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Madrid, November 4, 2007
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We flew Iberian Air out of Chicago as their fares
were better by far (turns out there may be good reasons for that). We
spent the night with Michael, had lunch with Lisa and Michael, then he took us out to
the airport. We got there early and flew through security so sat
around the airport until we got on the plane. Usual
mix of humanity on the plane so we didn't get much sleep. However, as we
arrived at Madrid the sunrise was spectacular. As usual the
photo doesn't do it credit. What looks like a big lake on the left is
actually clouds. The primary purpose of staying in Madrid was to get out of the airplane and get into the local time. |
| We were brought in (3 floors up by ramps) onto the elevated walkway you can see above where I'm standing. Then they took us the length of the terminal (the far right picture does not begin to capture the full length) and back down 3 levels to passport control. |
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Madrid airport is large and new (much like Denver). It took us an hour to get through passport control, from the satellite terminal to the main terminal, up and down ramps, escalators, elevators, walkways and pick up our luggage. Our travel agent had found a hotel "convenient" to the airport by public transit. We took a bus downtown and my Spanish worked (long and complicated "al Centro?") But when we got there, we could find no hint of our hotel even though there was a nice regional map. Finally we got in a Taxi, gave him the address, he spent 5 minutes talking with fellow drivers to make sure where he was going, and off we went. |
| About 5 minutes later (and only 10€) he dropped us off and said (in Spanish) "it's up that street, it's a pedestrian zone" (thus implying "you're on your own")). This is the alley way that leads up to our hotel. If we had had more complete directions, they would have said "take the bus into town, then take the Metro to Opera Square, then walk to your hotel." But even given good directions, could you look up this alley and know where the hotel was? (Thus, we concluded taking the taxi was a great idea.) |
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After a short walk up the alley we could see a sign
for the Petit Palace, but we couldn't find the entrance. We walked totally
around the building till we found this door. (Note carefully, I also got
you a good photo of my hand strap. Is that good depth of field or not?) The hotel is called the Petit Palace Posada probably because there are many hotels in Madrid called the Petit Palace and because it's on Postma Street. It was a good hotel, very convenient for walking around the area (once you got there), but not terribly easy to find! |
| A short distance (10 steps if you go the right direction) from the hotel is the Mayor (remember, this is Spanish. It's not the English mayor, but Mah-Yór) square. Every Sunday they have an auction here of "stuff" (mostly coins and stamps, but other collectables as well). This attracts no only those who care, but those who just want to do something fun on a gorgeous Sunday afternoon as well as many of the statue mimes. You can see that there's an outdoor restaurant (or 20) here also, so we were in and out of the square many times. |
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We did increasingly larger circles around our hotel to learn the neighborhood, but not get lost. [We didn't succeed! (mpb)] (Yes, I had the portable GPS in my suitcase, but could I find it? (Stupid question!)) We found a nice place for second breakfast (dos (2) Cola-Lite por favor) and then got to the near-by Metro stop (Opera Square). You need to recognize that we were still early enough that no-shops were open. We never again could see this much of the square at one time. |
| We signed up for the city bus tour. This is the one where they
give you headsets, you pick the channel in your language, and they describe
the city (more or less). The good news is we stayed awake (more or
less) being on top of the open deck bus. Otherwise Madrid is not all
that exciting. But it was indeed a gorgeous, warm sunny Sunday and there were lots of people everywhere. When we passed the Prada Museum there were several different long lines there! And many people were out shopping, sitting at the outdoor cafes, or just wandering along the streets and in the parks. |
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We grabbed a quick lunch in McDonald's, then walked (yes, shank's mare) back to the East Palace. We'd passed this on the bus but couldn't get a good photo. This one is photoStiched (which should be obvious if you've used the tool). The East Palace is one of two major palaces in Madrid, both still used by the Royal Family and by the government on occasion. |
| On the far left end of the palace is the formal parade ground which we didn't think worth presenting here. However, just beyond it is the cathedral, and after removing a traffic light (isn't a good photo editor nice), we decided it's worth inserting here. |
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| Eating hours in Spain are late for us in the States. We knew we'd be facing this problem in spades when jet-lagged, but we found a little restaurant in the Mayor Plaza that would feed us "supper" (not Dinner) at the un-holy hour of 7PM. This story will be continued so stay tuned. |
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