Madrid is set exactly in the center of Spain, and is the point from which roads and transit emanate from. It was not a particularly important city in the days of the Castilian kings, but Henry of Castile's establishment of his El Pardo outside the walls put it on the map. The official entry of Ferdinand and Isabella into the city finally connected the often warring Castile and Aragon, helping to form Madrid into a coherent whole. The capital of Spain was transferred from Toledo to Madrid in 1561, fating Madrid to be the gigantic metropolis it is today. The Spanish Civil War hit Madrid hard: it was the first city to be bombed by airplanes with the intent of harming civilians in the history of warfare. Since that dark era, the Spanish capital has experienced a renaissance, and is now the third most populous city in Europe, serving as a powerful economic and cultural center for the entire Iberian peninsula. So that's enough about that.
We stayed at the Hilton near the airport, far outside of town. This was convenient for when we would get on our flight back to the USA, but a bit of a pain in the ass in the interim. Thankfully, Madrid has a fairly new and indisputably efficient underground system, which was capable of whisking me out of hot dry suburban hell into the city center. I left my parents to avail themselves of the Hilton's bar and headed into the city to have a looksee.
To be honest, Madrid isn't charismatic at first sight. The downtown is not incredibly distinctive, as cities go, with an appearance that struck me as a 1800's Spanish city on a very large scale, with a touch of New York thrown in for good measure. There are incredibly wide avenues and roads, large quantities of triumphal fountains and monuments, and hordes of pedestrians walking about as fast as Spaniards are capable of walking (which is not very). It is pleasant enough, but it does not possess the exotic starkness of some of Spain's smaller cities. It does, however, posess enough fine dining and shopping to keep anyone busy for an incredibly long time, if you fall in for that sort of thing.
With no real destination in mind, I pointed myself to the Palace, which I figured warranted a look. I headed to the Plaza Mayor first, which is certainly a pleasant sight: finished during the Hapsburg period, it has a distinctively old-Spanish appearance, and is a good place to sit and drink when the heat gets to its ugliest summertime point. It is full of tourists and features such attractions as the Museum of Ham, but is still worth a look. It has been the scene of soccer games, bullfights, public executions and Spanish Inquisition autos-de-fe, amongst other pleasant diversions.
Right outside the Plaza Mayor, you can jump on the Calle Mayor (go figure) and enjoy a straight shot to the Palace. The Palace is certainly an imposing pile, with a pleasingly subtle blue and white color scheme and a profusion of ornamental decorations. The square grows incredibly hot during the summer, so be forewarned. Juan Carlos and the royal family actually reside in the homier (apparently) Palacio de la Zarzuela, heading to the palace for official functions and other events where royal smiling-and-waving might be called for. It's the largest palace in Western Europe in terms of sheer size. You most likely can go in but on this Europe trip I reached my personal quotient of royal residencies long ago, and there are really only so many ornate tables and jewel encrusted water closets one can look at before going completely nuts, so I just took a few photos. I rested in the gardens outside the palace for a while, watching the Segway tours go by and Madrid's home-grown skater punks playing on the cement.
Directly across the square sits the aesthetically similar Almudena Cathedral. It is brand spanking new by Madrid standards, however, only being begun in 1879. Designed in a Gothic Revival style, construction ceased entirely during the Spanish Civil war for what should be obvious reasons, and was only resumed in the 1950s. It was not officially completed until 1993, when Pope John Paul II finally put in an appearance to sanctify it. If you watched the over-the-top ornate wedding of Felipe, Prince of Asturias to Letizia Ortiz Rocasolano, you've seen the interior of the Cathedral.
I tired of gazing at royal residences and decided to walk back to the Plaza Mayor area, where I would meet my parents later in the evening. As I walked by, I noticed the Mercado de San Miguel, an absolutely alluring old market retrofitted into a modern farmer's market and eatery. Built along the same lines as the San Francisco Ferry Building, it's an excellent place to suck down some good sangria and sample the best of what Spain has to offer. Fish mongers, bakeries, meat shops, tapas joints, canned fish specialists, beer geeks, and wine sellers all have set up shop here, providing an excellent array of treats in one convenient location. I can imagine no better place to get blitzed and eat pinxtos in the area. I hung out there for a bit and took some photos. Namely of fish.
Some large flat fishes.
The horrifyingly frightening specter of the monkfish.
More terrifying monkfish, or "rape negro".
Some adorable little red fishes.
Sardines of many varietals. Lovely little quick creatures.
Dear lord, the aliens have come to roost.
Clams of various varieties.
You may guess I'm a bit taken with these monkfish mugs.
For dinner, we decided to do a tapas crawl, going off some tips I recieved on the ever-useful Chowhound and Egullet. The Calle de Cava Baja proved to be a great place to cruise for tapas and booze, well favored by locals and not entirely jacked up by dorky tourists like ourselves. Warning: if you're even vaguely bothered by smoke, avoid doing a Madrid tapas crawl, you are not going to be able to survive for long. Spain is one of Europe's last hold-outs when it comes to frenzied indoors smoking. I suggest you just work through the pain and eat tapas until your face hurts, but to each his own. Getting to Cava Baja is easy: just walk out the bottom of the plaza from the Calle Mayor, and keep going down the Calle Toledo. Make a right on Calle San Bruno and you'll be there.
Our first stop was Tempranillo on Calle Cava Baja. Most tapas joints are dual affairs: one part is stand up and the other is a more formal sit-down. We decided to stand up and order beer and house white wine. Most tapas around here are served on pieces of bread.
These two are duck with mushrooms and four cheese. Pretty tasty insofar as stuff on bread can go, but nothing particularly exciting.
Our second destination was the Taberna Juana La Loca, which can be reached by walking to the end of Calle de Cava Baja then walking into the Plaza Puerta de Moros. It's a super popular and atmospheric place, full of the young and hip of Madrid, who chain-smoke, gossip, and listen to darkly indie music over plates of excellent food. You can order pre-made food from behind the counter, which will be zapped and served quickly, or you can order off the more elaborate menu.
High quality Spanish anchovies served with pita points and a kind of rich red pepper hummus dip. This was a tasty combination that hadn't occurred to me before, and would be nice to recreate at home.
A simple serving of boneless pork chop, cheese, and Spanish pepper. This was tender and tasty, a bit like a stripped down version of a Philly cheesesteak.
A delicious tortilla, or Spanish potato omlette. This was gigantic and filled with deliciously flavorful caramelized onions - a real treat in the tortilla category.
A sort of duck ravioli wrapped in cheese and topped with bacon - how could this not be delicious? Juicy and flavorful in the interior. Nice stuff.
For dessert, we headed back over to the Mercado de San Miguel, where we perused the considerable gelato and sorbet selection. My mom chose a passion fruit and pineapple flavor. Which came with a parrot stuck in it. (It now lives in our potted plant).
And took the subway back and went to bed. We'd do the Prado and explore more of the city the next day, our last in Spain.
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