Days: 1-4 (5 March 2017 – 8 March 2017)

Total distance travelled: 17,753.17 kilometres (11,026.81 miles)

Roughly twenty hours into our journey from Australia I sat perched out our aircraft window and encountered my first disappointment of this trip.

When one thinks of the moniker, the Land of the Long White Cloud it’s an association with New Zealand as a whole and if you want to get more specific the North Island and its Maori name.

We were however, thousands of miles from New Zealand, and only minutes early I’d spied a rather famous watercourse (that being the Nile River) that now placed us in Egyptian airspace.

What an opportunity to view the famous pyramids from the air!

As you may have already gathered, this dream was to be frustratingly shattered, as aside from small fissures that allowed a glimpse of the land below, most of this vast area, famed for its desert landscapes, remained hidden below layers of cloud…

I peered on in hope, but to no avail.

Eventually, roughly twenty five hours, several movies, a handful of episodes of Westworld (for me, not for Sarah), an airline dinner, a lunch and a couple of breakfasts after leaving Melbourne, and we touched down in Madrid.

Prior to this trip, we’d not been out of Australia in four hundred and fourteen days!

Having been cramped for so long, it felt good to be able to stretch the legs again, although true to form our packs were amongst the last to emerge on the luggage belt, the time waiting surprisingly spent watch a Spain versus Georgia rugby match, although admittedly our transit through immigration took mere seconds.

We were tired, and truly felt it as we sat on the airport bus service that was ferrying us on towards downtown Madrid.

Where was the excitement and buzz? That adrenaline high that sees us through our first days after the inevitable long journey from Australia (barring of course a trip to New Zealand)?

Soon enough we were outside Atocha, the station from which we planned to walk the few kilometres to our hostel, the locals clad in heavy coats and scarves despite the blue skies, us, a pair of foolish Australians sporting much lighter attire, and wearing flip flops!

Compared to our last great adventure, we were laden with far less, and the difference was immediately noticed and all the more appreciated as much of our trek was up a long, thankfully not too steep, hill.

We had a private room booked, and after a local woman shared her spiel with the reception staff (she was a local business owner who left them some flyers), we were checked into our room and ready to tackle the afternoon ahead.

As usual, the desire was to stay awake as long as possible, so as to get into a normal sleeping cycle (on local time) as quickly as we could, so we didn’t tarry long, instead heading out to explore from our centrally located lodgings.

The sky was blue and sun filled, but when we found ourselves caught in the shade, a common occurrence with many tall buildings and narrow cobbled streets, there was certainly a chill in the air.

A short distance from our hostel, and we were again in the open, with the Plaza de Santa Ana bathed in sunlight and looking a great candidate for an afternoon tipple on one of these days… just not today (surely a beverage or two would put us quickly to sleep).

The walk was not great to the next sunny, open expanse, the traditional centre, if not the geographical centre of the city, the Plaza Mayor.

Tables were scattered about, as waiters served coffees and other far stiffer drinks.

The usual sorts gravitated here as well, doing their best to sell selfie sticks to the tourists, both local and international.

We soaked it up, snapped a few pics before a short wander further had us at the Mercado de San Miguel. What better time or place for an afternoon snack!

Here could be had any manner of morsels, both sweet or savoury, with the option of para llevar (take away) or many stools both at the shop counters, or around the markets fringes.

Again, there was the option for a beer or wine, and again we sadly baulked, instead grabbing a couple of snacks to help us through the afternoon…

With a little fuel now in our bellies, we were eager to find more distractions, so whilst we had plans to visit it properly on the morrow (as in actually enter the grounds), we figured we may as well head to the Plaza de la Almeria and take a peek at the Palacio de Real Madrid.

No, that’s nothing to do with the football (soccer) team, and everything to do with the royal palace.

It was by now mid to late afternoon, and the queues were ridiculously long, as from 4pm to 6pm, entrance to the palace is actually free for all EU and Latin American citizens (from Monday to Thursday).

For the time being, we were content to merely peer through the iron fence, a chance to whet the appetite for our own visit the following day.

If we turned our backs and faced the other side of the plaza, we were faced with the Catedral de la Almudena, which if our guidebook was to be believed, was worth little more than that.

Still, entrance was free, and in truth we were killing time for another hour or so, so in we went.

It wasn’t by any stretch the most stunning church we’d seen, of that there is no doubt.

But it didn’t really deserve the moniker of charmless, especially given the lack of entrance fee that is so common these days all across the globe.

Our time done after admiring the slightly abstract stained glass within the Catedral de la Almudena, we felt it time to finally make our way across to our final destination of what by now felt a long day.

We’d had it in mind to arrive some time before the allotted 6pm entrance time, so when we first reached our destination a half hour earlier than said time, were pleasantly surprised to see no queue whatsoever.

Turns out, we were on the wrong side of the building and this first impression of the Museo del Prado was not to last.

Now the world renowned gallery is most certainly not open from just 6pm, however it is at this time that entrance becomes free, so for us this price was well and truly right.

Turns out, also for many others, as the line snaked its way back quite a long way.

Fortunately, once it hit the anticipated hour, the queue moved rapidly enough that we didn’t wait long to enter.

Unfortunately, photography within was forbidden (although we saw a lot of sneaky Go-Pro action during our visit).

With so much of the art religious, we didn’t spend too much time within.

Concluding our first day back in Europe, we rose to stunningly blue skies and with a plan.

It may have stretched as far as breakfast, but when breakfast was going to be Churros, it certainly seemed a sound plan indeed.

We’d read that the best experience in town could be had at the Chocolateria de San Gines, so it was here that we kicked off our day.

Things started not so well when after ordering a pair of coffees and two lots of Churros, it was realised that I (Chris) had forgotten to get us some hot chocolate!

A quick visit back to the counter rectified this matter.

The fact that we’d over ordered in the Churros department however, even full of enthusiasm, we couldn’t get past this matter (lest we make ourselves sick)!

With our stomachs well and truly stuffed, it was back to the Palacio Real de Madrid for us to explore it from within (rather than simply view it from between its iron gates).

Once in, it wasn’t long before I was being scolded by a guard for snapping photos within the royal armoury (he was kind enough to let me keep the photos already taken).

This had both Sarah and myself a little bamboozled.

Why or how could they police this without any signage to advise us that it was forbidden?

Turns out we’d entered the armoury through the back door, and had we come in the normal way, we’d well and truly have seen it…

From the main courtyard one could snap freely, so we duly did, grabbing a few pics of this grand palace with its stunning blue sky backdrop (the previous afternoon with a grey sky, the scene had been rather mono-chromatic).

Within, the place was truly grand and we think worth its entrance fee.

Unfortunately, once beyond the entrance staircase with its lovely ceiling, photos were again forbidden, so you’ll have to see it for yourself, or take my word for it!

Once again eager for a feed, we decided to grab ourselves a couple of what is apparently a Madrid specialty, the Bocadillo de Calamares.

A long roll chock full deep fried calamari, it promised plenty, but in truth delivered poorly.

At least only a few euros each, my initial description sums it up entirely.

No salsa of any kind, not even a squeeze of lemon… we probably should have grabbed a beer with it, but if there’s ever a next time, at least now we know (even a dash of salt would’ve lifted it)!

To quench our thirsts after this deep fried lunch?

Some Sangria in the Plaza de Santa Ana did the trick just nicely!

We’d earlier arrived too late to enter the Basilica of San Francisco el Grande, as its doors had shut for siesta, so it was late in the day and obviously some hours (spent in the sun with the afore-pictured Sangria) before we were able to return.

It apparently has the largest cupola or dome in Europe, and whilst I haven’t since tried to confirm this, it was truly the largest we’d ever seen in our travels.

Allegedly it was something to do with the hat I was wearing, but the guy who sold us our entrance tickets (at a student rate) thought I was from New York, and after we all had a chuckle (I only understood half of what he was saying in his rapid Spanish), we were ushered in where we were ultimately expected to tack onto the rear of an existing tour, again, fully in Spanish.

The dome aside, the place is famous for a Francisco Goya painting, where he’s egotistically included himself in a religious work (we do fully realise that he’s not alone from the age in this practice).

If you are a fan of his works, apparently Madrid is the place for you, as it is here that most of his important works can be found (religious artworks aren’t really our thing).

Final cab off the rank for Madrid came in the form of the Reina Sofia (most famously home to Picasso’s Guernica), again a gallery we visited utilised the free entrance on offer from 7pm until 9pm.

By this time, we were pretty exhausted, our minds still adjusting to the change to our body clocks, and our legs simply weary from a solid amount of time spent walking as we visited Cuenca (which you can read about next)!

We wandered for a short while, admired a few pieces (for us, it was far more interesting than the Prado) before calling time.

As  for the famed Guernica… is it somewhat controversial that I wasn’t all that impressed!?

 

 

Notes:

* Our return flights from Melbourne to Spain (into Madrid, out of Barcelona) flying Qatar, cost us $1364.95AUD per person.

* An Aeropuerto bus from Madrid Barajas to Atochi Stations cost us €5.00 each.

* Entrance into the Museo del Prado was FREE (from 6pm to 8pm) saving us the normal ticket price of €15.00 each!

* To enter the Real Palacio de Madrid cost us €11.00 per person, however from 4pm-6pm (Monday to Thursday), entrance is FREE for EU and Latin American citizens.

* We paid a €4.00 student price to enter the Basilica of San Francisco el Grande, despite neither of us having studied in a very long time indeed!

* Again capitalising on FREE entrance times, we paid nothing to enter the Reina Sofia between 7pm and 9pm!