The Night Train From Madrid to Lisbon

When I was living in Austria, I discovered what a great way train travel was to get around Europe. Not only is it more convenient and comfortable than air travel, it is, of course, much better for the environment. I am really passionate about helping the environment and I try to do my bit by being vegan and reducing how much plastic I use. However, I know that the amount I travel by plane is far too big. But although I'm not willing to give up plane travel entirely, I choose to travel by train or bus whenever possible.

I'd wanted to visit Portugal for a long time, so once I knew I was going to Madrid, it seemed like the perfect opportunity to spend a few days in Lisbon as well, given that it's only a train journey away. I managed to get a 35 Euro ticket for the Renfe Trenhotel, the sleeper train that goes between the two cities. It was my first time travelling by sleeper train, and I would definitely recommend it.

One thing I like about travelling by rail or road is that you get more of a sense of the distance you're travelling and the journey between the start and end destinations, whereas on a plane, you sit in a metal tube for a couple of hours and then get out in a whole new part of the world. 

During my journey I was monitoring the route we were following on Google Maps, which was really interesting. We actually went north from Madrid, which seemed rather counterproductive, and eventually crossed the border into Portugal at a town called Almeida before going south through the country. I'd be interested to know the reason why we followed that route!

The journey took about 10 hours, and I managed to get a decent amount of sleep during that time, because my bed was surprisingly comfortable. I was in a dormitory with three other women, but it's also possible to sleep in a single or double room. One disadvantage of the train was that all the corridors were very narrow (not ideal when there are lots of passengers with luggage trying to find their rooms!) and the toilet wasn't the cleanest. 😂

However, overall, I feel like it was a really convenient way to travel. Flights between Madrid and Lisbon are around the same price as the train ticket, but the train ticket also gives you accommodation for a night, whereas although the plane is quicker, you need to find somewhere to spend the night once you arrive.

So at 7am on the 12th November, I arrived at Estação do Oriente in Lisbon, ready to explore a new city. I'll write all about the time I spent there in my next few posts!

Image by veerasak Piyawatanakul from pexels.com

Madrid

So, as I mentioned in one of my previous posts, my cheapest and most convenient option to get back to Europe from Chile 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!

Pomaire

Before I went back to Europe, my boyfriend and I had time for a day trip to Pomaire. It's a small town about an hour away from Santiago, but it's like a completely different world. It's known for its pottery, in particular clay piggy banks, and there are loads of shops selling them.

When we arrived, we went to a restaurant which sold huge portions of traditional Chilean food. Looking at the decorations, there's no doubt which country it's located in!

One thing I really wanted to see in Pomaire was the biggest clay piggy bank in the world, which we eventually found. It's actually in someone's backyard, and you have to pay a small amount to see it (500 pesos, if I remember correctly). But you can take as many photos as you like and there are even cowboy (or rather huaso!) hats to pose in. When we went, there were also four cats hanging out there, two of whom I made friends with!

We went to have a look at the church, which is really pretty. It reminded me of the church in San Pedro de Atacama, despite the fact the two towns are hundreds of miles apart.

At the end of our trip, we got invited into a place where they make the pottery, and we got to see all the different stages the clay goes through as it gets made into pottery, which was really interesting.

Overall, Pomaire seemed to me like a really authentic Chilean town and a great place for a day trip from Santiago.

This is my last post about my week in Chile, which was a really amazing and memorable time for me. Hopefully I'll be back again very soon! At the end of the week, I got a flight to Madrid, where I spent a couple of days. And that's what I'll be writing about next. 😊

Valle del Elqui

Not only did I finally make it to La Serena, but I also made it to Valle del Elqui! As I mentioned in my previous post, Valle del Elqui was chosen by Lonely Planet as one of their top destinations to visit in 2019, so I was very excited to visit it.

The main town in the valley is called Vicuña (like the animals in the Atacama Desert!). It's easy to know when you've arrived there, because it has those big letters like Coquimbo and La Serena do!

Opposite the letters, there's a cool sculpture of a dragon!

The poet Gabriela Mistral was born in Vicuña, and one of the town's main attractions is a museum about her life. We couldn't visit as it was closed due to the protests, but we had had a look around the market and the Plaza de Armas, where you can see the Torre Bauer. We also found a very good vegetarian restaurant called Govinda's to have lunch in. I'm a long-term vegetarian, recently turned vegan, and I haven't always found it easy to find vegetarian and vegan food in Chile. So it was a nice surprise to find a place like that!

On the way to our next destination, we had some really nice views over the valley.

The next place we visited was the small village of Montegrande, where we visited the house in which Gabriela Mistral grew up.

Finally, we visited the village of Pisco Elqui. It's named after Pisco, the national drink of Chile, which is made in Valle del Elqui.

On the drive back, we stopped at Paihuano for some more photos with big letters!

Valle del Elqui was a really beautiful and unique place to visit. As well as being famous because of Gabriela Mistral and Pisco, it's also famous for its observatories. However, all the observatories in the area were closed to visitors when we were there. So we definitely have an excuse to go back in the future!