Walking Madrid as Wellington Society members

April 12, 2011

The morning and early afternoon of our second full day in Madrid was spent with the Chairman of the Wellington Society, Stephen Drake-Jones, on a private walking tour of old Madrid.  While I was researching places to see in Madrid, I stumbled upon the Wellington Society of Madrid website (http://www.wellsoc.org/).  The benefits of membership, plus the tour options and the focus on history made the choice to become members easy. It was a perfect fit for what we wanted to have in Madrid--not a typical "tour" led by a typical tour guide, but rather an experience. And an experience is exactly what we got, tailored to our interests. 

Stephen was more like a host than a tour guide, sharing his favorite places and his love of Madrid and its history with us.  Stephen met us at 10:30 at our hotel, and after we finished our coffees, we started walking.  Stephen kept up a steady stream of stories, historical facts, quirky information, and jokes, all while answering our questions as they occurred to us.  It was all so fascinating, I didn't want to interrupt our discussions to take pictures.  Interspersed with the walking and talking were stops for refreshment--a sandwich with specialty spread at a deli, wine and tapas at restaurant that was bombed by anarchists before WWI, sweets at a neighborhood bakery, a bite of tortilla and cheese at the restaurant the King and Queen frequent, a stop at a Hemingway haunt, and much, much more. It felt like a free-wheeling adventure, open for spontaneity, rather than a typical structured tour.  We had a lot of fun, while being enlightened on the history and cuisine of Madrid.  Our time with Stephen was definitely one of the highlights of our trip.

The unfortunate part of having such a diverting time is that I did not take as many pictures as I should have.  I took a few pictures during the tour, then later we retraced some of our steps, so I could get additional pictures.

This building was the site of a 1906 anarchist assassination attempt on Alfonso VIII and his new wife as their royal wedding procession went by. There are still bomb scars on the building. Casa Ciriaco is on the ground floor and is one of the many tapas stops we made on our tour.

This depicts San Isidro, the patron saint of Madrid.  One of San Isidro's miracles was finding water; we visited his well while we were on the tour.

Yes, you can even be royalty for the moment on a Wellington Society tour. Greg and I are seated at the King and Queen's table in the Restaurante El Schotis, sipping the reserve wine of which the royals partake. Here they make a wonderfully tasty tortilla that requires 33 eggs (I am glad I don't have to try to flip that!).

Stephen and I at the end of our tour at one of Hemingway's haunts at the Plaza Santa Ana.

We had a wonderful time this day, experiencing Madrid, learning some of its history, and visiting some of its unique sites. What I have mentioned here is just a smattering of all we saw and learned in our four hours with Stephen.  I took notes during our time with Stephen, including book and restaurant recommendations, but I do wish I had taken more photographs of the experience.  I guess that just gives us an excuse to go back for more, especially since our Wellington Society membership is good for a year.