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.

Cáfe Solo

November 2018 Toronto


Saturday

Pink Saturday Front St.

Six Word Saturday Royal York Hotel


What a rollercoaster of weather this morning!

Woke to sunshine then slowly watched the view disappear. There is a ten minute lapse between this photo and the sunshine one below.

Mainly a day of travel preparation. Looking at the weather forecast.
Based on this, I may have to rethink some of my heavier sweaters.

Sunday
My Sunday Photo Remembrance Day Lest We Forget
Inspired Sunday
Shadow Shot Sunday
One Word Sunday Purple
Lens-Artists Photo Challenge Magical Light

Packing and getting ready for our trip!



Monday Depart for Madrid via London
Foto Tunes Elton John
Monday Mural Queen St. W
Wordless
Our Spanish Itinerary


I went for a mani pedi and then we were ready to leave for the airport at 3.

After check in it was time to hit the lounge until flight time.

Tuesday London to Madrid

Cee's Fun Foto Challenge Light

Tuesday Treasures Eaton Centre

Tuesday Photo Challenge

Once we landed in London we headed for a big breakfast at Gordon Ramsey's.

Not cheap at 14 pounds! And doesn't include toast. The servers were very knowledgeable about gluten free and they had a delicious gluten free bread.

9:15 flight to Madrid and we both napped the whole way.

Madrid airport.

Our ride to our hotel.

After a nap we headed out to dinner. There are plenty of restaurants within walking distance.

Parador del Jamon, wine, olives, mussels and tuna with tomato and onion in olive oil, and ham and Manchego cheese. What could be better??

Lots of fishmongers and delis as well.

Ham is king here.

Click here for our flights Toronto to London to Madrid and more about our first day. There may be some duplicate photos!

Wednesday

ABC Wednesday Letter S

Although we slept in and missed breakfast in the hotel we still covered a lot of ground.

Some random shots. More photos of our day in my recap.

Our spot for breakfast/lunch.

The Buen Retiro Park is a large and popular 1.4 km2 (350 acres) park at the edge of the city centre, very close to the Puerta de Alcalá and not far from the Prado Museum. A magnificent park, filled with beautiful sculptures and monuments, galleries, a peaceful lake, and a host to a variety of events, it is one of Madrid's premier attractions. The park is entirely surrounded by the present-day city.

Peacocks and roses galore.

Plaza de Cibeles is our destination.

Outside the Prado Museum. It is part of the tour we join on Friday.

My girl Frida.

New entrance.

Plaza de Cibales.

Time to rest these weary feet in a sidewalk cafe and watch the world go by.

We went inside the cafe to use the washrooms.

Re-energized we head back to the hotel.

Back through Parque El Retiro.

Back at the hotel, we relax, download cameras and blog before dinner. W headed to Parador del Jamon, the same place as last night. The food is so good and it is closeby.

A better look at the complimentary mussels and tuna salad.

Here is the link to our day again.


Thursday
Thursday Doors
A Photo A Week
Kammie's Odd Ball Challenge AGO

We had an early breakfast at the hotel. Plenty of choice but some of the hot items were a little cold, but perfectly adequate. The breakfast area is bright and cheerful with song lyrics dotting the walls.

Gluten free corn flakes, muffins and biscuits.

We decided on a cab this morning to Plaza de Espana.

I haven't done a daily recap yet, too busy!

Our pals, Don Quixote and Sancha.

Strolling the Gran Via, Great Way, sometimes referred to as the "Spanish Broadway", is one of the city's most important shopping areas, with a large number of hotels and large movie theatres; however, in recent years, many of these theatres have been replaced by shopping centres.

The Gran Vía serves as showcase of early 20th-century revival architecture.

Fashionable!

Great street signs!

Puerta del Sol square is located in the centre of Madrid is one of the city’s most famous sites. With its semi-circular shape, it is a junction for many of the city’s historical and busiest streets such as Mayor, Arenal, Alcalá and Preciados, as well as the starting point for all major radial roads in Spain.

Coffee break

The Royal Palace of Madrid (Spanish: Palacio Real de Madrid) is the official residence of the Spanish Royal Family at the city of Madrid, but it is only used for state ceremonies. The palace has 135,000 square metres (1,450,000 sq ft) of floor space and contains 3,418 rooms. It is the largest royal palace in Europe by floor area.

King Felipe VI and the Royal Family do not reside in the palace, choosing instead the more modest Palace of Zarzuela on the outskirts of Madrid.

Madrid's cathedral,  La Almudena, stands in Hapsburg Madrid has a short but tortuous history. The first plans for the church were drawn up in 1879 by Francisco de Cubas, who wanted to create a pantheon for the late Queen Maria de la Mercedes. The foundation stone was laid in 1883, but when Pope Leo XIII granted a bull in 1885 for the creation of the Madrid-Alcalá bishopric, the plans for the church were changed to become plans for a cathedral.


The church is worth the entrance fee of 6 euros each to climb to the top of the dome for stunning views.
There is also a museum but no photos allowed.

Stunning!

The palace from the dome.

In their saintly presence.

Time for lunch!

Our first tortilla Espanola.

The Plaza Mayor (English Main Square) was once the center of Old Madrid, but today is the heart of Madrid. It was first built (1580–1619) during the Habsburg period of Philip III's reign.

Just another day at the office.

Heading back to the hotel, near Plaza Cibeles.

Back through "our" parque.

It started to rain and we hustled back to the hotel where we decided to have dinner. I had a delicious shrimp salad and John had a Caesar.

Friday
Pull Up a Seat Wellington St.
Weekend Roundup Letter T
Weekend Reflections Queen St. W
Wit's End Weekly Photo Challenge

The best laid plans and all that....

Our plan was to walk to Barrio La Latina and let's say John and I had a difference of opinion on how to get there. In retrospect we should have taken a cab and gotten our bearings. Instead we decided to "rely" on our phone GPS.
So how did that work our??? "She" took us so far off track that we finally hailed a taxi and 10 euros later we were at the mercado.

The famous Tabacalera building which once acted as a tobacco factory, is now covered in vibrant murals.

Hopelessly lost once again, thanks to GPS, we finally go onto a restaurant and ask them to call us a taxi!

Time for some wine!

The tour welcome dinner is tonight. Andrea (Italian guy) is our guide. We are missing at least a dozen people due to the storms at JFK. Some will be arriving over the next few days. Some decided to cancel.

Dinner was cream of vegetable soup, chicken leg and vegetables and cake. They were great with providing gluten free options.

BOOKS

Nada.

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