the most part and arrived in a modern out-of-town train station:
From there we had to jump aboard a hopper bus to take us to the town centre. A what a welcoming view!
The magnificent, ancient, UNESCO-protected Acueducto de Segovia:
The aqueduct dates back to the first or second century and thus the City of Rome presented this statue to Segovia in 1974 to mark the two thousandth anniversary of the construction of the aqueduct by the ancient Romans:
Postigo del Consuelo:
The view over Plaza Artillería:
We wandered through busy but charming cobbled streets to find the imposing 16th-century Catedral de Segovia:
The neighbouring Plaza Mayor with the Iglesia de San Miguel:
We continued to wander towards the north west tip of the city and found the Iglesia de San Andrés:
From there we climbed the hill towards the 12th-century Alcázar de Segovia.
The view from the Muralla de Segovia on our why to the top:
The UNESCO-protected Alcázar de Segovia is a royal palace that was built in the 12th-century and was then restored after being devastated in a fire in the 19th-century:
A long-range view of the six-sided Iglesia de la Vera Cruz from high up on the hill:
We walked back towards the aqueduct to find a place to eat and found a lovely little place. We did start to panic a bit as our bus’ departure time drew closer so we asked for the bill half way through our meal in order to speed things up.
However, it took ages to pay, with our waiter not grasping the urgency. Thankfully we made it just in time!
One last angle:
Vast swathes of pale yellow countryside:
On arrival back in Madrid we had another opportunity to check-out the turtles and terrapins in the Atocha Cercanias train station:
Turtles and terrapins:
Here is a funny little video clip of some turtles struggling to climb out of the water.
Madrid is a huge city and we probably could have spent more time seeing more of it, but it was a good few days where we saw stunning architecture, ate great food and enjoyed watching both football and flamenco. Segovia was like a little fairly tale town full of history and fairy tale buildings, and that aqueduct was incredible!
Notes From The Road 