One wrong turn and the wrong pair of shoes

• Helio85's Profile
• About this blog
• Entry from Madrid

Trip Start Jan 14, 2009 Previous
Entry Trip End Jan 29, 2009

  Madrid, Madrid, Spain and Canary Islands
Thursday, January 22, 2009

I finally made it to Madrid today, with a runny nose in tow. But all was not lost. Despite having to blow my nose everytime the train swayed, the visit was quite nice. I left this morning at around 10:15 ish this morning. Visit La Boveda and had myself some churros con chocolate and a cup of cafe con leche. I tell you this is the breakfast of champions.
I made my way then to the train station. The train didn't leave until 12:30 and it was only 11:00. Sucks to be me. I took some nice pictures of the station. The station doesn't provide much for entertainment unless you're capable of looking at every minute detail of the station's structure. Normally that's not a description of me, but today, that was my entertainment.
I just want to say that the Puma's are NOT walking shoes. That said, I begin my recount of my 5 hour journey around Madrid. I am by no means the most in shape person. In fact, I should probably ditch my car when I get home and walk everywhere. HA Yea if that were possible. I proceeded to make my way to the Prado Museum. If anyone reading this has any sense of culture, you know that this is a very FAMOUS museum. Most famous of the painters that inhabit its halls are Francisco de Goya, Velasquez, and as of lately a very decent Roman statue exhibit. Unfortunately, they don't allow you to take pictures of the paintings. I get that the flash of a camera washes out the colors of the painting over time, but itd be nice for those of us who can manage a camera without a flash be able to take some. Ah well.
Last time I was here, it was on a tour and I really felt rushed through it. This time I walked to every single room and looked at what I believe was every single painting. I'm not one for museums, especially art museums, but the Prado and the Louvre in Paris are two I'll make an exception for.
After the museum visit, I made my way down the streets of Madrid, working my way to the Gran Via. The Gran Via is pretty much the shopping street, much like Rodeo Drive in LA but much much MUCH less expensive. But it does compare in its flare for attrativeness. The buildings are all done and sculpted very beuatifully and give Madrid a very upper class feel. At least in this part. I didn't buy anything as I'm not a big fan of the style of dress here. But its always fun to see how its different.
I ate lunch at TGI Fridays. Yes, I know I can have that in America, but since I was by myself, I figured I'd look less out of place here.
I then journeyed over to the Palacio Real, or Royal Palace. I unforetunately wasn't able to tour the building because I became distracted by the garden out in front of it. The garden was very beautiful, especially for it being winter. I assume then that if I were here in the spring time it would be doubly so. Take a look at the pictures.
The Royal Palace closes at 5 during the winter and I made my arrivel at 4:35. Not really enough time for a proper tour. I have plans to go back with the people here at the school on Friday so maybe they'll be planning to visit that and I can go with. Otherwise, I'll just go by myself.
I found the Plaza Mayor by accident. This is a very cool plaza if you're lucky enough to come when its warm as all the little restaurants have their tables set up outside. But just the grandeur of the plaza even in the winter is still very cool.
I had originally scheduled my return to be around 9:20 but it started getting dark, and as I had walked to all the afore mentioned places, I changed my ticket and left on the 6:50 train back.
From Toledo,Adios
Current WeatherSunny, with wind 48F

Madrid hotels Share

Previous Entry