Madrid for the weekend

The bus ride to Madrid felt like a short one although it was actually 7 hours long. 4 other girls and I took the midnight bus on Friday and arrived on Saturday at 7.30am. We saved a night´s hostel fee by sleeping during the bus ride. We got off the bus and headed to our hostel using the metro. It´s called Cat´s Hostel, a very good hostel that I would recommend to anyone who plans to go to Madrid. At a reasonable price of 18 euros, they allowed us to check-in early, provided us with free breakfast, had comfortable beds, clean bath rooms and a strategic location that allowed us to walk to the main attractions.

Despite being tired, we headed out to Museu del Prado right after breakfast and we spent 3 hours in the museum. By the 2nd and half hour, I was just walking by the paintings and sculptures without bothering to read the descriptions and look at the paintings properly. A person can only take so much art at a time. The Prado held a great amount of art collection that predominantly features Baroque and Renaissance paintings by Italian, German, Flemish, and Spanish painters. Having seen so many paintings at a time, I could now roughly tell what paintings are by which painters in terms of nationalities. Most of the pictures depict biblical figures, chapters, and the sacred family. I could have sworn, there were at least 20 paintings of the sacred family and the nativity, with different influences eg. the flemish paintings have that weird golden glow, looking like needles, that emits from the sacred family etc. The Prado was definitely an interesting change from MNAC in Barcelona which showcases Catalonian and Spanish art. Being here in Spain has cultivated a great sense of appreciation of art in me.

Museu del Prado

Saturn Devouring his Son by Goya

Puerta de Alcala (The Gate of Madrid)

After that we had lunch and went to see the Cibeles fountain, take pictures of the different plazas and fountains and took a long stroll in Parque de Buen Retiro (Retirement/Retreat Park). The park is amazing. It is one of the best parks I have been too. There were fountains and monuments that adorned the park. Most importantly, there was a beautiful lake near the entrance of the park. The day was so sunny and warm. It was perfect for a walk. Later in the afternoon, we walked around in the city center where Puerta del Sol and Plaza Mayor are. We had churros con chocolate caliente in a churros shop called Maestro which claimed to have been in business since 1905. We thought the churros there must be good if the shop has been in business since then, and as we thought, they were delicioso!!!!! OMG...they were so good that I forgot to take pictures of them.

Cibeles fountain

The lake in el Parque de Buen Retiro

Crystal Palace in el Parque de Buen Retiro

Plaza Mayor

We went back to our hostel after that and we took our well deserved siesta. At night,we went out for a paella dinner. It was not bad but a little bit below my expectation. It looked like it would taste very flavorful and delicious but it didn't. Oh well..

Paellas for dinner

We were blessed with a sunny Saturday so we couldn't complain much about rainy Sunday. Fortunately, the major place we wanted to go to was El Palacio Real (The Royal Palace). It was beautiful. We couldn't get an English tour guide so we ended up with audio guides. However, there was a group of Chinese tourists led by a Spaniard who explained in English and a Chinese tour guide who would translate what she said. As "inconspicuouly" as we could, we followed them and when it was time for the translation, we listened to our audio guides. I also sneaked my camera out and took some pictures in the palace. The art and architecture were amazing! Italian Renaissance, German, Flemish, French and Oriental designs decorate different parts of the palace.

Palacio Real (The Royal Palace)

Almudena Cathedral, the royal cathedral

After the palace, we had lunch. Thankfully, the rain stopped and we walked to Puerto de Toledo (The Gate of Toledo) and took some pictures. All of us were freezing cold. We decided we did not want to do any more outdoor activities so I suggested we that we tried to change our bus schedule from 12am to 6.30pm. We did and we went home earlier. ;)