Buses and Alleys

Today was a day that required a lot of perseverance.



I am proud to say that everyone was able to endure and even find the humour in it.


Our first daunting task was to make our return trip to the Bullring without the ease of the Metro (still on strike) by 1:30pm (…or so we thought). This involved mastering the bus system (sort of), which was not affected by the strike. We set off just before 11am. We took one bus to the main bus/train station. Then we determined the easiest way to “shorten” our trip was to take a train (also not part of the strike) to another main hub. Then we managed to get on the correct bus that was going right past the Bullring (and this we accomplished despite the less direct route recommended by the Information guy). After the very SLOW (only in that traffic was so heavy) and crowded bus ride, we arrived at the bullring at 12:51. We then continued to walk around the left side of the stadium to the Museum in the back, only to find out that the tours were separate and conducted from the front of the stadium, oh, and the last tour of the day is at 1pm (It was now 12:58…). Dave and Lukas proceeded to run around the rest of the stadium (I hope you realize how huge this construction is, not to mention how hot it was) to the front to try to catch the ticket wicket before it closed. They made it! Phew!!

 The guided tour was interesting. We learned a lot of shocking facts about the bullfights and how both the success of the Matador and demise of the bull are essentially determined primarily by one man, with some influence from the crowd. Sadly, there has been only one bull, in the history of this bullring (since 1931) whose life was spared (and there have been a LOT of bullfights). Ben is sure this was Ferdinand (we didn’t verify).


Everyone got to try out their Matador skills.

As an added bonus, it turned out our tour guide is from Cadiz (our final vacation destination), so we were able to get some friendly suggestions from him.



Fortunately, our return bus ride didn’t take as long as the ride up, but it was EXTREMELY crowded. Lukas was the only one of us who got a seat – on a suitcase shelf (sorry, no photo – it was too crowded to access the camera).


Our next test of fortitude came in the form of a walking tour. Our desire for public transportation depleted, we figured some sightseeing on foot would do us some good. We chose a walk that was supposed to highlight off-the-beaten-path shopping and nightlife sights. Being that it was mid-afternoon and we were with the kids; we figured we would benefit from some unique shopping and skip the nightlife. Unfortunately, the 2 hour (and that’s cutting it short) walk seemed to have skipped the shopping, so we ended up just, off-the-beaten-path, meandering through dreary alleys, thinking something interesting would be right around the next corner.

 The only interesting building we came across was the Palacio Longoria.

 Which is home to the Society of Authors who gather royalties for Spanish authors.


Once we returned to the general populace and did some shopping in some actual shops, we were all quite happy to return to public transit and take the rapid (and reasonably crowded) train back to our neighbourhood.

Lots of Walking and Ice Cream

Our plans to revisit the Bullring today were thwarted by the Metro Strike. The strike was not very disruptive, except for the increased volume on the sidewalks and buses. Fortunately, we are pretty close to everything (except the bullring), so exploring new things on foot was not a challenge, just tiring (but there’s always ice cream).



We set off to trace the footsteps of two of Spain’s literary giants, Cervantes and Lope de Vega.


It turns out the two lived down the street from each other (now named, Calle Cervantes) – must have been an inspirational location. Cervantes (the author of Don Quixote), now the more world renowned, was actually the lesser know of the two while living and died a pauper; while Vega (author of hundreds of plays and poems) enjoyed fame and fortune.


On our walk, we stumbled upon a little shop making potato chips. The kids watched the men peel potatoes; place them on the slicer; and then drop them into a vat of boiling oil. It was captivating to watch – but not too close –that oil was really bubbling. We purchased a bag of fresh chips to munch on our walk.


We had some time to kill before our guided tour of Lope de Vega’s restored, 16th century home, so we strolled up to the Santa Ana Plaza and the kids had ice cream and played in a small park. Surprisingly, it wasn’t that windy there.


Lope de Vega’s home and his history were quite fascinating. Although not all the rooms were in their original locations due to renovations of owners that came afterward, some of his original possessions were on display. And it is not surprising he churned out so many literary works; he had a lot of material from his prolific love life to work with.


All there was to view of Cervantes’ home was a commemorative plaque – pauper, remember?


After wandering through the theatre and literary hub, we found ourselves in the main touristy, shopping district again and did some souvenir shopping. With all the walking and the heat we had to stop for ice cream again. That powered us home where we had a quiet dinner.


If you were thinking there’d be no pictures today – so did I. I didn’t even have any shots of our meals (or ice cream) for you foodies out there. Then, we decided to join the locals after dinner for drinks, dessert (the kids’ THIRD ice cream of the day) and a little soccer-watching on TV (Spain vs. Portugal).

Watching...and eating ice cream...

SCORE!!!
Spain won…thank goodness!

Retiro Park Expedition

Today we headed up to the Plaza de Toros, but alas, for the first time our Spaniards’ Early Day caught up with us and we missed the tours for today. So, we just hung out instead…

We shall return another day to, hopefully, get a glimpse of the inside of this infamous, majestic construction.

We had a modest, but traditional Spanish lunch of cheese and prosciutto sandwiches.

The rest of the day we spent exploring the vast realm of Retiro Park.


To commence this expedition, Dave and I relaxed in the shade while the kids worked up a sweat on very physically-challenging play apparatus.

It was quite humorous for us to watch them master the equipment, while making themselves quite dizzy in the process, in some instances.


Once the kids finished their workout, we continued on our mission. We wandered along a statue-lined promenade to a fair-sized lake – big enough for a good number of rowboats to putter about and chalk full of fish. Fortunately, we had half a sandwich leftover from lunch to feed a GREAT multitude of carp; a few sparrows; and 2 ducks, much to the kids’ delight.

 A short walk down from the lake, we discovered the Velázquez Palace, made of brick and hand painted tiles, designed by Velázquez himself (Velázquez is another very revered Spanish artist – from the 1800s). This reception building was hosting an exhibit of Modern Art (always a treat to experience, especially with the kids in tow). This display focused on food; a marriage between the statue of Columbus and the statue of Liberty; and an obsession with white, toy army men.

The rotting plates of rice originally coloured and patterned to represent various national flags (but no longer distinguishable because of the mould) was a big hit with the kids.


I must admit, it was my favourite as well (sorry no photo, not something that would come across well…).




A short distance from the brick palace, we encountered the Chrystal Palace, also designed by Velázquez. This exquisite pavilion elicited visions of enchanted balls and was also reminiscent of the pavilion scenes in The Sound of Music (“I am 16, going on 17…” – you know the one…). I know wrong country, but look at it!

The last find on our endeavour was Lucifer!

Boasted as the only existing statue of him in the world. Certainly in his more attractive, former station, depicted as a Fallen Angel.



At the conclusion of our venture, thoroughly pleased with our discoveries, we headed homeward.






By the way, on the way home, I stopped in a local fruit and vegetable shop and purchased some fruit, all on my own, and in Spanish…(not bad, if I do say so myself…)

Museum Day

It was overcast and a little drippy this morning so we went into “Rainy Day” Mode -which means we went to a museum.

The museum of choice: The Prado. We wandered through a lot of the galleries on the first and second floor. There is a rich collection of work by Goya, a prominent Spanish artist. It was interesting to see how his style changed from very detailed and vibrant in his early years to dark and creepy in his later years. I enjoyed hearing how the kids interpreted the art as well.



Unfortunately, since we were not exposed to the suns’ rejuvenating rays, we all eventually became drained and headed back to our Casa for some “down” time (which meant I got to get a bit of a handle on this blog).


The cloudy weather long departed and our batteries recharged somewhat, we ventured out again. This time, in search of arches; better known as the Puerta de Alcala.
Success!!

This beauty used to be one of the gateways into the city of Madrid, and was inaugurated in 1778.

Just down the road we discovered the Crystal Plaza. It is a stunning architectural composition.

Originally built as part of the Post Office (for truck loading!), it is now used for public concerts (seems a better fit to me).


And a little further down the street was the Plaza de Cibeles.

 A not-so-insignificant fountain.

The last stop on our afternoon adventure was, of course dinner. Delicious Tapas that disappeared so fast, I barely got a picture!

Buenas noches!

Our First Full Day

Our first full day began in the sky again.



We took an 11 minute, 2.5 km Cable Car ride halfway across Casa de Campo Park. It was fun and provided a great view of the city. After a short jaunt in a play park, we headed back across the sky.

Next, we dropped in at the Royal Palace, but the King wasn't in, so we wandered through his rooms instead.

We only went in a few...there are over 3,000!
We also checked out the Royal Armory, which was quite impressive. Not only were there displays of the knights (both men and boys) but, there were also displays of the horses' armor.


Directly in front of the Palace is the only Cathedral in Madrid, the Catedral de la Almudena.

We managed a quick walk through before they began their evening mass.


After a refueling on ice cream, we wandered down the Calle Mayor to the Plaza Mayor. This square was used for bullfights, festivals, royal pronouncements, and public executions (including the trials for the Spanish Inquisition). It has managed to maintain its festive atmosphere and was full of street performers of a wide variety; from a very overweight Spiderman (still not sure what his talent was??), to an accordion and tambourine duo. The kids' favourite was the Bubblemakers (two men with giant bubble wands).

Past the Plaza Mayor, we headed to the Centre of Spain. Here, we placed our toes on Kilometre Cero.

We headed back to the Plaza Mayor to have dinner in one of the many outdoor restaurants and enjoy more of its joyous atmosphere. As you can see, everyone was pretty worn out.

But after a little Paella (one vegetarian, one Valencian - rabbit and seafood) and some suckling pig...

…spirits started to perk up!

Just enough energy to get everyone back to the Casa and to bed...it was around 11:30pm by then!

We Made It!

We are a little weary, but safe and sound in Madrid, Spain.

We set out this morning from home to catch our noon flight out.

For those of you who are wondering, Dave and I did indeed sit in First Class while the kids remained in Economy.

And to the kids credit, they were AMAZING!


"Gold Star Travelers" was quoted by a Flight Attendant...so, we admitted they were ours and let them rejoin us in the jetway.


The flight into Madrid was interesting. The landscape changed quickly from "California-esque",

to green(!),

to brown patches with odd tree-clumps,

to crop circles(?!)...

And then to our Final Destination, Madrid.

Once on the ground again, we exchanged our journey above the earth to one beneath.

And finally settled ourselves in our Casa Away from Home.

Not much sleep was had by anyone on the plane - although being able to sleep flat on a plane is one experience I won't soon forget. Going back to Economy is going to be a tough reality at the end of this trip.


In order to get everyone to sleep the first night in our new time zone (9 hours ahead -for those who are wondering), our goal was to keep the kids moving, in the sun, and pump them full of sugary treats (we get an additional benefit from this one due to the shock and excitement when we actually say "yes").


After our first Madrid-style Lunch,

we headed off to some local gardens.


Our apartment is close to the Train Station so we headed back to get a closer look at the enormous Tropical Garden INSIDE.

It is quite beautiful and comes complete with easily a hundred turtles.


At the Real Jardin Botanico de Madrid we saw a wide variety of folage and drank from a potable spring.

Then we moved on to some well-needed ice cream.

Yes, they are eating mango and tangerine ice cream in wine glasses!!


Next on our Garden Tour was the Vertical Garden.

A very interesting visual and physically-puzzling feature.


And then a stop for some more sugar...

some very happy kids (and 1 apparently too hungry to wait for the photo-op)!


With our day-end drawing near we were privileged to experience some rain...in Spain...

Is Madrid in the Plain?? (probably not, it didn't last very long...).


Our final stop, before returning to our Casa for dinner and bed, was at the local grocery store. Where we saw our first Ham Tree.

Indeed.


There is actually a "Ham Museum" in Madrid, which we ventured inside, briefly, but there was no Ham Tree, so we didn't stay...



And that about wraps up our first day full of travel, but not much sleep.