clog blog: The bear and the strawberry tree

Olá!

Greetings from Madrid in Espana! On Thursday last week we caught a speed train from Barcelona and arrived in Madrid 4 hours later. As always, we really enjoyed it and are bleak that our long distance train trips are soon to be over. We enjoyed watching the scenery go by and the landscape change. Spain is more hilly than we thought with flat plains inbetween, much like Cape Town. There is quite a lot of agricultural use of the land between Barcelona and Madrid although the country side is looking quite brown.

After checking in, we had time to explore the city before the sun went down. We were blessed with a sunny afternoon and it was so good to be in the sun! First stop on our walking tour was Peurte de Sol, or gateway to the sun, where a statue of the symbol of Madrid is, the Bear and Strawberry Tree. We are not quite sure when the tree became a runner plant or vice versa, but hey. (by the way, no one commented that I got it wrong. The she-wolf suckling Romulus and Remus is the symbol of Rome, not Siena!) This square, or semi-circle, is where a lot of important events in Madrid’s history took place. Our hotel was located close to Sol which was great because it was so central. It was also conveniently located near many restaurants so we didn’t have far to get back after a bit of sangria. However, Friday and Saturday night party-goers had the same idea and the Spanish are not quiet people! They were still going strong at 6am on both days.

We walked along San Jeronimo to Paseo del Prado, the street where many of the Madrid’s museums are located, to the city’s largest park, the Parque Del Buen Retiro. Most of the afternoon was spent wandering around the park, chilling on a bench and people gazing. It was quite interesting watching the buskers and exhibitionists on their roller blades! Spring is definitely here! So many trees are budding and in blossom and the days are getting longer. Sunset is about 7pm in Spain at the moment, think it will be earlier in Paris & Rotterdam though. We passed a whole orchard of trees in blossom, so beautiful! I love spring! Love-bird type-parrots were munching on the blossoms, so cheeky!

To end the evening we found a typical local restaurant and tried to decipher the menu! English is not very beeg in Spain, if you decide to visit here we suggest you learn some basic Spanish! Would have helped us a lot. At least know important or your favourite things. Tea doesn’t usually come with milk here so if you want some it is useful to know that it is called ‘leche’. We have really enjoyed Spain but have found the food to be a little unconventional. Every restaurant serves octopus or squid done in ink, tripe, cuttlefish and others. We also found brave potatoes (patatas bravas) and potatoes in a crisis (patatas de crisis)! We liked empanadas but our friend Mayira makes the better ones than the ones we tried.

Friday rained a fair bit so we took it a bit easy and had the first nap of the holiday! But first we braved the rain for a walk about in the opposite direction to the day before. We started with Plaza Mayor, past Palacio Real, down to Plaza de Espana and home again via the Grand Via, one of the main streets in Madrid. We found Don Quixote! He is off on his mission with his side kick Sancho Panza at Plaza de Espana. I didn’t know that he was a Spaniard or that the famous sketch of him is by Picasso. The Spanish love ‘Don Quijote’ and there are figures of him and Sancho almost everywhere.

Saturday we caught the 30 min speed train to Toledo. Wow!! What an amazing place! So typically Spanish and Mediterranean yet so different. An eclectic mix of gothic and Moorish architecture with spires and arches dominating and blending so well together. We loved the narrow cobbled streets with many side alleys and passages. Every street name is a tile and many buildings have colourful pictures in tiles on them, in Madrid too. We had a lovely day exploring Toledo and wandering around the streets. Sights we saw include the main plaza the Plaza de Zocodover, the Alcazar or old royal palace, the cathedral, the last Muslim building still standing (Ernita del Cristo de la Luz, a mosque which was converted into a church), the Peurta del Sol (an arch this time), Iglesia de Santo Tomé (a church housing an El Greco masterpiece) and the Monasterio de San Juan de Los Reyes. It is interesting how Jews, Muslims and Christians lived together so peacefully here for so long. What changed?

Toledo is well known for its silver smiths and their swords. You can’t miss the sword shops, they are everywhere! Justin was really keen to get a sword but getting it past airport security would have been interesting! Bron was happy to settle for a set of steak knives. Next time…. They also make jewellery inlaid with silver or gold in patterns, beautiful and so different. Other popular pieces are Don Quixote and Sancho and chess sets. We were really lucky with the weather and although it was cloudy most of the day it only rained as we boarded the train headed back to Madrid.

Sunday we explored the flea market known as El Rastro which sprawls across many of the central streets. Could have been a flea market anywhere except that the owners of the various stalls shout out what their wares, very interesting. We spoilt ourselves with a pair of cow skin slippers, toasty! We also wandered through the collector’s market at Plaza Mayor. Collectors of stamps, coins and bottle tops gather here every Sunday to check out each other’s collections and see what they can add to their own. Much smaller than El Rastro but equally as interesting.

After psyching ourselves up all week, it was time for the Museo del Prado! We spent about 6 hours in the Prado and probably saw about 70% of the museum’s permanent collection. The Prado is home to quite a varied collection including many well-known Spanish artists such as Goya and Velázquez. We enjoyed the work of El Greco, Goya, Velázquez, Ribera, Rubens, Bosch and of course the few Michelangelo’s, Raphael’s and Rembrandt’s. After 6 hours we were all paintinged-out and decided to call it a day!

Monday was our last day in Madrid and was a slower day preparing to depart for Lisbon on the night train. After a slow start we headed to the local Lavenderia or Laundromat, packed up and spent the afternoon wandering through Parque Del Buen Retiro again and down Gran Via. We discovered the National Geographic Café but had already had a tea break somewhere else, bleak! Next time!

We have really enjoyed Spain and would like to come back to explore some more. We have found Madrid to be a city that is so alive and vibrant and exudes energy. We enjoyed Barcelona too but it didn’t have the same alive-energy feel about it. Barcelona is way more chilled out; maybe it has something to do with the ocean? Next-time items include the Museo Thyssen Burnemisza and some of the other parks in Madrid, Seville, Granada with the Alhambra and other towns on the coast.

Last night we hopped on a night train and arrived in Portugal. We are staying in Estoril which is about 30 min from Lisbon by train. We are here for 4 days and move onto Paris on Saturday. Another flight, oh yay. Hoping the Portuguese are as relaxed as the Italians! We will be back in Rotterdam on Friday 25^th of March. While we are bleak that our holiday is almost over, we are also looking forward to setting up a new home and the challenges of a new job. We have an update on our furniture! The container left Cape Town on the 4th of March and is due to arrive in the UK this Sunday the 20^th. Depending on how long customs clearance takes, it should be delivered to our new place in Rotterdam 2-4 weeks later. So it is on its way but we will need to make a plan for the first few weeks. Hold thumbs that it gets there fast!

We have had a lovely day soaking up the sun in Cascais and taking it easy (read: eating good food and drinking sangria), we are on holiday after all! Looking forward to exploring Lisbon tomorrow and Sintra on Friday. But more about that next time!

Until then, hope you have plans for St. Paddy’s day on Thursday!

PS: Go Proteas!!