We had the opportunity to catch up with daughter for
a few days during her holiday in Europe.
Madrid seemed to be the most convenient option, so off we went. Unfortunately,
this happened to be one of the hottest weeks in June in recent history and the temperature hit 40 degrees. Luckily our apartment had airconditioning,
otherwise we would never have slept. And those double decker tourist buses are
a wonder for getting around when it’s too hot to walk far.
Sunday morning there is a big flea market at El Rastro just around the corner from our apartment so that's where we started our visit. A few smaller lanes of old bits and pieces, an amazing shop full to the roof with old luggage, and then a long tree-lined street of clothes, hats, fans, hammocks, and the usual market offerings. It felt as though everyone in Madrid was there for their sunday morning entertainment.
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| this is the place for collectors of vintage luggage |
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| dressing up |
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| playing musical glasses |
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| a hammock chair ? |
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| don't know who this "Topo" is |
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| Jingle Django having lots of fun |
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| this is a vet come coffee shop - a novel idea |
The queue at the Prado wasn’t too long so we were
able to enjoy a morning of browsing indoors. The Parque del Retiro was an oasis of shade and peace in the centre of the city. The crystal palace with it’s little lake and waterfall is a surprise , and we enjoyed lunch at a café under the trees. The boating lake was abuzz with row boats and there were musicians entertaining those strolling about enjoying their afternoon in the park.
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| the crystal palace in Parque del Retiro |
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| a mischievous sculpture |
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messing about on boats on a sunday afternoon
in the centre of the city |
The Palacio Real has some of the most amazing
decoration I’ve ever seen. Quite often in these places the fabrics are showing their age and a bit dusty, but here
everything was immaculate. The fabrics on the walls, the gilding, the painted
ceilings, and the glass chandeliers were magnificent. Unfortunately, photos were not allowed.
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| the Palacio Real |
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| Archbishop's palace facing the royal palace |
We wandered the streets of the Salamanca district
, the most expensive area of town, with it’s smart shops and restaurants. Can
recommend lunch at Ornella with it’s wall
of greenery.
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| Ornella |
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| unusual sight outside one of the hotels in Salamanca |
We watched the buskers and performance artists entertaining
crowds of locals and tourists at Plaza Puerta del Sol in the evening. We tasted
the hot chocolate and churros at Chocolateria San Ginés where they’ve been making chocolate since
1894.
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the chocolate was so thick the churros
could have stood up on their own |
We jostled our way through the crowds in the Mercado de San Miguel along
with the other tourists busy taking photos. This is supposed to be a food
market but there were more bars than food stalls , but we did try the
jamon.
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| Paella Negra - no we didn't try it |
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| the land of ham |
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| we did try some of these |
And of course we tried the local
tapas, though personally , I prefer the pintxos in San Sebastian.
There are many beautiful buildings .......
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| in Plaza Mayor |
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| a message from the city |
And some examples of how to personalise your garage door.....
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don't bother with a street number -
just tell people it's the house painted like a shawl ! |
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Casa Hernanz has been selling espadrilles since 1840,
and there is a queue all day long |
Glad to be back home where the
temperature has dropped to a more reasonable 30 degrees and we are expecting
rain this week.
Una buena semana para todos
Enjoyed your accounty of Madrid. It has now been added to our must-visit cities of Europe.
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