WHY WE DIDN'T VISIT THE ROYAL PALACE

When we were on our city tour I had noticed a sign for "Templo de Debod" which the tour didn't explain. I was curious as "Debod" doesn't sound Spanish at all. So, of course we had to explore. We learned that this is a 2,200 year old Egyptian Temple dedicated to the worship of Amun and Isis that was given to Spain in 1968 in thanks for their aid in rescuing temple ruins at Abu Simbel in Nubia.


I was blown away thinking about taking apart something that old and then transporting it Spain and reassembling it.

This is a lovely park with a really nice overlook to the Royal Palace.

That was our destination as we had read about the "Stradivarius Room" which houses the only existing quartet of Stradivarius instruments - 2 violins, 1 viola and 1 cello - which get played when the Queen wants to hear live classical music. King Juan Carlos (and the Queen) doesn't actually live here (they are a few blocks away) but do come back for ceremonial activities. The palace has a huge park out front with more statuary of important people, mostly kings.



We got to the ticket area of the palace and this is what we saw:

and

Jim and I don't do crowds or lines, so we gave the Palace a miss. Right next door is the Cathedral, Santa Maria La Real De La Almudena, with it's "Neo-Romantic Crypts" so that's where we headed.

Jim chose to sit in the sun and smoke a pipe while I headed in. This is the first thing I saw.

It was far more beautiful in my mind than the stain glass windows which were making the patterns of light and color.


I was struck as well by the beauty of the decor on the ceilings of this massive cathedral.


Mass was being given while I was taking these photographs and I couldn't help but think about the tremendous amount of pain, suffering and death the Catholic Church caused to people historically, especially in this country. I can still appreciate the beauty of the artwork, however, such as in this tile work,

and in these stained glass windows:

I was very curious to see what the "Neo-Romantic Crypts" were all about so I went down the hill to the lowest level of the cathedral and this was the first thing I saw:

I was a little surprised because I was expecting something more like I had seen in Paris at the Pantheon, which was a little creepy and dark. This wasn't dark and it was immense. I didn't see anyone entombed who was in the class (in my book) of Voltaire but I did see this family crypt in the floor which may or may not be someone related to the royal family.

Like the cathedral above, the crypts were beautifully decorated with many individual family chapels.



All this solemnity and I was quite amused that the Catholic Church has apparently moved into the 21st century with electric candles.

Yes, you put in your Euro and your "candle" lights up.

Adios,

Audrey

SAMPLING LOCAL FARE

On our city bus tour we got off at The Retiro, which is a huge park that used to be the playground of royalty and is now open to all Madrilenos.


It’s a great place to walk around or just people watch. We stopped at a little outdoor café (frankly, this is a major past time in Madrid) for a sit-down and a refreshing drink.


If you have read very many of my blogs you will know that when we travel Jim and I like to eat what the locals eat whether we know what it is or not. We ordered Café “Bombon” without knowing what it was (even after asking).


And we were quite pleased when it came.


It turned out to be sweetened condensed milk on the bottom. There was NO need to put in the additional sugar that came on the saucer.

Jim was also wanting a little sweet snack so we asked what there was for “postre” or dessert. Our waiter mentioned “membrillo” which we thought would be some sort of quince dessert. When he brought it, it was a package like a snack pudding. When Jim peeled back the foil lid, it had already been opened and a big bite taken out of it! We called the waiter over and pointed to the bite and said “mice.” He was embarrassed and looked like he knew exactly who the mouse might have been that took the bite out of this dessert which looked like apricot jello. He went away muttering and brought Jim a flan instead (which he would have preferred in the first place, had it been offered).

I was determined to try churros and chocolate for breakfast because that is what one does in Spain. I had read in Rick Steves' book about the best place to get fresh churros. It wasn't far from our hotel so we walked there in the morning but there wasn't a restaurant there by that name (this is what happens when you read the Rick Steves' book that is 10 years out of date). Disappointed, we went into the one restaurant which was open for breakfast and it was the exact place! The churro machine was churning out churros and people were eating them as fast as he could make them.

These were doughnut-like except not sweet. They were hot and amazingly greasy.

The hot chocolate was very thick and rich.

The proper way to eat them is to dip into the chocolate.

I had to try churros once but don't really need them again. Good, but way too greasy.

I must say that in spite of Madrid being the Tapas capital, I wasn't all that impressed. I can only eat so many pieces of bread with ham (even good Serrano ham) or bread with sardines or bread with .... Mind you, the bread is good but I would have killed for a green salad. We did have a nice surprise one evening after a tapas meal (the "ham of duck" tapas) in a Basque restaurant - we were served a "digestive" Basque liquor, that tasted of honey, anise and caramel. Yum!

We did finally eat some paella in the huge Plaza Major, the first place in Madrid where I finally felt we were in a really old part of town. The plaza was built in 1619 and was the sight of many gruesome Inquisition burnings.

The day we were here there was a huge demonstration by teachers about cuts in education.

The paella was disappointing but the crab was cute.

The second course was choice of lamb, beef or fish. I chose fish, in this case hake, and finally got my green salad.


The fish was truly delicious.

Next stop, the Royal Palace, cathedral and crypts, and Temple Debod.

Hasta luego,

Audrey

Don Quixote de la Mancha

While Madrid doesn't seem very "artsy" to me, it does have lots and lots of statues of important people, like writers, conquistadors, kings, etc. Here we have Jim posing with the playwright Garcia Lorca, author of one of our favorite plays, “Blood Wedding.”


And as you can imagine, Christopher Columbus is very big here. He not only gets a huge marble statue but also a whole traffic roundabout.

The base of the statue depicts the whole story of giving Columbus the commission to go to the new world all the way through the souvenirs he brought back for Ferdinand and Isabella. I think this scene below is him getting a bag of money from Ferdinand.


This wonderful bronze commemorates the great Spanish author Miguel Cervantes.


It includes a panel at the base showing his two most famous characters, Don Quixote and Sancho Panza.
Later we were eating our sandwiches in VIPS, a sort of bookstore/cafe, when Don Quixote himself came rushing in looking for the bathroom! I missed photographing him coming back down the stairs from the restroom but when we left the café we found him outside.


Only in Madrid!

Hasta el proximo!

Audrey

SPAIN!

Jim and I left San Francisco on Tuesday October 18th, heading for Madrid by way of Paris. I knew we were back in Europe when I spied this savory assortment of foods at the Charles de Gaulle airport.


Our travel day was long but uneventful and we arrived in Madrid in the early evening of Wednesday. After nesting a bit in our tiny but very clean room, we set out to explore the neighborhood and get a bite to eat. Madrid is famous for its late dining times and we saw this in action right away. Though it was early by Madrid standards (8 pm) the Plaza Santa Ana was teaming with people eating and drinking (we have since learned that this activity peaks at about 2 AM).


Each restaurant around the square has its own tables and chairs set out for dining al fresco. We concluded that the action was outside so found a table and ordered. It didn’t take long to figure out that the prices for sitting outside were higher than for inside - AND, it was quite chilly (no propane heaters here!) Still, we were very happy with our food - a complimentary bowl of wonderful olives, a plate of mixed pates, plus this plate of mixed tapas.


They were so yummy! This wonderfully lit-up hotel (more money for one night than we will spend in a week) is the Hotel Reina Victoria. It creates a real focal point for the square (a square like this in Cuenca, Ecuador would be anchored by a cathedral but no cathedral here).


The next morning (Thursday) we were still a bit disoriented from jet lag so decided to take the city bus tour. This is the kind where you can hop on and off all day and even transfer to a different tour route, so we got to see quite a bit of Madrid. We had earphones so we could hear the tour in our own language. See if you can figure out what all of these other languages are.


I was struck by several things on this tour. For one, I was quite surprised that the buildings didn’t seem really old. I guess I was expecting crumbling brick or something. However, there are many really lovely buildings from the 19th and 20th century with elaborate décor or huge statuary.





I am especially fond of the attention to detail which decorates these buildings on the Gran Via, the “posh” area.





Just when I was feeling that Madrid was a bit formal, I saw this quirky theater advertisement.


And I did add several items to my on-going list of funny translations (see Ecuador blog 2010 re: beef jerky of pig and hamburger of shrimp) - this was at dinner last night when we had jambon de pato (ham of duck).


And this one is “Aunt Onion.” Not quite sure what they were trying to get at.


AND, I know Spain is a Catholic country (even though the number of cathedrals per capita is seriously below that in Ecuador) but I didn’t realize you could get your hair done by Jesus himself.


Next time - Retiro Park and Don Quixote in the flesh.

Hasta luego,

Audrey