KL's Travelogue: 20120209 Madrid

Finally the plane landed at the political capital of Spain – Madrid. No questioning at Barajas Airport immigration desk, nothing was asked but a fairly polite “Hola” with a stamp given on my passport instantly. Possibly they could tell I was just an ordinary tourist.

Metro connection from the airport to city center was convenient. The system was extensive. It was quiet, people were reading, or chatting softly, no phone calling on train… this very first observation impressed me how a civilized nation should be.

English signboards were rarely seen, I managed to find the hostel without much effort. Checked-in at Albergue Juvenil, the super friendly reception delivered lots of tourist info, and repeating cautious advice of pickpockets.

I started my self-walking tour from Puerto del Sol (Gate of the Sun), the eastern city gate in the ancient period. It was a gracious square in the city center, crowded, shops lined up along the alleys, street performers scattered sporadically to entertain the crowds… not bad though but it was not really spectacular.

Moving west, came to the elegant Plaza Mayor. It was burned down a few times in the last centuries before the King decided to rebuild it with bricks. The exquisite façade on Royal Bakery was eye catching, the atmosphere was good while having a coffee alfresco. Crowd was lesser here.

Personally I don’t like much palace stuff, but Royal Palace was highly recommended. The guide book stated that it has 2800 rooms but the official tour leads through about 50 rooms. No doubt it was beautiful, luxuriously decorated… but photographing was not allowed. Lots of Japanese tourists!

After 1^st day visit, slight disappointment had grown. Probably my expectation was set too high on Spain (Madrid). Someone said that Madrid was indeed lacking a bit charm and I would feel genuine Spain when moving south.

I took the advice to join the "free" city walk the next day. No fees to be charged but the participants to tip the guide after the tour. Our guide is a Columbian, a journalist and a part time newbie tour guide. She guided us walking around the same places that I had visited yesterday. Of course this trip was filled with historical facts and stories. She tried hard making jokes but I think only the teenagers would cheer along. End of the trip she gave strong hints to pay her good tips. Guessed she collected min EUR120 that day, a very good pay indeed.

In Madrid, one should never miss the renowned art galleries. The 3 most famous are,

- Museo Prado. Big crowd of visitors like me came during the free entry session 6-8pm. Was the largest, good collection of sculptures and painting, mostly biblical. It housed many Spanish painter Goya’s products, his “Black Painting” series was too dark and violent – not my favourite. Ruben’s collection was rich too, his huge wall paintings decorated many halls.

- Museo Reina Sofia, free entry on Sunday. The exhibits were mostly surrealism and Cubinism - hard to understand. Picasso's paintings were the highlight. His 1937’s “Guernica” was arguably Spain’s single most famous artwork. It was created in response to the bombing of Guernica during Spanish Civil War. Do take time to read the story of each figure. After 1939, Picasso had “worsened” the figure distortion in his paintings, as we called it abstract, like patching several 2D views from different angles onto 1 paper.

- Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, private collection of predominantly European art. Most of the big names are here, it is my pick though Prado’s collection is far more massive.

Note: 11-Feb-12, Whitney Houston passed away.