Madrid is historic, grimy, urban, classical and still pumping at 4 in the morning.
Palacio Real de Madrid – Home to the Royal Family of Spain
Our Spanish adventure is drawing to a close with a visit to its capital city, Madrid. A not-so-sprawling metropolis with loads of old world charm and the seedy side and grime you’d expect from a large city. The people are busy. The architecture is grand. The billboards are impossibly large. The Burger Kings are in abundance. However, Madrid has combated most of that big city grime through the creation of many gorgeous public spaces, distinctive and classical buildings and a lifestyle that encourages locals to be out and about living their lives in the spaces of the city.
The streets of Madrid.
Walking through the inner-city district of Sol was a colourful experience. The streets are confusing but can be navigated. The street signs are gorgeous painted tiles with a drawing that alludes to what the street was named after. The buildings are mostly charming Spanish apartment blocks, with souvenir shops and places to eat at street level. There are actually places to eat everywhere and we have been spoiled for choice with Tapas (La Cueva del Gato was my favourite), cafes, restaurants and bars everywhere you look. People seem to be eating, drinking and socialising at all times of the day and night, except the morning, I don’t think Spain does the AM when the sun is up. A short walk from our hotel is kilometre zero, Puerta de Sol, which was swarming with crowds, students hanging out around the fountain, break-dancers performing, hawkers and people in costumes like Mickey Mouse, Sponge Bob, Bart Simpson and even Chucky, who would let you have a photo with them for a tip, essentially a more up-market way to beg. Speaking of which, the only real issue I’ve had here has been dealing with beggars and hawkers. Because of the size of Madrid there was bound to be more people living on the fringes. However, the begging here has been more forceful and therefore harder to ignore. I’m finding it really difficult to see people at their lowest point and turn away from them with a shake of the head and ‘No gracias’. A woman with tears in her eyes wailing at the top of her lungs shoved her used coffee cup in my face while I was eating lunch. It was distressing to see her in so much agony; I’m very conflicted by the whole thing. How do I decide who is more worthy of my change? Is it her because she is crying or is it the man on the corner who has written out a sign on an old bit of cardboard or is it the 5 other beggars we passed on our walk? A man approached us while we were eating dinner to sell lighters, and when we politely told him no, he started yelling at us in Spanish. Not the world’s best sales pitch. I know it is a much wider social issue but I guess I’m just not sure how to deal with seeing so many people who have fallen on hard times.
Puerta del Sol.
There are so many beautiful public spaces. Squares or ‘Plazas’ and lush and elegant public gardens and parks with fountains and monuments attract people to meet and hang out which creates a great buzzing vibe in these areas of the city. Plaza De Mayor is lined with restaurants, caricaturists and people pretending to be statues. Plaza de Espana is lit up beautifully at night, so beautifully in fact we saw a couple get engaged under the monument in the centre as we walked through one night. Jardines Ferraz is a hill-top park that is home to a stolen Egyptian tomb that sits on a refletive pool. Jardines de Sebastian offers views of the palace whilst you are surrounded by marble sculptures. But the park to end all parks is the stunning Parque del Buen Retiro. The former royal garden, now a giant public park, is a place to escape the city and enjoy some quiet under the lush canopy. We walked around the park for hours, hiring a boat to paddle around the Estanque (that’s man-made lake to you and me), exploring the buildings, like the Palacio de Cristal, a building made almost entirely out of glass and admiring the many artworks and fountains in the area. Amazingly, the place was busy with joggers, tourists, young families, roller bladers, personal training groups and canoodling couples, but it still remained quiet, relaxing and gorgeous looking. Strolling around these public spaces you quickly learn that the people-watching opportunities are endless. As they are down the ‘main street’, Gran Via. The street runs east to west across the heart of the city; it is lined with tall buildings (note, not skyscrapers or stuff you’d expect in a CBD) that wrap around the edges of street corners with gentle curves and are often topped with bronzed statues with wings. It is bustling on both the road and footpath. There a several McDonalds/Burger Kings/ KFCs stores located just metres from the last one. This place feels like a major city that is both moving forward but keeping its roots showing.
Monument to King Alfonso XII from our boating expedition on the Estanque.
We enjoyed some of Madrid’s cultural side by gallery hopping and seeing some amazing art. We began by seeing a Pixar exhibit we missed while it was on in Melbourne at an exhibition space called the Caixia forum. This gallery features a vertical garden that is 4 stories high. It was so interesting to look at. We visited the Museo Nacional del Prado, not so much a museum in the traditional sense, but instead a museum for art. They have a vast collection that features historical painting, royal portraits and medieval and Renaissance paintings. Works here are as old as the 1100s. Seeing artworks by painters I already love is an amazing thing, I got to see art from Ruebens whose work I admire; but I really like going to a Gallery and discovering something new. Here it was the work of Spanish artists El Greco, Velazquez and Goya, who I had not heard of before that caught my eye. Especially Goya’s so-called ‘Black paintings’ that were horrifying and beautiful. After our visit to the Picasso museum in Barcelona it was fitting that we complete the full Picasso journey by visiting the Reina Sofía, home to his most famous work, Guernica. It is nothing short of stunning. Large, grey and brutal. I spent minutes looking at only small sections, the hands, the horse’s face and the faces of the people that are screaming in agony because to take in the whole thing was possibly too much. The gallery also had many other of Picasso’s work and several pieces by that other famous Spaniard, Salvador Dalí, who I don’t really get, but like all the same. Also, luckily for me, in a quiet corner of the museum, tucked away from all the crowds was the work of one of my favourite photojournalists, Roberto Capa. It was nice and unexpected to see his amazing photographs of the Spanish civil war. In fact, much of the gallery itself was dedicated to reactions to war and the scar that the civil war has left on the people here.
The vertical garden at the Caxia Forum.
Madrid has been a good place to experience the more stereotypical things that people think of when they think of Spain, namely Flamenco. We went to a Flamenco show at a venue that specialises in the art, Las Tablas Nuevo Espacio Escenico. The performers were so impressive; keeping time with intricate clapping patterns, playing the guitar with immense skill and stomping and dancing with intense passion. The costumes were beautiful and traditional. It was an amazing show and a definite highlight for me. They were all excessively talented. We followed up our flamenco show with a pub crawl with the group that we went to the show with where we attempted some of the moves ourselves- needless to say we were not so crash-hot. On our night out we discovered that the Spaniards love to party and the bars and clubs are in full swing at that time because no-one goes out before 1am (which makes sense considering none of them are having dinner until 10pm at the earliest). Despite it being a Sunday night, a night I traditionally enjoy from my couch under a blanket, some of the bars we went to were so packed you couldn’t walk from one side to the other. Madrid’s legendary nightlife was a mix of laser lights, strobe and thumping beats. I had plenty of “I’m too old for this” moments, but it was still good fun.
Flamenco.
A good friend who travelled around Europe last year gave me some sage advice, she said “Don’t be afraid to take a day off”. After travelling for a bit over a month, I took the opportunity to have one of these ‘days off’, which I know sounds strange but I think is important if you want to remain fresh and interested. This means we took some time to do some regular stuff, like going to the movies. Cinema Princesa specialises in ‘VOS’ films, that means ‘Versión Original Subtitulada’ or films in English with Spanish subtitles. After our pub crawl night, this was the perfect remedy to relax and rest our tired ‘what do you mean we got home at 5am?’ bones. We saw Noé (Noah) with my main man, Rusty Crowe (who is nailing it in everything I see him in lately), ate tacos and dissected the hidden meanings of the film. Very much like home, but still a fun thing to do here.
Yay! Ponies!
Madrid is a vibrant city. It features all the things I have really liked about Spain and more. It has the big city bravado, the culture, the elegance, the nightlife, and the food all covered. A perfect way to end our time in beautiful Spain.
Ali's adventure 