This morning I arrived at Madrid’s Terminal 4 (International) from Algeria (long story).
The immigration process was quite fast and from my past experience I learned to take the lifts (elevators) as the other option is a great number of escalators.
I was able to get my checked luggage quickly and then I purchased a tourist metro card as the normal card requires an additional 3 Euro for arriving and departing the airport.
I took the metro to my hotel (it took 3 different lines), The Madrid Edition.
The hotel is much fancier than I usually stay at, but it is in the center of the city and seemed like a good idea at the time. Despite the luxury, it’s 4 walls and a bed and TV. Really can’t say the cost is that justified.
After recharging the phone a bit I decided to go find lunch. Luckily I was able to find exactly what I wanted nearby and without much searching. Museo del Jamon. Yes, it’s called the ham museum.
Not only was the ham sandwich very tasty, it was only 1.5 Euro. I will definitely be back.
From there I went to Plaza Mayor, which was a bit of a disappointment for me. Nothing spectacular, just an empty square with a building surrounding it.
I stopped at a tourist information center and due to COVID all of the brochures are now available electronically.
From here I walked to Mercado de San Miguel. I was told it was touristy, but it was really a tourist trap. I doubt any locals would go here, it was super pricy.
Wandering around aimlessly I took some more pictures of the buildings.
I continued on to the Catedral de Santa Marial la Real de la Almudena. I wasn’t planning to stop here today, but it was open and I was there, so I walked in (donation requested, but not required).
The church was nice, but not as interesting as some others I have seen.
I walked around and took a picture of the Royal Palace of Madrid. I wanted to spend more time here, so I will go inside another day. I also took some pictures from the nearby overlook.
As I was walking around I happened across the entrance to the crypt of the church. It had a few interesting sculptures, it was worth a visit (donation requested, but not required).
Outside I found information on the old Islamic wall.
My real objective was to walk down to the river to Puente del Rey. It was an old bridge, but nothing spectacular. In fact there wasn’t much water in the river and the only thing interesting was the Spanish military setting up for some sort of festival this weekend.
I had booked free, yes free, tickets for the Prado museum at 6:45 PM (it closes at 8:00 PM), so it was time for me to get back to the hotel, drop some things and continue on to the Prado Museum. I took the metro to the Opera building and took some pictures as I walked back to the hotel.
I took some pictures of the hotel lobby.
I decided to walk to the Prado museum and took some pictures of the fountain and buildings on the way.
I had enough time only to see floor 0 and 1 (there is only a little left for floor -1 and 2 that I missed). Honestly I wasn’t that impressed. There were a lot of paintings by Goya, and I have no idea why he is considered to be a master. Apparently he had connections, because I couldn’t see how his work is better than anyone else’s. I saw one Picasso which in my opinion was ugly. There was essentially one one piece of work that caught my eye, the veiled sculpture of Queen Isabel II.
At the end of the visit I was glad I got the free ticket, it just wasn’t that enjoyable for me.
I walked north a bit to the arch, Puerta de Alcala.
I then walked through the park, took some pictures of the Monument to Alfonso XII which was in front of a small lake people can kayak and canoe in.
I continued through the park and went into the Palacio de Cristal, which seemed more interesting than it actually was. It was just a Parisienne glass building with a iron support structure. To make things worse they had some industrial art exhibit inside it which was just ugly.
I started my way back to the hotel, but happened across a US Embassy (yes, McDonalds). I haven’t had freedom fries in months? (or so it seems). So I stopped and got myself a cheeseburger, large fries, large coke and a McFlurry – all for probably less money than it costs in the states. In any case it cured my energy issue.
I took the metro back to the hotel and checked out the rooftop. Apparently of all the things I packed I forgot to pack a swimsuit. I guess I will be going shopping tomorrow.
Time to rest for more adventure tomorrow.
Today’s timeline:
