Madrid

Wow, we love this city. What a vibrant place with everything going on all the time. It was a little offsetting at first though. We dropped our stuff at the hostel and went out to explore and it was like stepping into a David Lynch film. First there was a gimpy armed gypsy with trinkets and old pictures on her blanket, then there was a guy with no arms who was holding a plastic cup full of change with his mouth and beating it into his chest non-stop making a wild spectacle and when we quickened our pace to get away from him there was a midget on some milk crates selling lotto tickets yelling hello to somebody in the crowd. Ahhhhh! We ducked into a kebab house before a talking horse rounded the corner and offered us some coffee and pie.

We walked down one of the main drags with broadway type shows playing, tons of traffic, restaurants and just a lot of stuff going on. Brooke mentioned it was a bit like New York, but on a little smaller scale. At this point in the trip we were getting a bit homesick so we found a theater that was showing movies in English and caught a flick. We saw 'Burn After Reading', which was not really well done, but fun nonetheless. Popcorn and a coke (both a normal size without prodigous amounts of butter and ice respectively) helped us escape into the movie. The theater was a bit smaller and lacked the stadium seating that most American movie theaters have, but you can by tickets online and reserve your seat which is kinda cool.

The next day we went to the royal palace. The armoury had some of the best weapons and armor that we had seen and by this point we had seen a lot. It was mostly ornamental armor worn by the king and nobles and their horses so it was really intricate. We got some chocolate and churros for the first time. Basically donuts served with real thick hot chocolate that you dip them into. Good stuff.

That afternoon we saw the Thyssen museum which is an art collection from a private collector and his wife. Now if this sounds modest, let me assure you it is not. I am not sure what these people did, but they amassed a collection of art that could rival most top tier museums in the world. The collection had art (paintings mostly) from the medieval era up to the mid 1900's and it was presented chronologically which we are fans of. The Spanish masters were all represented and they had a large collection of Dutch and Flemmish painters as well as lots of Impressionist art which Brooke really enjoys.
That night Real Madrid and their cross town rivals Atletico Madrid were playing each other. We had been wanting to go to this game and figured as Americans actually interested in soccer, we would be met and escorted to the game by a diplomatic contingent and seated with king Juan Carlos. This is not what happened. Apparently this game is more popular than the second coming of Jesus and no tickets were to be had. Since Spain doesn't really have sports bars, we caught the game at an Irish pub. It was packed with Madrillenos and the atmosphere was lively. The game was tight and almost ended in a draw until a BS penalty was called on Atletico and Real scored on the penalty kick in the 90th minute. Some were happy others sad but the experience was fun. As a bonus the OU game came on right after so we got to watch a little bit of this American Football that seems to be so popular across the pond. The only drawback of this is that we spent like 5 hours in a bar and came out smelling like a smokestack. These people smoke like crazy and we comiserrated the next day with some other travelers whose whole packs just reeked. Not being able to wash or separate your clothes after a night out is a drag.
We went to the Prado the next day which is supposedly Madrids finest museum. There were some great pieces in there including a bunch of dark Goya's and El Greco's. It also contained a very popular painting by Velazqauez called 'Las Meninas'. This was a painting which Picasso interpreted several different ways and produced a roomful of paintings which we had seen earlier in the trip in the Picasso museum in Barcelona. It was nice to put the actual painting

in the context of some of Picasso's interpretations.


Overall the museum was good but the Thyssen was better. We wouldn't get to see the other great museum, the Reina Sofia, but we loved Madrid and I could definitely see another trip here.
We spent the rest of our Sunday in the big gorgeous park with all the other Madrilenos and their families. There is an artifical lake in the middle that you can ride boats on and a big mausoleum for Alfonso XII. It was a perfect fall day and strolling around the park was a relaxing way to escape the hectic city for a bit. There is a memorial for the victims of Madrid train bombings (which were at a station not far from the park) which we passed by to pay our respects. The oddest feature of the park was a statue to the fallen angel. You don't see many statues to Satan, especially in the middle of a capital city's marquee park, but there he was.

We grubbed on some Chinese food at a great little restaurant. It was outstanding food and was full of people even late on a Sunday. Just another nice thing about a big city is that everything you could want is around the corner.

We had a great time in Madrid. People knock it for being a big city, which it is, but it is a big Spanish city with all the flare and energy that you would expect from the heart of Spain.