Finally, Spain!!
Spain was a must-visit country for both Masha and myself. Yet, to be there in the right season, we had to leave it almost until the end of our trip. To make up for lost time in our top destination, we decided to see pretty much all of it over the course of six weeks.
Since we were flying in to Spain from Buenos Aires, we chose the best direct flight -- which happened to land in Madrid. Having been to other cities in Spain, I’ve always imagined Madrid as a stuffy, more business version of Barcelona. But over our 2-day stop there, we realized it has a magic of its own -- green, grand and beautiful! And… expensive — hence the brief stay.
Because we had so little time, we decided to take a hop on-hop off bus tour for a quick intro to the city
Luckily, we encountered less traffic here than many other cities (looking at you, London and Barcelona), which made for an enjoyable survey of the city’s broad boulevards and beautiful architecture
Afterward, having pushed through the center’s endless gauntlet of boutique stores, and escaping with only several dozen earrings…
we made it to the city’s famous Plaza de Mayo. This, by all accounts, is the cultural center of the city. At least, it’s where all the cooky-quirky characters and acrobats congregate, which means it’s always hopping
The city’s number one tourist attraction, though, is the Prado, the city’s main art museum, housing collections from the 12th to the 20th centuries.
Enormous in scope, as befits the flagship museum of a major European capital, a huge portion of the museum hosts religious paintings through the ages. Their coverage of this topic is indeed extraordinary, boasting an unsurpassed El Greco collection. But while I enjoy El Greco’s unusual style as much as anyone, the gloom of the selection found there was too much even for me.
Still, it did have some unique exhibits. For example, there was a whole gallery of busts fashioned out of marble and other stone with remarkable detail. And Alya loved the Greek sculpture section, as she is currently in love with Greek mythology. Although the museum perversely forbids pictures (even without flash), I surreptitiously snuck two shots, earning Masha’s admonishments
A mosaic painting of exquisite detail and a marble bust
of such fine work that the veil looks real
Madrid’s second most famous attraction — and in my opinion even better than the Prado — is El Retiro, a massive, meticulously-designed city park
It is filled with long green galleries,
impressive monuments,
and finely manicured spaces
On a warm sunny day like we were blessed with, it is visibly enjoyed by people, locals and visitors alike. We saw more than one person pulling a suitcase behind them through the park!
Since we only stayed for two days while recovering from our transatlantic flight, we did not explore Madrid’s substantial culinary, cocktail or even coffee scene. We did, however, try the churros! Very different from their Mexican cousins, Spanish churros are less sweet, softer and thinner
To be honest, we didn’t love these potato based versions. But they whet our appetite for more — and we wouldn’t have to wait long for the real deal, as we had stellar versions of Spanish churros in Granada!
Two days was barely enough time to get our bearings in the city and figure out what continent we were on. For example, we never did learn what this was all about:
Before we knew it, we were on our way to the magnificent Madrid train station to head over to Granada
And as much as Madrid was green and beautiful and pleasant, getting out into the countryside on the train was a very welcome break to our month of continuous city living. It recalled our landing in Slovenia after Paris and London (though central Spain is a lot drier!)
Vamos a Granada!
