Nov 17 Madrid and Toledo - Part 1 Madrid City Tour

Nov 12-13 Toronto to London to Madrid
Nov 14 Madrid on our own
Nov 15 Madrid on our own
Nov 16 Madrid on our own until Welcome Dinner
Nov 17 Part 1 Madrid City tour
Nov 17 Part 2 Toledo and Madrid dinner

Week 1 Recap
Italics are Gate 1 tour descriptions.


Saturday Nov 17  Madrid City Tour

Meals: Breakfast opens 7:30 AM on weekend
Tour starts 9 AM

Today's tour of Madrid's impressive architecture begins at the Plaza de Cibeles with its striking buildings.


As we head out we pass the Museum of Money that we had walked by on our very first night.

Photos are mainly from the bus which is causing some reflections.

Christopher Columbus.

Then onto Puerta Alcala, Plaza de Cibeles and Gran Via.

We had visited all of these sights on our own and more photos can be found in the links above.

It is a quiet Saturday morning.

We have taken Gate 1 city tours before (in Athens and Istanbul) so we know how brief they are.


Continue via the elegant Plaza Mayor to the magnificent Royal Palace, Europe's second largest, and to the Plaza de España dominated by the monument to Cervantes, famed author of Don Quixote. 

We made our first stop at Plaza de Espana.

Then we lose our first couple, the Miami Duo, at the first stop. Guide miscounted so he walked back to find them as we drove two minutes to the Royal Palace.

Seen in the distance is the Catholic Parish Church of Santa Teresa y San José, also known as the National Temple of Santa Teresa de Jesús and Convent of the Discalced Carmelite Fathers.

The Miami Duo claimed they are never late back to a bus! Right, we shall see...

We drive by the La Latina district and  realize as we drive by the train station and the Hotel Mediodia we would have walked there quite easily!
I'm adding this hotel to my choices for another visit, rates are as low as 73 euros amd is perfectly located!

Now we're back on the Paseo del Prado heading to the Prado Museum, we'd walked around the grounds on our second day here.



Madrid’s epic vertical garden on the front of the CaixaForum is one of the world’s most lush living walls to date.

Bus is parked outside the Prado.

Then, on to the renowned Prado Museum; stand before an astonishing collection of masterpieces by Velazquez, Goya, El Greco and more.

The group was split into two (thankfully) and the museum was crowded even at 11 AM on a Saturday. Our local art guides were excellent.

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The tour concentrated on the masterpieces of Titian, El Greco, Velazquez and Goya.

Our tour guide told us that the museum housed more than 7,000 paintings, but only 1,500 are put on exhibit.

No photos allowed.
But without a camera in hand, I could concentrate on the beauty and descriptions of the art.

One that stood out was Las Meninas, Spanish for The Ladies-in-waiting, is a 1656 painting by Diego Velázquez, the leading artist of the Spanish Golden Age.


The statue outside the museum is Velazquez.

The painting shows a large room in the Royal Alcazar of Madrid during the reign of King Philip IV of Spain, and presents several figures, most identifiable from the Spanish court, captured, according to some commentators, in a particular moment as if in a snapshot. Some look out of the canvas towards the viewer, while others interact among themselves. The young Infanta Margaret Theresa is surrounded by her entourage of maids of honour, chaperone, bodyguard, two dwarfs and a dog. Just behind them, Velázquez portrays himself working at a large canvas. Velázquez looks outwards, beyond the pictorial space to where a viewer of the painting would stand. In the background there is a mirror that reflects the upper bodies of the king and queen. They appear to be placed outside the picture space in a position similar to that of the viewer, although some scholars have speculated that their image is a reflection from the painting Velázquez is shown working on.

The tour lasted two hours and we were on our own for lunch at 1 PM before heading to Toledo.

We quickly left the museum and crossed Paseo del Prado.

And just around the corner on the right we chose Estado Puro, it was completely empty when we walked in and then another couple from our group came in and sat with us. This was our first meal with Bob and Anne but would not be our last.

Fun signs.

John's tortilla espana and my aguachile.

A (clean) sardine can is used for the bill and change.

I am going to break this into two parts and cover Toledo in a separate post.



The rest of the day is yours to explore this city of great monuments and museums on your own.

Optional: Half Day Toledo (PM) ADDED
Join the optional afternoon tour to Toledo. Enjoy a walking tour among the most famous monuments.