All posts tagged: Madrid

A Pictorial Tour, part one!

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On our recent trip to Spain, Portugal and France we took an obscene number of photo’s which took forever to edit once we got home. After natural selection got rid of about 700 of them, we were left with about 1400 images of varying degrees of quality and/or interest. Here, in no particular order are a few of our favourites. La Boqueria market, Barcelona. The best thing about La Ramblas, a wonderful, diverse marketplace. Chateau Chenonceau, Loire Valley. The valley is full of Chateau’s and this is as stunning as they come. Amboise Chateau. Normandy American Cemetery & Memorial. A moving tribute to the brutality of war. Paris. Still the best city we have visited, could spend months here and not get bored. Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao. Truly the best museum experience ever! L’Abbey Fontevraud, Loire Valley. Atmospheric, moody, haunting…and the best meal of our trip. Livrarian Lello & Irmao, Porto. How good is this bookshop? More tourist attraction than viable business…they should charge admission, just don’t tell them! Juno Beach, Normandy. B&W suits the somber …

Madrid to Caceres

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Yesterday was huge, we walked about 25km all over the place, so how better to start the day than for Rachael to go for a run around Retiro Park again, while I walked around taking photos. It truly is a wonderful park, and the crystal palace is majestic especially earlier in the day with the reflection from the sun hitting it. Which would have been great if there had been any sun! The weather in Madrid has been pretty ordinary for our stay, unlike Barcelona where it was quite warm. Not to worry, we loved Madrid which is as different to Barcelona as two towns can be. From narrow cobblestone lanes, to wide boulevards with plenty of greenery and park land aplenty. The brash ‘in your face’ hustle & bustle of Barca, to the understated elegance of Madrid is not unlike the difference between Sydney and Melbourne. Both great cities, and it would be a shame to visit Spain without visiting both, as they offer different slants on the Spanish way of life, and the …

Madrid

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With only one full day in Madrid we needed to hit the ground running, which is exactly what we did….running around Retiro real, a beautiful park once owned as leisure grounds for the royal family. About 75 hectares of sculptured grounds, with a magnificent Crystal palace surrounded by lakes, and a huge rectangle man made lake, popular for rowing. Absolutely fabulous, and such a change from Barcelona, with grass and trees aplenty. They certainly knew who to live it up, the Spanish Royals, wallowing in an ostentatious display of wealth, but more of which we would see later! Home, refreshed and off to the Mercato San Miguel, probably the most famous market in Madrid, for breakfast. Unlike Barcelona La Boqueria, this market is quite compact, only about 20 stalls selling the usual market stuff, with a strong emphasis on grog! Looks promising……oh wait, it’s only 9am. Damn, coffee and croissants it is! Plus some fresh peaches to keep the PT crew happy! Ok, ok, maybe a churros as well. Pretty much next door is the …

Adios Barcelona, Hola Madrid

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 An early start today, sadly leaving Barcelona, but not before breakfast at the market once again.  This is the laneway outside our loft. Our front door  The interior courtyard, all musty and mysterious.  We’re off to Madrid by train, a renfe fast train at that, but unfortunately a “stopping all stations” version, so not too much super speed action. A good chance to rest the legs, listen to some Django Django tunes (get on it peeps!) and watch the countryside rush past. But before that, some thoughts on Barcelona. – Wonderfully atmospheric – full of history – outstanding winding laneways packed with interest. – spectacular buildings, none better than Sagrada Familia – the gentle waft of sewerage on street corners can be a little off putting, but… – clean, tidy, and not nearly as dodgy as I was led to believe, stories of pickpockets etc are to be highly exaggerated. If you wear a sign saying ‘I’m a dickhead tourist’ you get what’s coming to you, everyone else…just simple precautions. – not much grass, or …