Madrid, Spain

The capital of Modern Spain 

6th August

To start off with I would like to say welcome to the world, Emmett Jules Luong Simon. Muzal Tov / congratulations to your parents, Matthew & Marie. You might not know it yet but you share your birthday with the WWW (World Wide Web) that is turning 31 today.

Leaving for Madrid this morning. Should arrive about 12:30ish. And to answer the most important question in the universe - yes, there is a toilet on the bus. (See picture of evidence) 

The bus ride is taking us from the mountainous region in the north-west down to and though the meandering farming lands where the wheat fields seem to go on forever, and the olives trees by the thousands are making my saliva glands shift into high gear. 

For the first 40 or so minutes the mountains shared the memories of the eons that they have seen pass by, evidenced by their revealing geology in the form of fault lines and stratigraphic beauty. I am so happy that I changed this trip to a morning trip instead of a midnight ride. It is allowing me to see the geography and how beautiful this interesting country is.

However what has caught my imagination more than anything else are the hundreds of wind turbines that fill the landscape, for in my mind the turbines have turned into old fashioned windmills and I am searching for Don Quixote (Don Quijote de la Mancha), the romantic and chivalrous old knight, as he bravely attacks his enemies, unaware that his sanity is slipping away. (I finally found my Don Quixote, with his faithful Sanchos, at his side, on a large painting on a wall of a hotel in Madrid that I stopped at for my morning cafe Americano & croissant. )

The bus ride was smooth and went by quickly, and thanks to some preloaded Korean Dramas I was not aware of the time going by. The Bose noise cancelling earbuds my kids bought me for my birthday certainly came in handy today.

My hotel in Madrid is called Nu Go Inn. 

Had I just been plonked into my hotel room I would have been annoyed for taking a room in the seedy side of town. However having seen the shops in and around the main roads in the area, I am quite happy with my choise of accommodation. Apparently this is an up-market part of the city.

Yes it is a small room but I have a private bathroom ( about 2m * 1.5m), a double bed, a hard foam mattress, a reasonably strong fan that doubles as an air conditioner and a fridge that was disguised as a large box with a power supply. But wait there's more. 

The lady who runs it is very sweet and helpful and more than likely a grandmother. She took one look at my walking stick and without asking changed my room to the ground floor. When I saw the staircase I understood why.

I asked the owner where I could hang up wet clothes as I have only 24 hours left of clean clothes and she smiled and said she will do my washing with pleasure, and it's included in the price. Who says I'm not a charmer?

The local area has an ample supply of woodfired pizza, burgers, Japanese, Chinese &  turkish, and if I want to travel across the main road, there are the golden arches. I have become friendly with Mateus, the young ex-student who runs the pizza shop on his own. Although he make a wide variety of pizza I talked him into making my pizza, my way. He did a great job of it. I could only finish half of it so I will be eating the remains for another day or two.

What I have discovered, although I most probably researched it before I made my Madrid bookings and forgotten, is the fact that I am within 10 - 25 minutes walk of at least three of the major museums I intend visiting - The Prado, the Thyssen and the Reina Sophia and one of the major roads in Madrid.

First impressions of Madrid

It is nothing  like Bilbao. The landscape that's make Bilbao so unique is, of course, missing. Madrid is an large international city, but the siestas and the Spanish life style still comes through. Not always possible to use a phone for PayPass, & the streets are not so clean.

However two engineering designs have made me sit up and take notice of this city. (Take note, Jeremy) 

First, between the two electrified rails on the metro, they have instituted a rounded ditch system so that if someone falls on the lines they have a chance to lie between the rails and survive. 

The second is one of those ideas that should exist anywhere and everywhere in the world because it just makes sense and makes the lives of so many people that little bit better and easier. At the end of each pavement the pavement is gradually slanted down to meet the road. I mean not only for those who use wheelchairs but also the parents with prams and strollers. The developer of this should be nominated for the Nobel Prize for common sense.

7th August

It was without doubt very warm last night. The fan supplied certainly worked for its money. I slept very well. 

I am off to see the first of many museums and galleries here in Madrid. My first port of call is the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum. Apparently it's collection is one of the world's greatest collection of art from the 16 century onwards (their emphasis, not mine). I should be able to comment later in the day.

Today's temperature is a very comfortable Perth February day, about 38c

Some 4.5 hours later I have finished the Thyssen museum or should I say that it has completly finished me. Although I did not count the number of artistic works that I saw, there were certainly more in one place than I have ever experienced before.

I have barley managed to limp back to my hotel's local area. My feet feel like I have been walking on glass these past few hours. I passed a chicken peri peri shop and now am waiting for my half chicken & chips. I feel that I need alot of protein for what is going to face me in future days.

I have also discovered the joy and the reason they drink at midday here. It's just so good. I am sinking into a smallish Mahon beer, one I came across in Bilbao. I expect I may have a good siesta this afternoon a) because I am tired & b) because my feet are killing me. Unfortunately as I am on my own, I am unable to take full advantage of Sista time.

I came across three monuments this morning. Two of the three celebrate amazing Spanish artists of years gone by. 

Diego Rodríguez de Silva y Velázquez worked in the Baroque style in the 17th century. He was the leading artist of Philip lV of Spain & Portugal.

Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes was a Spanish romantic painter and printmaker. He is considered to be the most important Spanish artist of the late 18th and early 19th centuries.

Both monuments are located adjacent to Prado museum.

The Neptune Fountain is also  located adjacent to the Prado museum. It was built in the late 18th century. Unlike most monuments in Spain that celebrate the Nazarene Protocols, the Neptune Fountain celebrates a Roman god, & that god itself celebrated the earlier Greek god, Posiedon.

At a upmarket hotel I also came across a statue celebrating Palas Athena, which again surprises me as this is such a staunchly Catholic country, yet they still celebrate the gods of their ancient Roman overlords, and by extension , the Gods of the Greeks. I would not be surprised if the pre-Roman conquest gods were still there, hidden in open view.

8th August

Today is Monday and like many European cities, the museums are closed. This in many respects is great for me. I have been on the go for a week solid, walking where possible, eating strange food that has not always agreed with my system, and I must have been exhausted. I slept through to 8: 40 this morning, followed by a long talk with my Tash about her wedding plans for October 2023. 

For many people any one day of the year is very much the same as another day of the year. For others, a particular day reminds them of historical events, meeting someone, saying goodbye to someone, arriving or leaving a place, exam results, a birth, a death, an anniversary. I, for example, share my birthday with that of the great dancer / actress, Ginger Rogers; with the death of the Romanov family, and with the trial explosion of the first Atomic bomb. The 25th April is ANZAC day in Australia where a military disaster helped build a strong national identity, and it is also my wedding anniversary. The 8th is such a day for me when my mind always drifts back to home, to Bulawayo and to family.

I am walking down what I have been told is one of the major roads in Madrid - the Calle del Alcala. Most of the buildings towards the large square are ministry buildings, and guarded by heavily armed men & women of this republic.

A young student aged girl called me to stop as I was strolling down the Calle, and she then pointed a very large box at me that turned out to be a  camera and said something in Spanish and pointed to a larger fixed structure on the ground that turned out to have a bluetooth printer inside, and out popped, me. A very clever hello and background of Madrid for tourists. Again a simple idea that would work anywhere.

Stopped at a building that caught my eye. It has a very fancy entrance. Tash would have enjoyed walking around the Galleria Canalejas. The shops within had names that sounded vaugly familiar - Louis Vuitton, Cartier, Valentino, Rolex etc.  

Many of the buildings in Madrid have very fancy and interesting objects placed on the top of their buildings.

I believe I have located a tourist part of the city in the Calle del la Montera. Full of tourists and cheap shops with not always cheap goods, and shleppers at the shop doors trying to pull in the punters. It extrudes life and colour and happy noise except for the incessant building that is going on almost everywhere.

And for those who wish to get high on the atmosphere, there is plenty reason to chill out .

Today's lunch is a $3 Ice cold Mahon beer and a plate of olives. And for Melody and Leeora - this will more than likely change once I get home in November but because everything here is cooked in garlic I seem to no longer taste or smell it. Like all things, however, this aberration will pass😆

Sitting and enjoying my beer and olives, I suddenly realise that I have been staring at a shop sign and that I am reading and understanding a foriegn script. It appears to be a restaurant of some sort or another. Just spoken to the staff and it is a Thai restaurant and they do the basics like red Thai curry and Pad Thai.

Mercado de San Miguel

I have been walking around and have found myself at the Mercado de san Miguel (which I think is my name in Spanish). This was down on my list to visit so a serendipitous find.

I asked a local street guide who said that this is like an up-market boutique type food market. And it certainly looked the part. 

There is little in these images I would recognise as food, for a change 😱. I would also be very cautious of the food. Even though the place is light & clean I do not believe that my less than caste iron stomach could manage this food.

The following are photos of food I mostly don't recognise or understand. I sound a lot like Sheldon in this situation, and for once I understand him.

Mayor Plaza

This is one of the most popular plaza in Madrid, on par with plaza Sol. Unfortunately Plaza Sol is undergoing some construction so I could not go through it. The character on the horse in the centre is the 17th century king of Spain, Philip lll.  The plaza over the years had gone from a market place to a place of execution .

The plaza is fed by many small streets where food & drink flow. One exit lead very close to the Mercado San Miguel.

Tonight's supper

I am a very picky eater and at my age I make no excuses. I will only eat what I know or recognise. I do not eat what I do not want to, and I will only eat what I want to.  Life is simple. 

But this evening I broke my own rules. I went to a local restaurant and ordered a Paella de Signoritos. It was not the end of the world to eat it as I checked beforehand that what went into it was only what I ate, but honestly it has no taste and the rice was hard.

9th August

Well I have finally found the greatest disappointment of my trip to date. I have gone to visit the Prado Museum and in the very first room I have been told that photography is not allowed.  Over the three week period I have visited museums across London, Oxford, Cambridge, Bilbao and now Madrid, the Prado is the only museum I have visited to date that does not allow photography.

Personally I believe that they should become more aware of visitors, their needs and wants, in the third decade of the Twent first century.

I can't say I was specifically looking for Columbus, just like he was not looking for the America's, but I located him today anyway,  adjacent to the National library, which also houses the archaeological museum at the rear of the building which I was looking for. He stands there on his high pedistal, in the midst of a very busy traffic circle and in the midst of some very expensive homes, or so it seems. I did not check but possibly he faces west?

I have very modern views on Columbus, such as his place in history and his legacy. I think that when it comes to historical figures such as Columbus, Spain does appear to be somewhat out of kilter with the rest of the modern Western World. Most statues of Columbus have been removed at least in the USA beacause of his journeys, actions and legacy, such as the conquests, the sickness, the destruction of indigenous cultures, and the forced conversions. 

As I made public my views of Rhodes and his statue and legacy, I would also apply the same formula to Columbus. 

10th August

It's going to be another nice warm Perth day in Madrid, apparently. Up in the high 30s. The population seem to cope well, most probably because the is little to no humidity.

A few points of interest on small things I have noticed while walking around. There is no extraction fan in the bathrooms, no matter how big or small, yet there is no sign of mould. I do not have an engineering background to explain this buyt wish it worked like this back in Perth.

The second point concerns the traffic & pedestrian light system. It is not so much to do with the lights themselves as where the vehicles have to stop in relation to the zebra crossings (although no zebra stripes here that I have seen). All vehicles need to stop a few metres back from where people have to cross over. Really a good idea.

The hotel building in the adjacent picture, is not the hotel I am staying at, rather it is the hotel I have my morning Cafe Americano and coisant at. The waitress now knows me and just brings me my coffee without even asking. The hotel is called La Pecera del circulo de Belles Artes that I believe translates according to the AI translator on my Pixel 6, "the fishbowl at the fine arts circle. Please correct me if I am wrong .

There is (fine) art everywhere in the dining area and in the foyer. The hotel specifically enjoys displaying three strong female nudes, two as sculptures and one in a very large and graphic/etoticly posed painting. I was going to add all these photos I took, but I do not know who is reading this blog and I would not want to upset those who object to the female form on display. I will just add one that is the least 'in your face'. 

Overall I have noticed that so far here in Spain the full nude female body is displayed in many places, and in multiple poses, yet not the male body. I wonder why?

Today I am visiting the last of the museums within what is known as the Madrid Golden Triangle of Museums. I have been to the Thyssen, the Prado, and now finally the Reina Sofia. I trust they will allow photography taking . 

One of the main reason for going to this museum is the Guernica by Picasso. Mel and I went to a Picasso museum in Paris because it was apparently showing this magnificent piece of late 1930s ant-war art, but we're very disappointed to find only a few very minor pieces and the Guernica exhibition turned out to be his planning sketches and notes only. 

I asked before entering wether or not photography was allowed. The lady who spoke good English said Yes. So imagine my indignation when I got to the main Picasso Mann & Dali exhibition I was accosted by two very rude attendents making it clear that photography was not allowed. I used my AI  to translate that there are no signs indicating no photography and that I was told at the entrance photography was allowed. 

Seems that there different rules for different rooms but no signage to indicate what the rules are. Is this something that the locals are aware of but the tourists are not. However, at the end rules are rules and I am not here to fight.  I have managed to take a number of images that will go up maybe this evening when I have time to edit them

Finally discovered some of the secrets about local beer. Most are full strength 5%+. If you order a beer that says on it, Sin, it will be alcohol free. However there is a Cinderella beet for me. It is called Mahou Radler and is infused with lemon, and says it is 3.2% alcohol.

Rick you would love the selection of beers here. 

In my way to Valencia

So it's goodby Madrid, until the next time.