From Toledo, I relocated to a municipality of Madrid called Pinto so that I could
take the train into the capital and not have to stress about driving and
finding a parking spot for Octi. I had
been on the fence about whether to visit Madrid at all since I’m not into big
cities, but since I was already this close, I figured I might as well.
My plan was just to walk around in a counterclockwise loop. I started at the Puerta del Sol, a central
public square. So central in fact, that
it is “Kilometre 0” for the radial network of Spanish roads.
I popped out of the metro at Puerta del Sol just as the bells were ringing in noon.
The glass structure is the entrance to the metro.
This is King Carlos III who reigned from 1759 until his death in 1788.
It was a bit of a misty day.
Interesting building between two avenues.
Holy holy things batman!
I often do a little trick of folding a bill to make the person whose portrait is on it smile and frown as you tilt the bill forwards and backwards. This guy already has a bit of a smile...I wonder how the trick would work on him.
The next stop, La Plaza Mayor, a principle public square in the heart of Madrid.
Yet another king on a horse, this time King Felipe III who reigned from 1598-1621.
All of the walls in the square were red, apart from this section, which is the Centro de Tourismo.
In the last video, at the end there was a main walking by with a headless mannequin wearing a red dress, which made me wonder. Well here's the answer...tourists can stand behind one of them for a photograph.
Naomi had suggested that I have lunch at the El Mercado de San Miguel...unfortunately it is closed for renovations.
The Palacio Real de Madrid which is the official residence of the Spanish royal family and is used primarily for state ceremonies. It boast 1.45 million square feet with 3418 rooms! Needless to say it's the largest palace in Europe and one of the biggest in the world.
That's the lineup to get in...not too long, but I still didn't bother.
The green space to the west of the cathedral and palace.
The cathedral and palace were my furthest west point on my
walkabout, now it was time to head south towards the La Latina neighbourhood
and head east.
This was the shutter for an Irish Pub. There was an older man standing in my way for the photo, whom I cursed at in my head, and then a woman came around the corner and started to unlock the place and it seemed the man worked there or perhaps even owned the place!
I just got a kick out of how crazy the map of Madrid looked...sure wouldn't want to be a taxi driver here.
I saw a few sides of buildings painted like this - trying to give you a 3D illusion...it kinda worked.
This is the Department of Agriculture...I wonder what they're growing to have such fancy digs like this!
This is the Museo del Prado, Spain's national art museum, their answer to France's Louvre. I was not bothered to visit the inside.
I guess you're supposed to walk with a buddy in Madrid...whoops.
Okay...now we're getting fancy. This is the Gran Via area, and specifically this is part of the Plaza de Cibeles. Now I'm starting to close off my loop.
And the Fountain of Cibeles...some goddess riding a chariot with a couple of lions pulling it...the usual stuff.
There was a lot of traffic for the middle of the afternoon.
McDonald's has a fancy spot at the bottom of this building.
I saw these Japanese ladies set up their phone for a selfie on a tripod and then strike their pose. I had to capture the magic.
A store for those who are "manusly challenged".
The cops get around in numerous ways in this city.
About three to four hours after I started, I was back at
Puerta del Sol and I was pleasantly surprised with Madrid, I didn’t mind it…granted,
I’d only spent half a day there and was ready to leave, but still, it was
okay. What also surprised me that on my
train ride in, and during my tour, I never once saw a skyscraper. I knew that Madrid has some as I saw the
photo below on Wikipedia before I came here.
I guess it is a very big city, and they are located in a different area,
that’s all.
There was a lot of grafitti beside the train tracks, and on some trains. I don't get grafitti...most of it all looks the same, just the tag of the artist/perpetrator in the "grafitti font".
Once I returned to the campervan, I decided to drive about an hour south of Pinto, just to shorten the drive tomorrow and to get away from the metropolis of Madrid.
You don't see this everyday on the highway!
Look at the size of it compared to the cab of the truck.
I ended up in a small city called Alcazur de San Juan. The local Carrefour, a big grocery store, had some motorhome-friendly parking spots at the back of their parking lot. Amazingly there were even outlets for electricity and there was no charge. It was perfect for a one-night layover, and I was more than happy to go in the store and spend some money there.
Ham anyone? Jamón, as it is called in Spain, is a type of dried, cured ham. 145 Euros and you can take one home.
I'll get back to the coast tomorrow and then start working my way towards Valencia.
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