Madrid is indeed a beautiful city, very rich in passion, in architecture, as well as history. The only complaint I can think of is that the Spaniards were busy renovating many of their old buildings last weekend, which I suppose will keep them busy in the coming months, thus resulting to a less attractive panoramic view of the city, especially when taking fotos.
Most of the fotos below are also not in high quality representation. They were taken by an ordinary film camera where you print the fotos. I re-captured them using my new digital camera.
SHOPPING
Ah well, every woman’s favorite hobby I guess. I barely made Ph.D. in shopping last weekend since three days was not enough to indulge, thankfully haha. But, it was a relief though; I can finally enter any shop without having to worry about my size, unlike in the Netherlands everything is bigger and I am shorter. Annoying bigtime.
Me with the bear climbing the apple tree statue, Madrid’s insignia. G and I in the busy calle of Puerto del Sol.
A spectacular showcase of Madrid is its main highway called Gran Via [Grand Road/Way]. The long Gran Via stretch is festooned with beautifully and elaborately designed edificios [buildings] with gold color accents, dating from the early 19th century.
From the corners of Metro Callao and Gran Via, streams the two busiest shopping streets in Madrid (sorry, forgot the street names!). They split up and exit towards Puerto del Sol, where the statue of the Bear climbing the apple tree is located (see foto above). People say that the bear is Madrid’s symbol?
For the connoisseur shopper, hold on to your high-heel shoes because there is another place for you: Calles Goya and Serrano, a chic shopping district filled with mid to upscale exclusive fashion boutiques, the place where Posh Beckham is often sighted. I only discovered this place on Saturday, after 5PM, so basically I only had 3 hours to wander around, let alone shop. Not enough. My friend G also live in this area, lucky her, I guess.
Left foto: by the Gran Via; middle foto: in El Rastro biggest flea market in Madrid; and right foto: very tired as this is late into night after a lovely dinner and some shopping.
Quick Facts: Most Madrideleno shop owners close their stores at 2PM for siesta. They re-open at 5PM until 8PM in the evening.
Well, these Spaniards really know how to live life huh; they happily indulge in afternoon siestas while the north Europeans toil away. I know siesta very well as it is a part of the old Philippine culture, but nowadays, this afternoon relaxing activity is simply out of the ordinary, after all, the Philippines have for decades adapted well into the 24-hour American labour mentality (which is a form of minor slavery according to the Europeans).
Another shopping place one should not miss in Madrid is the great “El Rastro†market, the biggest flea market in the city, but open only on Sundays.
Even though the whole place was jampacked, we have to snake through the crowds, our elbows together, my hands guarding my belt bag like my whole life was packed in there and G kept looking back telling me to be careful of pickpocketters, I still loved the chaotic experience and would surely go back if given the chance.
I bought a few items, something for the kitchen and for the living room.
GASTRONOMY
Mesones! Let’s go Meson Hopping!
One of the best places to satisfy the discriminating palate is at the mayor mesones, located just right below the majestic Plaza Mayor. When you go down the exit stairs from the plaza, you will see a row of rustic looking stone taverns, or mesones as commonly called in Madrid.
Each meson tavern has its own distinct specialty. The general idea here is to hop from one meson to the other and tasting a little bit of each tavern’s specialty while enjoying some accordion music and jolly dancing.
First foto: the row of meson tavernas where we hopped for dinner and the second foto: the majestic Plaza Mayor (a must see) just right above the meson tavernas.
We first tried the tortilla tavern, which at first glance looked like a Mexican bodega because of its bright colors. When the tortillas arrived, I then realized for the first time that they were omelet. OK, they look like omelet. We rinsed the tortillas with some sangria. Now, that was nice.
Then a few minutes later, a charming and chubby Spaniard sat by the arched doorway and began playing the accordion. When he knew that G and I are from the Philippines, to my surprise he started singing some Tagalog songs. He sang Leron Leron Sinta, Bahay Kubo and darn, he even knew the lyrics of the Philippine’s National Anthem – Bayang Magiliw, lol! I thought it was so funny; I just laughed and laughed. This man was such a character!
Surprise! The Spaniard who can sing well in Tagalog!!!
Next stop was the fish meson, which was so and so. There was another Spaniard with an accordion in there as well, but he was such a boring and pitiable entertainer. We didn’t even noticed him playing until he started collecting money from us.
The third and last stop was the jamon meson. Ah, lip-smacking goodness jamons. I crave for anything spiced and cured you know. I just love Spanish meat tapas… chorizo, jamon iberico, jamon serrano, they make my taste buds churn, I want! Happy that the best food was indeed saved for last.
We also had some sort of free entertainment in the last tavern. There was a highly intoxicated Spaniard impersonating Julio Iglesias and was having a go at the microphone. He was a mess and he tortured our ears to oblivion.
More quick facts: The Spaniards eat late. They start around 10PM in Madrid and nightlife kicks off after midnight. Also, be sure to reserve if you are going to a popular restaurant because these feast loving Spaniards are always dining out.
Lunch is another story though. They start at 2PM and god knows when it ends, lol. G told me that in many restaurants, they still serve breakfast at 12-1PM. Not brunch people, but breakfast.
GOING AROUND
The Madrid Vision bus would be the best way to familiarize Madrid. It serves three routes: (1) Historical Madrid, (2) Modern Madrid, and (3) Monumental Madrid. (correction: they now only serve two routes — Historical and Modern Madrid)
The Madrid Vision touristic bus.
Costs € 13 per person (2005) for a whole day tour, all for the three routes already and you can easily hop from one bus to another. The best way to view Madrid in panorama would be to sit on the top deck of the bus.
Highly recommended, but after 2 hours, it was way too cold up there. Summer would be different I am sure.
The Metro subway is another alternative to use for exploring Madrid. Efficient, clean and fast, but be careful of undesirable hands groping for your wallets, bags and you know what else. Yes there are sad people everywhere. Unfortunately.
RELAXATION & SIGHTSEEING
Plaza Mayor (see picture above in gastronomy) is a lovely place. It is the perfect spot (many people argue it’s a tourist trap?) to sit down and let time pass, perhaps over a book and a glass of wine, or just simply to people watch. Luckily, the afternoon that I was there, the wintry clouds cooperated, they were moving towards the another direction, leaving me with all the sun rays to enjoy. I had a good time studying Madrid’s map while finishing easily two glasses of red wine.
Because a woman cannot be alone for 5 minutes in Spain, it happened. The waiter, who by the way doesn’t speak a word of English was flirting with me. Armed with my Cebuano learned Spanish words + self taught sign language, I tried hinting I am not interested. For a moment I thought he understood but he just kept repeating, Nombre? Numero? Telefono?
So the solution was to pay the bill and leave. ADIOS amigos =)
The side streets of Puerta del Sol are also good places to stroll and sight-see. One can start the journey from Gran Via going down to Sol. The streets are mostly flanked with busy shops and a chorus of rebajas (sale) signs seem to cover the whole stretch.
Puerta de Alcala… the white cars with the red stripe are Spanish cabs. And, Parque de Retiro, this man-made lake is just a portion of this humongous park.
First foto: the Crystal Palace inside Parque de Retiro; second foto: Cibeles fountain
Parque de Retiro, Madrid’s humongous man-made park and man’s grand display of artistic prowess. Many Madrileños hang-out here during the week and it can get busy during the weekends.
Locals say that the Retiro was originally built for the Spanish King Phillip IV and it was only opened to the general public sometime in the 1800’s. The park exudes a sphere of arrogance and royalty. One of the fine-looking showcases in the park is the Crystal Palace, its walls and ceilings are made of glass. Too bad, they didn’t allow taking of pictures inside.
I also love the many stunning outdoor fountains in Madrid. They make the city look so pretty and somewhat romantic.
SPEAK: INGLES (ENGLISH)?
A not-so-positive point of Madrid: it is quite rare to encounter a Spaniard who can converse in English, even in the hotels (the big ones are not a problem) and in the restaurants. I am sure this is not an issue in the business district because based in my experience, many of my Spanish business associates speak very good English but for the tourists, its a pain.
One thing for sure that I know, the men are a very assertive lot. I have been approached by a number of Spanish men and they are not always easy to get rid of as they tend to not believe the word NO. Sigh.
Words of survival in Madrid:
Tinto vino (Red wine)
Cambio (Change)
La Cuenta (I want to pay!)
Muchas gracias (Thank you)
No habla espanol! (I don’t speak Spanish!), the best answer to get rid of an irritating Spaniard following you, lol.
FASHION
Another seemingly important Madrid characteristic is the fashion sense of many women, they simply stand out. The Madrileños, both men and women, and in this case especially the older generation, they are very style conscious types.
Since I was not able to capture the senoras on camera, I hope this pretty black swan will suffice. Taken at the Crystal Palace in Retiro Park.
The women are regally poised, clad in intimidating fur coats (even for 10C), Gucci sunglasses, high heels and their crowning glory? Thick hair held up with ozone-layer-killer hairspray. OMG, they all look like twin sisters of the Dutch Queen Beatrix, ha-ha. To complete the whole glamour ensemble, a very tiny chihuahua walks behind as a living fashion accessory. I honestly think PC Hoofstraat in Amsterdam will be put to shame.
The men as well, they gather together over a cup of coffee during Sunday morning, neatly dressed in coat and tie. I initially wondered if they came from a church service or if there was a senior citizens business meeting going on in the cafe. Helaas no, they were just dressed like that, just like a normal day.
I guess being overdressed is being Madrid!
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