Street signs in Madrid

Street signs in old Madrid are made of tiles and the pictures depict what the street was for or what the street name means. For instance, the street below is "Street of Embroiders".

I never thought about street sign placement before I went to Europe.  I am used to how we do it here, and never thought about how it might be different elsewhere.  I had to get used to looking up at the buildings on the corners to find the street signs, rather than looking for a signpost on the corner.

I enjoyed looking at the street signs in Madrid and puzzling over what they meant. I hope you enjoy seeing the pictures of them as well.

Our last day in Madrid: churros, Cerveceria Alemana, and relaxing on Plaza de Oriente

April 14, 2011

Our last full day in Madrid, we started at the Mercado de San Miguel.  The Mercado is an old covered market, which has recently been refurbished, and is full of food shops, bars, and even a bookstore.

We decided on churros con chocolate for breakfast.  Churros in Madrid are not sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar like they are here, and they are usually not in straight lines. They are freshly fried, about a million calories, and oh, so good. They come with a rich, thick hot chocolate. The hot chocolate is so thick, it is more pudding-like than drink-like.  The consistency allows the chocolate to cling to the churro when you dip them.

Before we left the Mercado, we purchased a tapas recipe book from the bookstore. I am anxious to try several of the tapas we enjoyed here at home.

Madrid is full of wonderful alleys that invite you to stroll down and discover a new place to explore.

Cerveceria Alemana is another Hemingway haunt on Plaza Santa Ana. Hemingway's table is at the window to the right of Greg.  Alemana was closed when we did out tour with Stephen Drake-Jones.  This was Stephen's day off, and we had so much fun on our tour, he had offered to meet us again for quick drinks here. He knew what a big Hemingway fan I was, and he wanted me to see this place. 

Hemingway's table. Unfortunately, the flash did not go off because of the bright light from the window, so I had to fiddle with the photo electronically so our faces show.  I think that it makes the photo seem more Hemingway-esque with the sepia tones (as long as you don't look too close).

Here is what it should have looked like if I had had the camera set up right. Greg and Stephen enjoying some Manchego cheese with their drinks.

After our drinks, Greg and I walked around the city revisiting some of the places we had seen previously.  Greg in front of a fragment of the old city wall of Madrid.  This is something we saw on our tour with Stephen, but I didn't get a picture of it during the tour.  

We walked towards the Royal Palace, heading towards Plaza de Oriente to find a cool place to sit, relax, and do some people-watching.

Royal Palace:

Greg enjoying a Cuban cigar in the Plaza de Oriente:

It was a relaxing day spent strolling around the city. By this time in our trip, we were nearing exhaustion, so a day filled with lazy strolling was perfect (even if it was also difficult, because there was so much more we wanted to see and do).

It was time to start winding the trip down and head back to Britain for our flight home.

Museo del Prado and more, our third day in Madrid

April 13, 2011

I think of all the art museums I visited on this trip, Museo del Prado was my favorite.  What I really loved about it, besides all the wonderful Spanish masterpieces, was that in nearly every gallery, there were artists painting their versions of the masters on canvases of all sizes.  The smell of linseed oil, turpentine, and oils wafted around the galleries, and to me, that helped bring all the paintings alive, as if they were just being painted and the canvases were still wet.  I could spend days in the Prado. I dragged Greg through all the Spanish masters, searching every gallery of all three floors until I saw every Velazquez, Goya, and El Greco that I have always wanted to view in person. Well, not every one, since some were out on loan, but nearly every one. There are no photos allowed in the Prado, but you can search their Online Gallery to review works by title or author.

After the museum, we wandered around a bit. The Prado is surrounded by beautiful parks and fountains.

After a light lunch, we headed back to our room for a siesta.  At this point in the trip, a daily nap was a must, especially with the late nights typical of Madrid (dinner doesn't really start until after 9pm).  After resting a bit, we decided to walk around and revisit some places we had already been.

Plaza Mayor:

You know any place called the "Museum of Ham" has got to be tasty (and it was).

More Plaza Mayor:

I love the alley ways of Madrid:

We stopped at La Torre del Oro Bar Andalu for some gazpacho, cañas, and to admire the bulls and photos of bullfighting decorating the walls.

Greg with a caña.

Barbera, the bull

Mmmmm, jamon!  I wish I could get ham this way at home!

I didn't catch this bull's name, but he is missing an ear, so the matador fought well.

Our tapas--gazpacho and beets.

This bull has both his ears, so the matador must not have fought as well. To the right of the bull is a photo of Franco waving.

Greg enjoying the ambiance. We were there really, really early, so the bar was empty.  We came here specifically for the gazpacho. The bar serves Andalusian cuisine, and so they have gazpacho year round. We were feeling the need for some vegetables (that weren't potatoes) after all the ham and chorizo we had been consuming.

On the way back to the hotel, we followed this protest to Puerta del Sol.  Every evening, there was a protest of some sort on Puerta del Sol. Some were very large (like the one pictured below), and some were only a handful of people.  But even though it was sometimes loud, it was always interesting to see what people were protesting.  The protests rarely went beyond sunset, and afterwards everyone wandered off to the bars and restaurants for dinner.  

Whatever differences there are in cultures, there are also similarities; in this case, the desire of people to improve their government by making their wishes known publicly through peaceful protest. May the day come soon where all cultures can have this right.