MADRID - MARCH, 2012

This was my first trip to Madrid, Spain; although I had spent the night on two previous occasions in Barajas, which is the small town next to the Madrid airport, when I flew to and from Istanbul in 2011. Madrid is a very modern city, so there are few very old sights to see within the city itself. However, there are many more modern buildings and government sights to see there. When I visited Spain was in the midst of a severe economic crisis with over 25% unemployment, and the government was beginning to institute many austerity programs which led to many public demonstrations in opposition to the government policies. Most often the demonstrations were not violent, so they were interesting to watch. Spain is very beautiful and I hope that their economic problems can be solved.

My hotel, the Hotel Atlantico, was located on Gran Via, which is one of the main boulevards in Madrid. It is similar to Broadway in New York City, with many theaters and restaurants in the area. It was an active and bustling area all day and night.

One of the main tourist sights in Madrid is the Royal Palace, or Palacio Real. On the outside it looked very similar to Buckingham Palace in London. The interior of the palace was very ornate and imposing. My favorite portion of the palace was the area where they preserved the armor for the knights and horses.

Next to the Palacio Real was the Catedral De La Almudena, Madrid's largest cathedral. It was very modern, with very beautiful mosaic ceilings and stained glass windows.

 

 

Throughout Madrid there are many beautiful plazas, squares, monuments and parks. It was very enjoyable to just get out and walk around the city. In the evenings and on the weekends the people in Madrid get out and walk around the city, and gather in the main squares and plazas to eat and socialize, and in my case, to watch the street musicians and demonstrators.

There were many museums in Madrid, the most famous of which is the Prado Museum which holds some of the most famous paintings in the world. I spent almost a full day at the Prado. If you wanted to closely inspect all of the paintings you would have to spend at least a week there.

I took a day trip to El Escorial, about 30 miles northeast of Madrid to visit the Monasterio de San Lorenzo de El Escorial. This palace was built in the 16th century by King Phillip II as a grand mausoleum for Spain's royal family (26 kings and queens are buried there), as a monastery, and as a small palace that served as a royal getaway from the palace in Madrid. The extremely catholic Phillip II directed the Spanish Inquisition from here.

 

 

I visited and toured the home stadium of the Real Madrid soccer team (Estadio Santiago Bernabeu). Real Madrid has won more major championships than any other athletic team in the world. The people in Madrid are rabid futbol fans, and the Real Madrid players are local icons.

 

I really enjoyed my trip to Madrid, a mix of the old and the new. I would enjoy returning there again soon.