Madrid

I had a chance to follow Scott around to a few cities in June as he had a couple of days of meetings in some cities that have been on my bucket list. First stop--Madrid. Scott was in meetings for a couple of days, so when I arrived, I took a taxi to the hotel, rested for a few hours, then headed out to explore the city.

 The streets were beautiful, wide and clean, and many had trees and grassy areas in between the lanes.  Almost every major intersection had beautiful squares, plazas or fountains in the middle of them.






The first evening I arrived was a huge Summer Solstice celebration.  The streets near our hotel were full of party-goers, and vendors were giving out free hot dogs and beer.  What a party!  They had the streets decorated with the most bizaare displays of giant bird legs clutching Hummers.

The next day, while Scott was at a trade show, I wandered down to see the Museo del Prado, one of the top ten museums in the world, which houses thousands of paintings, sculptures, prints and other works of art. Although one could spend days there, I enjoyed as many hours as my feet could take!  The museum displays works by the great European masters such as Velazquez, Goya, Raphael, and Rubens.

When Scott finished his show for the day on Friday, we took the subway out to see the Plaza de Toros de Las Ventas, Madrid's famous bullring.

The details and stone work on the building were absolutely beautiful.  We bought tickets to attend a bullfight (yep...it's on my bucket list) the following day.

We returned to the city center and wandered through Madrid's version of Central Park, called El Retiro.  It is a 350 acre park the belonged to the Spanish Monarchy until the late 19th century when it became open to the public.  Its full name means "Gardens of the Pleasant Retreat."

We had dinner one night near Plaza Mayor, which is Madrid's main square.  The square is surrounded by restaurants and cafe's serving tapas and Spanish wine.  The center of the square was full of crazy people and many things to see.  Here is a picture we snapped of Scott's business associate, Paul, who was enjoying the, um, sites.

We had time on the weekend to take a complete Madrid city tour, and enjoyed a few stops, such as the Palacio Real, or Royal Palace, which is Madrid's largest (and possibly most beautiful) building.    It is the largest royal palace in Western Europe.

Very near our hotel was El Museo Naval, or the Navy Museum, which had exhibits and artifacts of  collections from the Spanish Armada.   The most interesting exhibits were the huge and extremely detailed models of many historical vessels.  Scott was in heaven.

Let's talk Football.  Since the European cup was taking place the very weekend we were visiting Madrid, we decided to make a visit to the home of Real Madrid, the Santiago Bernabeu.  It was an impressive facility to tour.

Almost as impressive as the stadium were the  Madridistas (supporters or fans), who gathered in venues all over the city the night the Spain vs France game was played.  Scott and Paul made reservations to go to a pub with a large screen TV so they could enjoy the game.  The place was so packed, you couldn't even move!   I did the sensible thing and went back to the hotel room, and as I walked home through the streets, all the stores, restaurants, and shops were completely closed up for the evening.  I think I was the only person not watching the game!

Our last evening in Madrid we  attended a bullfight. Although I had read up on what to expect, I was a bit apprehensive about what this experience would be like.


It began with a bright and colorful display of all of the Matadors, and the whole process was more dramatic and artistic than it was sporting.

By the way, pink is the new red.

While interesting to watch and learn of this culturally significant tradition, bullfighting will probably not be on the top of my Must See list again!


Madrid was a beautiful city, and I am anxious to see more of Spain as opportunities permit.