SPAIN
2009
Day
2 May 11- Monday
Madrid
We slept really well and didn’t get up until 9:00 AM.
We went to the hotel restaurant for breakfast.
They had a nice buffet. We
always start with cereal, preferable something with bran or high fiber.
We missed seeing the “diet” table with the bran cereal. We will try
again tomorrow. The buffet had scrambled eggs, bacon - kind of under cooked,
sausage, huge mushrooms and pastries.
When we went back to the table after finishing our cereal, and going to
the buffet, we found the waiter had completely cleared our table.
It was almost 10:00 and there was only one other couple there so I guess
he was in a hurry to get out. So he
reset the table.
We went out to “test”
the weather and decided that we needed to wear our jackets.
It was a beautiful sunny day but a little breezy.
We started walking to the Centro de Arte Reina Sofia to see Picasso’s
Guernica. The museum’s
architecture is very modern and is an interesting contrast to our “usual
Gothic”. We had to stand in line
for a while to enter the Guernica gallery - until those who were already in there
came out. We were first in line.
When we came out there was a very, very long line waiting to get in.
Guernica,
now rests at this museum after a long and troubling history of traveling.
Banned
in Spain during Franco's era (Picasso refused to have it displayed here anyway),
it hung until 1980 at New York's Museum of Modern Art. The fiercely antiwar
painting immortalizes the shameful bombing of the town by the German Luftwaffe,
fighting with Franco during the Spanish Civil War. Guernica was the cradle of
the Basque nation, and Picasso's canvas made it a household name around the
world. We went through several rooms and then to the roof where we had a good
view of Madrid.
Then
we walked several blocks to the Metro stop and took the Metro to
Plaza Tirso de Molina in order to see San Isidro Church which was used as the
cathedral from 1885 until Almudena Cathedral was finished in 1993, but it
was closed. The church fit into the
surrounding buildings and did not have much of a façade.
We walked towards some other steeples but lost sight of them and came out on the
Calee Mayor not far from the Plaza Major.
The Almudena Cathedral was some distance from where we were so we decided to
wait until tomorrow when we would see it
on the Globus tour.
As
last night the waiters stand out in front of the various cafes on the Plaza
Major with t
heir
menus. One was a little aggressive
but the menu looked good. So we had
lunch at Cafeteria Christina – once again eating in the Plaza Major.
We ordered a pitcher of Sangria and two tapas- one shrimp, scallops,
mussels in a vinaigrette and croquets jamon.
The both were very good. Then
we walked through the plaza and got some ice cream.
All around the plaza were street entertainers in various costumes
standing like statues. Visitors
have their picture taken
with the statue and then put coins in a basket on the ground.
Then
we walked to the Puerto de Sole and caught the Metro back to the hotel.
Our key card wouldn’t work. Woops!
We went down to the desk and straightened it out. I guess, since we only
were paying for one night, they thought we had left.
We are now on the Globus tour account. They re-set the lock.
At
6:00 we went to the tour meeting. There
are 41 people from Virginia, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Phoenix, Canada, Australia.
Our guide’s name is Kaye. She
gave a good presentation. Everyone
had to stand and give their first name and where they were from.
There was time to mingle while drinking Sangria.
Dinner
was in the same room where breakfast was served.
We had a large salad, chicken which was sort of dry, and French fries.
We had a good frozen dessert. We were back in our room by 10:00. It
looks like it is going to be fun group to travel with.
