Stay, Stray, Play and Feast: Madrid, El Magnifico: Awesome European Vacation Conclusion (Magnificent Madrid Series 28)

Madrid, El Magnifico
Awesome European Vacation Conclusion
Magnificent Madrid Series 28

Madrid was our last stop for my family’s multi- city
European Spring vacation that commenced in Paris,

…we then flew to Lisbon, Portugal,

…then took a bus ride Caceres, Spain,

…and finally a train ride to Madrid.

Day 1

After a four hour train ride from Caceres,

we arrived in Madrid- Atocha at 2 PM,

…and we were all starving as we didn’t had

a decent meal aside from the early breakfast

before checking out of our rented apartment.

When we spotted La Pausa right inside the

Madrid train station, we decided to eat there.

La Pausa is a casual, no frills restaurant and

being located in a busy train station, was also

expectedly just as busy and teeming with diners.

It was wonderful introduction to Madrid’s culinaria,

as they served delicious authentic Spanish cuisine.

We were so hungry that we gobbled the food very

fast and they disappeared from our table in a jiffy.

We took taxi to Petit Palace Opera

and the friendly taxi driver commented

‘Kilometro Sero” perfect location, you

are in the heart and the center of Madrid.

He wasn’t exaggerating.

Petit Palace Opera Hotel, is located at the

Calle Arenal the centermost street in Madrid

…with Puerta del Sol on one end-

…and the Plaza de Oriente on the other end.

The hotel being in an old, yet awesomely

restored and well preserved building and

the rooms were spacious and comfortable

After unpacking a taking a rest for few hours,

armed with a Lonely Planet guidebook we set

up for the Old Madrid Neighborhood walk, as

recommended by this popular tourist giudebook.

It was easy to follow the guide book that recommends
to start the walk at Plaza de Oriente, and since we stayed in
Petit Palace Opera Hotel, centrally located at Calle Arenal,
family began our old Madrid neighborhood walk from here.

Right in front is the historic 19th

century theatre Teatro Joy Eslava,

… and the Church of San Ginés

one of the oldest churches in the city.

Righr besude the church is

the Pasardizo de San Gines,

…where tourists can access another place

with history, the Chocolateria de San Ginés.

Right at the end of the street is the Madrid Opera.

one of the great theaters of Europe founded in 1818.

We crossed to the beautiful Plaza de Oriente,

a verdant square in the historic centre of Madrid.

…and marveled at the monument to King Philip IV

by Pietro Tacca that serves as the park centerpiece.

Right across is the Palacio Real, the official

residence of the Spanish Royal Family, but

it is only used at present for state ceremonies

We leisurely strolled at the Calle Bailén,

…until we arrived at the Plaza de la Armería,

…where we got a better view of the Palacio Real.

The Catedral de Nuestra Senora de Almudena

was just located right at the Plaza de la Armería.

Santa María la Realde La Almudena is the seat

of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Madrid,

…is a must see and a must visit place in Madrid.

We walked up to the end of Calle Bailén, and turned

right to the Calle Mayor to see the Muralla Árabe,

a 9th century structure where some vestiges remain

of probably the oldest building on foot in the city.

We then went straight up the Calle Mayor and admired
the centuries old buildings, in this old city thoroughfare.

We then visited the lovely ancient Plaza de la Villa.

a charming small square in the heart of Madrid,

…surrounded by attractive buildings of contrasting

architecture as they were built on different centuries.

We went down the Calle Conde de Miranda,

to access the iconic Mercado de San Miguel.

The Mercado de San Miguel is a covered

market on a cast iron structure built in 1916,

that was renovated and reopened it in 2009.

The market is a good place to shop and dine

with numerous vendors selling a wide variety

of gourmet food, tapas, wine and beverages.

From Calle Cava de San Miguel,

…we accessed the Plaza Mayor

thru the Arco de Artesana.

Madrid’s Plaza Mayor was built in 1580,

and surrounded by three-story residential

buildings having 237 balconies facing the Plaza.

After our Plaza Mayor visit, we crossed the Calle Mayor, and
traversed the Calle de las Hileras, and returned to CalleArenal.

We concluded our first day with a delicious

Asian cuisine dinner at Bangkok Restaurant.

It was almost a four hour leisurely walk

in Madrid’s old and historic neighborhood,

Day 2

It was our second day in Madrid and after eating

breakfast at the hotel , we were scheduled to visit

the Prado Museum and the El Retiro District.

We began our walk from Calle Arenal,

....where we lingered a little bit to watch

musicians performing Marriage of Figaro

in front of the historic Joy Eslava Theater.

We then headed to Puerta del Sol, one of the best

known and one of busiest public square in the city.

This is the centre and dubbed as Km 0

of the radial network of Spanish roads.

so everything begins right on this plaza.

We traversed the Calle de Carretas,

…that led us to the Plaza Jacinto Benavente,

and marveled at the sculpture of a sexy woman’s

legs sticking out of the Teatro Calderon’s façade.

We crossed the road to the nearby Plaza del Angel,

and leisurely walked down Calle de las Huertas,

a quaint pedestrianized road, famous

for its cafes, tapas bars and restaurants.

We bought snacks from Lola Market,

…and rested for a while on a roadside bench.

We later walked downhill, and ended in Calle Moratin,

that finally led us to the Plaza del la Plateria de Martinez.

We rested to a while at posed for photos at

the side walk park at the Paseo del Prado,

…and walked our way to the Museo Prado.

We bought tickets and stayed there the whole day.

Also known as El Prado,

…it is one of the most visited sites in the world, and also

considered one of the greatest art museums in the world.

After our visit to the museum, we

exited at the Calle Ruiz de Alarcon,

…and marveled at the 16^th century

Church of San Geronimo el Real.

We traversed the Calle Academia,

on our way to Parque del Buen Retiro.

We accessed the Puerta Felipe IV,

…and was amazed by the beautiful

gardens at the Plaza Partere.

The Buen Retiro Park is oneof the largest parks in Madrid.

We a leisurely strolled towards the northwestern gate,

that served as the main entrance to the verdant park.

Right in front of the Buen Retiro

is the Calle de la Independencia
where the Puerta de Alcala is located.

The Puerta de Alcalá is a massive Neo- classical monument
at the Plaza de la Independencia and recognized as the
first modern post-Roman triumphal arch in Europe.

After taking souvenir photos at

the Plaza de la Independencia,

… we decided to take the Calle de Alcala route

on our way back to our hotel in Calle Arenal.

We admired the neo- classical buildings

lining the busy thoroughfare along the way.

When we arrived at the Fuente de Cibeles,

…we ttook photos of the beautiful neo- classical buildings
surround the area, like the Post Office Building,

…and the Sepblac or the Federal Office Building

which at that time was undergoing renovation.

Right ahead was the Metropolis Building, or Edificio Metrópolis
at the bifurcating corner of the Calle de Alcalá and Gran Vía, a beautiful
French, Beaux-Arts building, designed by Jules and Raymond Février .

From the Metropolitan building we turned

left and took the Calle de Alcala route-

…back to Puerta del Sol which as that time was

crowded, as there was an on going rock concert,

We walked our way back to Calle Arenal,

...had a very late lunch which also served

as our early dinner at La Cueva restaurant,

…where we feasted on awesome Spanish dishes.

She shopped for souvenirs from the

numerous shops lining the Calle Arenal,

...before heading back to our

hotel at the Petit Palace Opera.

Day 3

On our third day in Madrid, we decided to do less

walking as what we had done for past two days.

We woke up very late had a leisurely

breakfast at the hotel’s breakfast buffet,

…and headed to Marin, a home improvement store

at the Calle Arenal few steps away from the hotel.

We were decorating my son’s bedroom

who is in transition of being a teenager,

…where we spotted an antique chest

....and a rustic wrought iron chandelier.

We also found a dainty tabletop utility chest
for my daughter’s bedroom, we bought them,
had them packed for home delivery.

We hailed a taxi, and requested the driver -

…to take us to Avenida las Islas de Filipinas,

where the Jose Rizal Monument is located.

The monument which appears to be an exact

replica of the one in Rizal Park in Manila,

We fins it amusing that Spain honored Jose Rizal,

our national hero with a monument, their number

one enemy when they colonized the Philippines-

…and whom they put to death firing squad

in December 30, 1896, in the Luneta, where

the original Rizal monument now stands.

We lingered for a while at the park to relax,

....and took a taxi back to Calle Arenal.

We were fortunate to have stayed at the Petit Palace Opera

at the Calle Arenal as just few steps away from the hotel

is the Iglesia de San Ginés and the Pasadizo de San Ginés,

…that leads to the Spain’s most famous chocolate

shop, the iconic Chocolateria de San Ginez.

It was already past noon but we were still full from and

late breakfast, what had served as a brunch for my family,

…so it’s a perfect time for light snacks

at the Chocolateria de San Ginez.

We enjoyed the Spanish style thick, dark

and very strong steaming chococolate

… the deep fried light, crispy churros,
freshly cooked, ready for dunking.

We did some more souvenir shopping,

…at the numerous souvenir shops-

…in Calle Arenal until early in the evening,

…and dined at Café & Te.

It was an awesome coffee shop that satisfied
my son’s craving for a giant choco- chip cookie,

…and surprisingly served some of the best

paella, pizza and pasta dishes in the city.

After dinner we shopped for

food in a convenience store

…that we would be taking for a family

picnic in Buen Retiro Park the next day.

It would have been perfect as it was our last day in

Madrid, and we had the whole day to relax in the

park as our flight would still be late in the afternoon,

…but when we returned to the hotel, we learned

that there would be a whole day transport strike

that would begin at 6 AM and end at 6 PM.

We didn’t see this coming. Guests who had flights to catch
were advised to leave before 6 AM to avoid any delays.

There would no Buen Retiro Park visit for us anymore and
we lost the chance of exploring this main tourist attraction.

There was nothing we can do but comply.

We returned to our room to pack up for

our early morning trip to the airport.

Day 4

We checked put of the hotel at 4:30 AM and took a taxi

to Adolfo Suárez Madrid–Barajas Airport at 5 AM.
Our flight is still at 5:10 PM, but there was nothing we can do

and we braced ourselves for more than 12 hour airport layover.

After checking in our luggage, we spotted Urban Grill,

the only restaurant that was open at that time and we were

happy as we found a place where we could eat breakfast.

We feasted on croissants, sugar raised donuts and coffee,

…and later watched to sunrise on the airport tarmac.

Adolfo Suárez Madrid–Barajas Airport is the main airport
serving Madrid in Spain. and considered the largest airport
in Europe by physical size, and Spain’s busiest airport.

We passed time exploring the airport,

…and returned to Urban Grill at noontime,

….where we had a sumptuous lunch

of their delicious grilled specialties.

Urban Grill's comfortable sofa seats, served as a solace,
and as a luxurious lounge, for impoverished tourists like us
that could not afford a first class or business class tickets.

We stayed in Urban Grill until late in
the afternoon, and had a light snacks.

Being trapped in for more than 12 hours
Adolfo Suárez Madrid–Barajas Airport.

...was a result of an unexpected transport strike and we have
wasted a precious day, which we would have spent relaxing
in Buen Retiro Park, than just doing nothing in an airport.