Day 4:
Let’s just say the overnight train was not a restful sleep…
The “reclining chairs” we reserved probably reclined back an inch or so. Hardly
any leg room or space in general. So when we arrived in Madrid around 7:30 in
the morning, we were exhausted. But we had a limited amount of time in each
city, so we had to push past the tiredness and make the most of the day we were
given!
By the time we got the metro, had a little Dunkin Donut
stop, and got to our hostel it was around 10. We dropped our stuff off in our
room and from there we did a self-guided tour by none other than Rick Steves. We
went to two of the big plazas, Plaza Mayor and Puerta del Sol (which not only
is located in the heart of Madrid, but also the center [kilometer 0] of the Spanish
road networks). Guess who we found there? Fat spider man and Mickey and Mini
Mouse!! Kinda strange… I also saw Bart Simpson and one really weird smurf.
We also walked along some smaller streets. On one of these we stopped and had a lovely lunch! I ordered a salad with tuna. I
thought I was very clever because they gave me slices of tuna fish on top of my
salad which I took off and put on the bread they gave us. So really, I got a
tuna fish sandwich and a salad haha!
Afterwards came my favorite parts of the day: Almudena Cathedral
and Palacio Real de Madrid (the Royal Palace of Madrid).
Let
me explain something real quick. I take as many pictures as I want outside of
churches, but once I get inside I put my camera away. For me, I feel taking a
bunch of pictures inside takes away from the holiness of the place, as it
becomes more of a tourist attraction at that point. Also knowing how I am, if I
started taking pictures inside these gorgeous cathedrals, then I would not be
able to stop. I’d get so caught up in taking pictures I wouldn’t take it all
in. So for these reasons, my blog won’t have insides of any churches. Their
inside beauty is instilled in my mind, but I supposed if I were to get a hazy
memory I could look up hundreds of pictures of them online.
Anyways, back to this Cathedral. Honestly on the outside it
looked like any other Cathedral we’ve been too, we had already seen a handful
throughout our time in Europe. Definitely still a beautiful structure though. But
once we walked inside I was blown away. It was stunning. So brightly colored
with stained glass and paintings. The windows were huge filled with the stained
glass. As the sun shined through, the colors of the glass reflected all
throughout the church. Up on the ceilings was a whole other story too. The
ceiling was filled with vibrant zig zag designs, symmetrically fitting the
entire length of space. Where the alter was, the designs expanded and changed
shape. There were a number of statues and other paintings. I could have stayed
in there for hours, I was so happy to be there. This cathedral was not
completed until 1993, also adding a touch of modern style not seen in many
other cathedrals.
We walked outside of the church and right across from it is
the Royal Palace of Madrid. As we were taking pictures of the Royal Palace,
beautiful music began playing from the church. It was so peaceful.
Then we ventured inside the Royal Palace. Unfortunately we
were not allowed to take pictures inside, but let me say it was magnificent and
a whole other beauty in istelf. We got to see just a portion of it, but again I
was blown away. Every room had its own theme of colors and decorations, all so
intricate and ornate. There were literally rooms for everything imaginable!
Probably a good portion of the rooms the Royal Family hardly even went into when they lived
there. I especially remember loving this room that had green vines with flowers
blooming all along the walls and continuing to the ceilings. The furniture had the
same color of green to match the vines. Oh, it was all so pretty!
And then we went into a modern art museum. Okay, I know
everyone has his or her own preference of style and taste in art and I’ll admit
I do not know much on the subject of art. But for me personally, with modern
art I have a hard time understanding how lines and circles make a work of art.
I was not a fan of it. So I was happy when we left that museum. But at least
I’m not limiting myself to only what I know and was willing to try it out.
We got to see a lot that day (by the way, it’s Monday at
this point) and I really enjoyed the day! We took our time going from place to
place. In just one day, we definitely saw a good portion of the city. So we
headed back to our hostel to shower and then went out to dinner.
I was craving a big, filling dinner. Something that no doubt
would satisfy my appetite. I was scrolling through the menu and came across the
hamburgers… now I know I was in Madrid and I should get the local food, but I
couldn’t resist! It simply looked too amazing. And oh it was! Probably one of
the best food decisions I’ve made. It was a chicken burger with a bunch of
other toppings and a baked potato. We all got sangria to split and just enjoyed
a great dinner in the city’s main area Puerta del Sol.
Tonight we were debating about whether or not to go out
because we were all still so tired from Lisbon and getting no sleep on the train ride. But
since it was our only night in Madrid, we decided we had to go out! And again,
we were staying in a really fun hostel that had a pub crawl planned for its
visitors. It actually turned out to be so much fun! We hit up 3 different
bars/clubs and probably what made it such a blast was the people we met. I got to
talk with people from all over the world: Australia, Belgium, Lithuania, Korea,
and California haha. They made the night awesome, I loved getting to know
all of them.
Day 5:
We got a tad bit late start to the day, but sleep is
essential after long days. Today we were headed to the famous Museo Nacional
Del Prado! And as I mentioned before I’m not artistically inclined, so I honestly
imagined this to be a museum full of clothes, shoes, and bags (confusing the
word prado with prada)!! Haha I know, that’s pretty embarrassing. Alas, it was
another art museum… but this time classical, historical, and religious art. This was art
I could understand and enjoy. Unfortunately I couldn’t take any pictures
inside, but I actually had a really good time walking and seeing the paintings,
sculptures, and drawings in this museum.
Afterwards, we walked through the botanical gardens. It was so delightful! We spent an hour in there, each of us on our own walking
around. I explored and found some really interesting plants and sights. I
thought it was a perfect way to end our Madrid trip.
But I guess it wasn’t over quite yet because we still had to
get food before we left! And if I thought dinner the night before was amazing,
I was in for another wonderful surprise! We all split an appetizer called the
Combo and then all got the same salad. It was a spinach salad with a bunch of
toppings and egg (which makes it look weird, but actually made it delicious!)
So after lunch we went back to our hostel to get our bags
and then headed over to the train station. Our next destination: Barcelona!
Madrid took me by surprise in several ways! From other
people I had heard Madrid wasn’t all it lived up to be, but for me it was a
great time :) Even though our time there was short, I
feel we got a good grasp of the city and got to see so much. I definitely am happy I got to spend time
there!
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