So, as I mentioned in one of my previous posts, my cheapest and most convenient option to get back to
was to take a flight to Madrid. Although I'd been to Spain a few times before, I'd never been to the capital city, so I was excited to spend a couple of days there.
When I arrived, I was kind of surprised by what the city looked like. This was the view from my hotel window:
I'd previously been to Menorca, Málaga and
Valencia in either spring or summer, and the image of Spain I had in my mind was pretty much the typical image British people have of Spain - sun, sea and beaches. Although I knew that going to Madrid in November would be very different, I hadn't quite expected it to look how it did! But I was intrigued to discover a different side to the country.
The next morning I travelled into the city centre, which, thankfully, wasn't as grey as the area I was staying in! The first attraction I saw on my way to the Prado art gallery was Plaza de Cibeles, which is generally considered to be the city's most beautiful square.
I had actually wanted to go to Madrid since 2017, and the Prado museum was the main reason for that. In my second year of university, I studied a module about Spanish and Portuguese painting, which I found really interesting. Many of the paintings we studied in class are in the Prado, and I had wanted to see them in person ever since, especially Las Meninas by Velázquez. So I got to tick an item off my travel wishlist when I visited the gallery. It was kind of surreal to see the paintings in real life and I really enjoyed the experience.
After my visit to the Prado, I went to Parque del Buen Retiro. On my way there, I went past San Jerónimo el Real, a very pretty former monastery.
Parque del Buen Retiro was one of the highlights of my trip to Madrid. It's a huge and ornate park which even has an artificial lake.
Some of the most memorable parts of the park are Casita del Pescador (the fisherman's cottage)...
...Palacio de Velázquez...
...and Palacio de Cristal. Both Palacio de Velázquez and Palacio de Cristal are art exhibition venues.
Near the park was another building that caught my eye: Casa Árabe, a cultural centre which links Spain with the Arab world.
My next stop was Parque del Oeste, where I went to see Templo de Debod and Mirador de la Montaña de Príncipe Pío. I was really looking forward to seeing Templo de Debod, an ancient Egyptian temple that was moved to Madrid. However, my experience there wasn't the best. The temple is on a platform in the middle of a public park and I could see other people taking pictures there. But when I started walking towards the platform, security guards started blowing whistles at me and shouting at me to get away! It turns out you have to queue up to go on the platform and to enter the main part of the temple, but the queue is not immediately visible when approaching the temple. After the rude way I was treated, I had no desire to spend any more time there. Honestly, there's no reason why they couldn't put a sign up explaining the rules to visitors, rather than behaving aggressively.
Mirador de la Montaña de Príncipe Pío, however, was a nice attraction to visit. From there, you can see amazing views of the royal palace.
Along with the Prado museum, the royal palace was the other reason why I wanted to visit Madrid. Although I am very strongly anti-monarchy (yes, I am one of many Brits who don't believe the Windsors are better than the rest of us!), I have an absolute love of
castles and
palaces and everything related to fairytales. So on my final morning in Madrid, I went to look around the grounds of the palace, which is a very grand building.
I didn't have time to queue to enter the palace, but I was able to go inside Almudena cathedral, which is next door! Both the cathedral and its crypt are open to the public, and the crypt in particular is a beautiful place that is definitely worth a visit.
Afterwards, I went to explore the city centre. Plaza de la Villa was my favourite part, as it has a really historical vibe and it makes you feel like you've walked into the past.
Then I went to Plaza Mayor, the main square in Madrid. It was a little bit of an letdown for me, as it wasn't as impressive as I was expecting. Maybe it's because there were works being done there, but it didn't take my breath away like
Rynek Główny in Kraków.
The final attraction I visited in Madrid was Puerta del Sol, the central square of the city. Here you can find a statue of the symbol of Madrid, a bear eating from a strawberry tree!
I enjoyed my time in Madrid, and really loved the Prado and Parque del Buen Retiro. However, I would say that while overall I liked the city, I didn't love it. I guess that's one of the funny things about travel - some places really capture your imagination while others just aren't so memorable for whatever reason. Madrid just didn't make me feel the magic and excitement that I feel when I go to other big cities. I do definitely think it's worth a visit, especially if you like art, but I would say it's best to make it part of a multi-destination trip, rather than flying all the way out to Spain just to visit Madrid.
On my last evening in the Spanish capital, I made my way to Chamartín station to go on a very exciting journey all the way to the capital of Portugal,
Lisbon. It was my first time travelling on a night train, and I feel like it's worth writing about on this blog. So
my next post will describe that journey and my views on international rail travel!
