October 24, 2022: We took the train from Valladolid back to Madrid and settled into our AirBnB. Then we walked around town following suggestions in a Rick Steves audio guide.
The La Torre del Oro Bar Andalú at Plaza Mayor. A veritable bullfight museum with alcohol and tapas. We just ordered, respectively, a beer and a red vermouth (Elaine’s new favorite beverage) but in accordance with a Spanish tradition the bartender gave us each a small snack – a little bit of clam soup in this case.
Next door to this bar is La Favorita, a hat store founded in 1894. William cannot resist hats, so he got a water-resistant wool driving cap that was made in Spain. Why oh why didn’t we get a picture of the store?
The entrance to the Convent of Corpus Cristi.
We requested cookies from an unseen nun at the Convent of Corpus Christi.
A bag of cookies appeared on the turntable. We placed our 10 euro note on the turntable and spun it back.
Casa de la Villa is the former city hall of Madrid, the largest and most impressive of the historic buildings on Plaza de la Villa. It’s built in a mix of Neo-Gothic, Neo-Mudejar and Neo-Classical .
We caught a glimpse during our Rick Steves tour of the Palacio Real, and made a note to come back to visit later in the week.
The Catedral de la Almudena. It opened its doors in 1993, 100 years after workers started building it.
King Felipé IV on a horse near the Royal Palace. He was the last of the Habsburg kings, and ruled around 1630. He was a patron of Velazquez.
October 25, 2022: We went to the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum, which has a wonderful collection of major works by minor artists and minor works by major artists. Most of the Van Gogh’s in the collection were in or on their way to Detroit for the “Van Gogh in America” exhibition which we saw when we got home. We also returned to a couple of Rick Steves’ recommended spots.
Ancient Tio Pepe advertisement in Puerta del Sol, Madrid.
We had some thick hot chocolate at Chocolatería San Ginés, which Rick Steves says is the best. We think it is indeed very good, but the best is at the Brown Bear Bakery, where we had breakfast when we first stopped in Madrid a month before, and also this morning (and probably tomorrow morning too). Anyway lots of famous people have been to the chocolatería and their pictures are all over the walls. Pelé is above Elaine’s ear. San Ginés also serves churros and porras.
October 26, 2022: Bucket list day! We visited the Prado where we viewed Bosch’s Garden of Earthly Delights, Velazquez’s Las Meninas, and Goya’s The Third of May 1808, and much, much more. After a late lunch we returned to the Thyssen-Bornemisza museum and saw an exhibit on Chanel and Picasso and their influences on each other. The day ended with a tapas cooking class at the Mercado Pacifico.
The entrance to the Prado
William frying some croquettes.
Elaine fries some croquettes.
William shows off the arroz negro the class produced. To make this paella variant, we had to clean and process fresh squid. Our hands were too messy to photograph that procedure. In the sauté pan is Ajoarriero Cod. In addition, we also prepared a Russian salad.
October 27, 2022: Our visit to the Reina Sofia Museum took most of our day. The jewel of their collection is Picasso’s Guernica, which we viewed twice during our visit. It was guarded by two museum employees and a low barrier to keep people at a distance. No pictures were allowed. Even with that restriction, quite a crowd formed around the masterpiece. In the evening we went to the rooftop bar at the Hotel Riu for views of Madrid.
The entrance to the Reina Sofia Museum
We lunched at the museum café and this foggy concoction was our Halloween-themed dessert.
When the fog cleared, we were left with a tree of cotton-candy and chocolate. We learned that madrileños really like Halloween.
We waited in line for over an hour to go to the rooftop bar. Accordingly we missed watching the sunset from the bar.
Why in hell do they make these glass platforms to stand on, in 26th floor attractions? Elaine is clutching William and her purse for dear life.
View of Madrid from the rooftop bar.
The Palacio Real and the Almudena Cathedral.
