Train to Barcelona and Introduction to the city, October 14

Tauck had arranged for a driver who promptly arrived at 10:15 to take us the short distance to the train station for our 11:30 departure. The moving and sloping ramp down to the platform was a bit of a challenge as we were each pulling two suitcases. One of mine fell but the man behind me picked it up. The high speed AVE train was very nice and quite relaxing. It took 3 hours and 10 minutes as there were several stops. Sometimes the time is shorter depending on the number of stops. The train reached a speed of 300 kilometers (186 miles) an hour. At 1:00 we were served a very nice and tasty lunch of fish and rice. After a fairly short taxi ride to our hotel, the Barcelona Renaissance, we settled into our new room, very modern, not large, but with all of the amenities. The location is great.

About five we decided to go for a walk and we headed up our street, Pau Claris, four blocks to the Casa Mila, called La Pedrera (the stone quarry) which was designed by Antoni Gaudi, famous Barcelona architect of the early 20th century. Industrialist Pere Mila commissioned Gaudi to build an apartment building so Mila could live on the main floor and rent out the rest. It is an amazing structure, not a straight line anywhere, built between 1906-1912. The elevator takes you to the rooftop, a series of curved patios that flow up and down and around the strangely-shaped chimneys. Views of the city are wonderful and you can see Gaudi's Sagrada Familia, not too far away. It is the cathedral that is still not finished and will not be completed in our lifetime. Walking down from the rooftop, you reach the attic with its many brick arches. There are displays about the structure and examples of the furniture. One flight below the attic is the apartment on display showing the rooms as they were in the early 1900s. An elevator takes you down the next six flights as those floors are not open to the public, because people are presently living there. We walk back to our hotel on Passage de Gracia, a beautiful wide double boulevard with another Gaudi building as well as many interesting buildings from that era.

 

View from the entry

The rooftop

View of Sagrada Familia from the rooftop of La Pedrera

A bedroom in La Pedrera

We take a cab to the Hotel Arts where our friends are staying. It is a magnificent building with many pieces of art, unusual contemporary furniture and decor and avant garde floral arrangements. Their room has a beautiful view of the harbor. It was dark when we arrived and the lights sparkled. The staff at their hotel is extremely helpful. The concierge walked us to the elevator bank where we rode up to the 20th floor to find their room. We had a glass of wine with them. Then a hotel staff person walked us halfway to the restaurant which was recommended by their concierge, CDLC. Upon entering we walked down fairly steep stairs with no banisters, only huge statues of Chinese terra cotta warriors at the top, middle and bottom. The first part of the restaurant had various alcoves where couples were reclining as they enjoyed their drinks, dinner and each other. Our table was outside near the sandy beach. It was a beautiful Mediterranean evening. Small Chinese glass lanterns lit the dining room and terrace. They brought the wine list which had only one Spanish wine. Bob ordered it, but they were out. He chose then an Australian Chardonnay and they were out of it. Finally third time charm. We had a plate of spring rolls, so-so. Three of us ordered pad Thai. I enjoyed mine, but my friend did not get her dinner of chicken wok for sometime and she did not like it. Near us were more alcoves where couples were reclining as they drank their sangria. We saw some unusual plates and presentations of Asian food served to a nearby table. We walked back to the hotel for coffee, etc. and a good visit in the beautiful lobby with our friends. Back to our hotel around midnight!

Lobby of the Hotel Arts

 

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Walking Madrid, October 13

After a leisurely morning, we left midday to walk through El Retiro, the large beautiful park of Madrid. It was another gorgeous day, Saturday, and families, senior citizens, couples, teenagers and young adults were all enjoying the park. Toddlers on wheel toys, babies learning to walk, mothers with strollers, bikers, young men on three-wheel scooter-type vehicles, people in rowboats on the lake, all enjoying the fresh air.

 

Monument to Alphonso XII

Children watching a puppet show

 

 

We left the park intending to walk to the Salamanca district, but in looking for a place for lunch, we walked back to the boulevard, Calle Alcala, and ate at a local cafe. Continued walking down the boulevard past Independence Plaza.

Walking on to Puerta del Sol we stopped for a cold drink and continued on. This plaza was as busy today as it was yesterday. It has a statue of a bear looking in the tree, a symbol of Madrid. Mickey and Minnie as well other entertainers were there also.

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Continuing on Calle Mayor to Plaza Mayor which we saw the first day. Very crowded with tables for drinks and tapas, etc., mimes, shops....... These mimes were amazing. We saw two pairs doing the same thing. One man is holding a stick/pole and the other man is seated in the air attached to the pole. How do they do it?

We walked down the back stairs to a lower area of many restaurants including Botin, the oldest restaurant in the world. They were not open for three more hours and were booked for the evening. The man showed me the oven, oldest in the world

Nearby we had a glass of wine, served with olives, at the Caves of Luis Candelas where Margie and I had Sangria in 1959.

Walked back to our hotel and ate some tapas at an outdoor cafe near there. We leave Madrid tomorrow morning to take the train to Barcelona.

 

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Rain in Spain, but not on the plain

This iPad has a mind of its own. The previous blog entry should have said, "no interior photos", not "terror photos"!

It was a beautiful day at El Escorial! When we returned from El Escorial at 2:00, about an hour's drive from Madrid, it was raining. We were at the Plaza Espana where Margie and I stayed in 1959. The hotel was there, but closed for restoration. Because it was raining, I could not take a picture. Fortunately I had my umbrella and Bob had his rain jacket. We started walking down Gran Via, looking for a restaurant. The first few tapa bars were packed, loud and noisy, but soon we found a lovely Italian restaurant, Di Bocca, where we had a tasty pasta lunch. By then the rain had stopped and we walked on, shopped, walked to Puerta del Sol, shopped and then walked on Calle San Geronimo to our hotel.

At Puerta del Sol, there were many, many people as it was a holiday. Mimes and groups of musicians entertained the crowd. A police car with siren screaming drove down the pedestrianized street and through the square. We took a picture of a statue of Bourbon King Carlos III who started the building of the Royal Palace.

The police car came down the street between the two buildings.

 

 

After Bob had a siesta, we started out to look for a tapas bar that we had read about, but it had started to rain again. We decided to stay in and go to the bar in the hotel. They immediately gave us two glasses of champagne as they were celebrating their 100th birthday. There was obviously a huge celebration which we decided was a wedding reception. It had taken over most of the dining rotunda as well as several of the private dining rooms. The Spanish do not use baby sitters and children of all ages were here, from one month on up. Two little boys came tearing through the bar, chasing each other, into the lobby, around the corner into the lobby of the private dining rooms. Young mothers were busy corralling pre-schoolers who were investigating every niche they saw. Grandparents were tending to toddlers, sometimes effectively, sometimes with a little difficulty as the children tired. It was fun to see the ladies in their beautiful clothes, many in formals. Some wore a small hat or flower on a band like the English wore at William and Kate's wedding called a fascinator. The little girls were precious in their frilly little dresses. The bride wore a fairly simple off-white dress with a slight train, adorned with rose petals. It had gold embroidery or braiding around the midriff area, very attractive, somewhat with a Grecian look. After a light snack, we headed up to bed.

 

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El Escorial and the Valley of the Fallen, October 12

After a late night, although very delightful, we arose at 6:30, had breakfast and went down before 8 to get a cab to the Plaza Espana where we had signed up to take a tour leaving at 8:44.

Today is October 12, Columbus Day, and a holiday here in Spain. There will be a military parade in front of our hotel starting at 9, so the streets are being closed starting at 7! We wait for awhile and then the doorman tells us to walk up the hill, equal to about two long city blocks, and he successfully gets us a cab. Another couple from our tour who are going to the same travel company, join us in the cab, and we get there in plenty of time.

 

Photos shows an innermost courtyard

We have an excellent guide, Carmen, who speaks first in Spanish and then in English. I was hoping that my high school and college Spanish might still be with me, but I understood only a few words. She describes the area of Madrid that we are driving through, but I soon fall asleep. When we arrived we had a fairly good walk over to El Escorial. It is a huge palace built by Philip II at the end of the 16th century after he decided that the capital would be in Madrid rather than Toledo. One wing is now used as a university and another wing is used as a monastery.

Philip II designed the general idea of the palace and built it around a cathedral. At age 72, he died in his bedroom in the palace. From his bed he could see the altar of the church and when he looked the other way, he could see his gardens. On the other side of the cathedral was his oldest daughter's bedroom. She was Isabella who later, along with her husband, managed the Netherlands and Flanders. The cathedral was beautiful, but we could not take photos. There was an amazing mausoleum where all of the kings and queens of Spain from Charles I/V on down, Hapsburgs and Bourbons, have been buried. It is an octagonal shaped room with marble caskets stacked about four high. Many additional rooms have other members of the family. No I terror photos allowed.

 

Next we visited the Valley of the Fallen where Franco had soldiers buried who had fought on his side in the Spanish Civil War in the 1930's. He created a beautiful memorial. There is a giant cross and a huge basilica, which is only partially consecrated so it would not exceed St. Peter's in The Vatican.

 

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October 11, Bob continues to celebrate his birthday (over three weeks ago)!

We always have fun with our dear Toronto friends. We cabbed over to their Hotel Santo Mauro, an exquisite mansion built in 1894 and now a luxury hotel, where we had a glass of wine in one of their sumptuously decorated lounges. Then we walked a couple blocks to a contemporary restaurant, El Mentidero de la Villa, where we were their guests for dinner. Excellent food! First we were served an outstanding Iberian ham. Some of us had the ceviche made with butterfish, totally unlike the ceviche we have in California. This was very tasty, but not soupy like ours. The entrees were equally delicious. Mine was hake, a delicious fish served with vegetables. Then they brought out the cake (tiramisu, yummmy!) and we sang Happy Birthday, Bob. At 11:30 we bid them adieu and took a cab back to our hotel, the lovely Westin Palace. As we left for the evening, there was a special cake in the lobby as the Palace Hotel is celebrating 100 years of service! We have a 6:30 wake up call in the morning.

 

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Fabulous tour ends, now taking it easy and enjoying Madrid on our own, October 11

Breakfast this morning was the conclusion of our wonderful Tauck tour, Iberia Rediscovered. We saw many of our friends at breakfast, again bidding them Hasta la Vista and Bon Voyage! Late morning we walked to the Reina Sofia to see Picasso's Guernica, his depiction of the Luftwaffe bombing of a Basque village in 1937. The village had no military importance and mostly women and children were killed. He decreed that it would not be displayed in Spain until democracy was re-established. In the meantime it was in MoMa in NYC. After Franco died, it was returned to Madrid and now has a permanent home in the Reina Sofia. Many other works of well-known 20th century artists are displayed in this museum. We saw some of Dali, Miro, other Picasso's, and others.

It is a beautiful day and we enjoy the walk back to the hotel and then a block or two behind our hotel to La Fabrica at 2 Calle de Jesus for lunch. I ordered two canapés for lunch which are served on thick pieces of bread about 1" x 2", one being tuna mixed with pisto, a local vegetable mixture, and the other being anchovies with soft cheese and a tomato slice. Very good. Bob and the waiter did not communicate accurately and Bob received a plate of octopus (a house specialty) AND a full-size plate of shrimp and mussels garnished with tomatoes, peppers and onions, very tasty. The octopus is good, but highly seasoned with perhaps a spicy paprika....something with a zing. Next thing we know they bring out two more plates of food, at which we said, bastante!, enough, no more, and they took them back.

 

 

 

 

 

Back to the hotel for siesta. We will meet our friends from Toronto, who incidentally are in Madrid at the same time. This is the third time we have coincidentally met in Europe.


 

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Beautiful Granada and Flamenco! October 5

We arrived in Granada around six and were given keys to our rooms. This is a gorgeous hotel built in 1910. At 7 we met in the lobby and walked down the regal stairs to the theater where we were given a glass of sangria and then entertained by a private Flamenco performance. The woman who sang seemed to be wailing a tragic love story. Accompanied by a guitarist, two women and a man alternately danced very dramatically and beautifully, faster and faster.

 

 

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