Capital of Spain and official residence of the King
Juan Carlos, Madrid is a very nice European city to visit. It is Europe's highest
capital city at over 2000 feet, and as a result has lovely fresh mountain air (at
least during the autumn when I visited). In fact, it was very cold for the time of year
that particular weekend, there was snow falling on the hills just outside the city.
My accomodation was in an Albergue Juvenil nearish to the Plaza España, which
for a fiver a night including breakfast delivered exactly the quality I expected.
I used Madrid more as a base for visiting other places nearby and as a result spent
more time out of the city than in, but I still mananged to see many of the sights.
Like other places of similar size there were many street entertainers and tourist trap
shops, but one thing I saw which I hadn't seen before was a movie premiere reception
at one of the large cinemas on Gran Via. There was a red carpet, bright lights and
glamourous women bearing flowers for the people stepping out of limos and walking in
while the plebs (myself included) stood and watched from behind the barrier.
Unfortunately it was for a Spanish film and I recognised nobody.
When arriving in Madrid by train from Valencia this is
the station which greets you, Atocha. This is the old part, the new bit is still being built, but
they have decided to use the former arrival hall as a subtropical jungle type waiting area.
The Royal Palace of Spain was built in the 18th century
by Philip V, and designed by Italian architects. It replaced the original which burnt down in
1734. This photo was taken from the gardens to the north of the palace, perhaps the most
scenic view of the place as the building is generally quite impersonal.
I tried to walk in the front door but was discretely turned away by men with guns.
The Opera House, just right across the way from the Royal
Palace, with the equestrian statue of Philip IV. The statue was cast from a design by
Velázquez and is said to be one of the finest pieces of sculpture in Madrid, although I personally
preferred the statues of Don Quixote and company.
Here's another bloke on a horse, this one is Philip III, cast in
the 17th century by an Italian lad. This is the Plaza Mayor which I suppose is the centre of Madrid,
certainly it is the centre of the old town. There were plenty of entertainers and places to eat around
the square, but the building in the background was the only one which was painted so poshly.
Plaza Sol is just five minutes away from the Plaza Mayor and
is a central area for shopping. From here if you walk north you will reach Gran Via which is the
place to go for theatre and cinema.
I took a quick trip up to Puerta de Europa to see these two
offices, the only inclined commercial buildings of reasonable size in the world. This photo doesn't
give much of an idea of scale, as the sculpture in the middle is perhaps 20 feet high while the towers
are both 24 floors and around 350 feet.
Plaza España, the next in the continuing series of Plazas in
Madrid that we are working our way through. The three statues in the middle are of Don Quixote, Sanchopanza
and Miguel de Cervantes who wrote the famous story about Quixote who fought the windmills.
The building in the background is Edifício España part of which is a hotel.
The Communications Palace at the bottom of Gran Via which
features in many of the postcards in the city. It is the historic centre for Correos, the Spanish
equivilant to the Royal Mail. This picture was the best of a few bad ones due to the constant
traffic passing by.
This building caught me by surprise, I do not know why it
has "Metropolis" written on the top but I thought it was quite cool and it made a good picture.
This night shot is much better than the previous one!
The Prado Museum arguably contains the best collection
of Spanish, Flemish and Italian art in the world - nobody goes to Madrid without visiting this place
which was apparent from the size of the queue at ten past nine on a Sunday morning. I am unsure
of copyright laws regarding display of the photos I took of some of the paintings so I will not bother
right now, but my favourite one was called "La Gloría" if you happen to swing by...
