Perfect Day to be Madrilenos!

Friday was our last day in my first ever visit to Madrid.  I had thought about a trip to one of the many outlying cities of great interest, Like Toledo, or Segovia, but passed on that to have an easy enjoyable day in this beautiful city.

We left the hotel after our usual generous breakfast bolstered with the usual complementary Mimosa. Today, with no bus pass was going to be a lot of walking.  Since the weather is a perfect 75 to 80 degrees my sandals my feet were happy to be in my sandals.  We walked up the street in front of our hotel toward Plaza Mayor to join a free walking tour that began at 11:00 am.

At the top of the Calle de Atocha right before entering the Plaza we stopped to admire a very square bell tower.  Since we had a few minutes to spare I suggested we go into the church.  Always a good stop for beautiful art work, a church in older cities is a representation of wealth and power.  The simple appearing Barroquia de Santa Cruz (sometimes spelled Parroquia) was no exception.  The humble wooden pews faced an altar backed by detailed carved wood scenes of the life of Christ.  The high arched ceilings made way for delicate stained glass while beneath these modern touches each side of the nave of the church boasted elaborate statues of Mary, Christ, and various saints.  Behind Heavy iron gates the statues were on highly decorated altars, some with additional smaller altars to one side although the saints on these loomed just as large!

The chapel altar held the most beautiful tabernacle that I have ever seen.  The heavy highly polished silver gleamed as sparks of golden lightning struck out behind it.  Breathtaking.  And this was a real church.  Not on display for tourists but used in daily parish activities.  Elva and I were so glad that we stopped to just peak in and were reluctant to leave.

We joined our walking tour with Celia who was a delightful, attractive local in a beautiful skirt and high heels!  We liked that when she was telling us about places she stopped the group, and turned to face us so we could easily hear and understand her.  So many stories and anecdotes that it would be hard to relate them all here.  Since Elva and I had walked much the same route the day before it was great to hear all about why these were the important things to see.

Isabel II, not Columbus’ queen, was only three when she ascended the throne and 13 when she was married to an impotent and deformed prince.  A bit of a nymphomaniac and quite crude she had a string of lovers and had her palace engineers create for her what was probably the first ever personal female entertainment system!  She was, however, responsible for bringing the arts and theater to Madrid and had built the Royal Theater.  Her place in history is preserved because it was she who put an end forever to the Spanish Inquisition.

As we toured we began to understand more and more of the city history which was not at all clear from the HOHO.  The motto is “Above Water and Surrounded by a Wall of Fire.”  This is because the little village when taken over by the Muslims (Moors) was a dry useless place struggling to farm.  The Muslim divinators found hundreds of fresh, spring fed wells!  Hence – above water.  The city walls they built were laced with flint so that when attackers’ arrows hit, flames would burst forth – a wall of fire! Very clever.

The city symbol is a bear and a strawberry tree.  Why?  The bear is from Ursa Major which is at home in the Spanish skies.  It represents the State and the tree represents the church which owned all the land.  The bear and tree symbolize the compromise that let Madrid become the great capitol it was.

Another interesting tidbit is about the tidbits that are served. Tapas were mandated to be served when this was a farming community.  The men would work under the hot sun all morning and then because they were poor have to choose between a drink and food at the lunch break.  Mostly drinks were chosen and many could not make it back to the field in the afternoon or, if they did, did not work well.  It became the law that with every drink served a free little something to eat had to be served.  Production increased in the fields.  The name comes from the king traveling to the sunny, sandy, windy south.  He stopped for a cold glass of wine and the bartender thoughtfully placed the bit of bread and ham that he was serving on top of the wine glass to keep out the sand.  Tapas means “cover!”

From the street behind the modern cathedral we visited yesterday we could see the history of the city encapsulated.  A blue tiled Star of David fountain lies beside the Muslim wall of the city behind which the massive cathedral that took 100 years to build stands in the glory of the differing architectures of that century!

Our group stopped for a Tapas break before continuing our fascinating walk all the way to the palace.  At the Jardin Oriente we learned that the statues were lining the park walks for a reason.  These particular statues are out of proportion and not very finely molded.  That is because they were intended to decorate the roof edge and look down on the crowds of the king’s followers.  But they were too heavy and therefore were moved to lower ground.  The few gazing at us from above did look perfect while those next to us lacked some aesthetic value.

What a wonderful, educational, and interesting tour.  I had commented to Elva earlier that the HOHO told us a lot but mostly about the buildings and I was missing the history.  Now I had it.

Elva and I continued to walk, backtracking our path, to the famous 300 acre Retiro Parque.  Originally it was the gardens of a palace.  Now it houses museums, including the Prado, broad lawns, shady trees, a large lake, and fountains.  The Artichoke Fountain is a centerpiece of the peaceful scene. We started at the top of the park, near the arches we had visited on foot and by night and walked down toward the train station and our hotel.  Our hotel was truly ideally situated.

We stopped for a while and rested in the shade and ate our sandwiches on a park bench.  Families with small children walked while children playfully ran a little ahead and then back to the parents.  We noticed that like little boys everywhere, the young boys of Madrid liked to scuff up their shoes while seeing how much dust they can create while they walk!

By the lake we watched rowers propel the blue boats every which way around and across the lake in the shadow of the Alexander Memorial.  The classic monument rises in an arc beside the water.  Tired visitors and locals alike sit on the broad steps that lead to the waters’ edge.  We chose a spot on the opposite show to have a lemon gelato and just enjoyed the wonderful luck we have to be able to spend such an idyllic day.

We ventured deeper into the park to admire the Crystal Palace that is modeled after the one in Kew Gardens in London.   The lake here and fountain entertained the ducks and on the shore turtles basked in the warm sun.  Red Cypress trees rose some 40 meters from the lake bottom to the sky.  The hill that gently rose from here was dotted with young people sleeping in the shade of the towering branches.

Our day was rapidly slipping away from us and we still had things we wanted to do so we hurried on past dozens of men and boys perfecting their skateboard skills and returned to our hotel.  A McDonald’s download break and a few minutes rest in our spacious room was all we had time for before heading across the street to the Reina Sofia Museum.  You guessed it, free after six p.m.

Here we saw the Picasso paintings and those of Salvador Dali.  Other modern art is housed in what used to be a hospital.  The thick stone walls would have kept fevered patients cool under the hot Spanish sun. High, broad arches framed a lovely courtyard with a Calder mobile as the centerpiece. We spent a couple of hours and then took the two minute walk back to “our McDonald’s” where I had a Cheeseburger Happy Meal and Elva tried the Italiano!  We were too tired to do anything else and still had to pack up to leave in the morning for Barcelona!

Madrid is a beautiful city and I am so glad I have finally made it to here.  I hope someday to return!  Elva, who had been here before, commented several times that she had forgotten how beautiful it is.