Four Days in Madrid











The Palace, designed by the Bourbon French
and one of the largest in Europe

Work was over, almost, and we were all looking forward to our summer holidays and we had big plans.  The cornerstones were surfing in Portugal, walking in Corsica and climbing in Italy but we had breaks between each of these phases.












Ernest Hemingway loved Spain, bull fighting and Martha Gelhorn
and this was supposedly his favourite place to drink beer in Madrid

Our first break was before we had even started, Madrid.  We have not seen a lot of Spain apart from a couple of days in Barcelona and a couple of lunches in San Sebastian while on a surfing trip to the south of France. So we decided to fly to Portugal with a stop over for a few days in Madrid.








The order of Trinitarians, dedicated to securing
the release of Christian captive who secured the
release of Michael Cervantes who later
wrote Don Quixote



If we hoped for a break from the hot weather in Dubai then Madrid was not going to provide any respite.  There had been a heat wave in Europe and Madrid was hitting 40 deg in the middle of the day.  That said, it lacked the humidity of Dubai which made it more manageable if combined with a sensible local routine of a break during the heat of the day.















The lively street in from of our Air BnB






We were staying in the super cool Tribunal area. Around us were great small bars, pop up shops, hipster barbers, second hand clothes stores and a guy who restored high end steel framed racing bikes from the 80's. The area has an edge to it and is popular with students.

















Madrid is a city of squares and we had this excellent
Spanish Omelette at our local square in Tribunal








Tribunal was full of cool bars and great little restaurants and there was a real energy to the place, except for siesta time!

















Of course the Spanish, like many European cultures really know
how to cure meat...


You get a sense of the levels of youth unemployment but on face value it seems to have generated an entrepreneurial spirit.












...and hand make popsicles
from Lolo, Polos Artesanos







Pop up stores and concept stores were every where which added a real sense of colour life and adventure


















But is wasn't all gin.  This was our local vermouth bar with a selection
of vermouth on tap


That said, I am sure that the economic challenges in Spain have caused significant social issue, it just wasn't apparent to us. That said Madrinos like a drink and the drink of choice was gin and tonic in large balloon glasses with a very generous pour!













Parque De El Retiro was a great turn around point for a morning run

Kate and I quickly settled into our holiday morning routine of a morning run and a light breakfast before starting exploration.  In order to be a little more structured, we organised a walking tour of the literary district, the home of Michael Cervantes, and a bike tour to cover locations a little further afield.














The guides for both were great,  energetic and knowledgeable and with just the right mix of toilet humour to keep Ada engaged as the temperatures rose.  On both trips we were able to get some perspective on the city and the multitude of bike lanes in Madrid combined with road laws that gave cyclists the right of way made the cycling safe and enjoyable.









Of course no visit to a European city would be
complete without a photo of Ada and Kate
salivating at a market




On the cycling tour we had a break for a drink and Kate ran into Laura, a friend from Dubai, who decided to come to Madrid to visit her parents who were passing through town.  That night we had tapas with Laura's parents and one of Laura's friends who lives in Madrid.  We had a couple of gin and tonics which seems to be the drink of the moment in Madrid. The world is indeed a small place!


















The Prado and some weary travellers


A visit to any major European capital means a trip to an art museum, much to Kate's delight and Ada's disappointment. To minimize conflict, we settled on short duration visits and specific objectives.

















A Picasso from the exhibition showing his evolution
prior to Guernica




First on our list was Renia Sofia to see Picasso's Guernica, depicting the bombing of the Basque town of Guernica by German and Italian forces supporting Franco's Nationalists during the Spanish Civil War.




















The hand painted tiles from Villa Rosa the oldest Flamenco hall in Madrid


Our second objective was the Prado to check out Goya and Hieronymus Bosch. Unfortunately I ended up spending my time in the Prado on a conference call. But Kate saw 'a room full of the most magnificent Bosch paintings'.

















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