We are off to the capital city of Spain, Madrid. It was a long bus ride from Porto and so we broke it up into two parts. Hans had us stop in Salamanca which was just over halfway to Madrid. We all split up and had about 90 minutes to explore and get lunch. On Hans suggestion, two others and I decided to go to the New Cathedral of Salamanca. The cathedral was built between 1513 and 1733 in the late Gothic and Baroque styles. It was so beautiful. I love Gothic cathedrals and this was an amazing opportunity to see it. We spent about 45-60 minutes in it before leaving a grabbing a bite to eat which ended up being a veal and bacon sandwich and was absolutely delicious. After lunch we got back to the bus and continued to Madrid.
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| New Cathedral of Salamanca |
Upon arriving in Madrid at about 4:30pm, Hans decided to give us the rest day to ourselves and meet late the next day at 10am. Such a blessing! After putting all of our crap in our respective rooms, a group of five of us decided to wander the city a bit and see what we can. First stop was the Teatro Real (Royal Theatre). The exterior was pretty but we couldn't go in. The next stop was the Royal Palace of Madrid and the Almudena Cathedral. We couldn't go in the palace but the cathedral was free entry. The square surrounding the palace was bustling with people. The cathedral was interesting in the fact that it was of the Neo-Gothic and neoclassical style that was uniquely modern. It was built over the course of 1879-1993. We ended the night by walking through Plaza de España on the way back to the hotel where a delicious buffet awaited our arrival.
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| Almudena Cathedral |
The next morning, following another lovely buffet provided by the hotel, we were off to the Museo del Prado and the addition by Rafael Moneo. It was a nice building with a good collection of artwork but it didn't excite me much. We went to another art museum called the Museo Reina Sofía with an addition by Jean Nouvel. It was nice a nice museum but art museum are not my favorite places to be. After that Hans gave us free rein and we set off on our own adventures.
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| Museo del Prado |
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| Museo Reina Sofía |
I split up into a group of three following the Sofia we went to the Madrid Atocha railway station across the street. It was a wonderful space that reminded me a bit of Union Station in its size and grandeur. We got lunch there and sketched a bit before heading to Buen Retiro Park across a different street. This park was huge and was Madrid's answer to Central Park. In it, we went to the the Palacio de Cristal. It was beautiful in its simplicity and transparency. We walked a bit farther on to see the Monument to Alfonso XII. It was huge and overlooked an artificial lake. We took our photos and decided to go back to the hotel. On our way, we stopped in the Plaza Mayor and had a glass of wine and sketch. A miniature flash mob broke out which was interesting to see but the overall feel of the plaza was that of Times Square complete with a person dressed up in a Minnie Mouse costume. Once the dancers were done it was time to call it a day and head back to the hotel.
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| Palacio de Cristal |
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| Madrid Atocha railway station |
Tomorrow (Jan. 23) we leave at 8am to go to Zaragoza, Spain. It is the 5th largest city in Spain and we are sure to have some interesting and exotics plans in store for us. Adios!
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