Destination - Madrid and Toledo

“Madrid is enjoyed most from the ground, exploring your way through its narrow streets that always lead to some intriguing park, market, tapas bar or street performer.   Each night we'd leave our hotel to begin a new adventure in Madrid and nine out of 10 times, we'd walk

through the Plaza Mayor.”

Emilio Estevez



Madrid

Madrid is the vibrant capital of Spain.  If you are going to Spain, it is quite often the city you will fly into to start your vacation.  It is worth spending a few days here.  Madrid is different from so many of Europe’s historic cities.  It is considerably smaller and younger.  It is a city without a lot of historic sights to see.  It is a friendly city, with culture and night life and wonderful food.  It is the heart of Spain.

Plaza Mayor

My husband and I visited Spain in September 2001.  We started and ended our visit in Madrid, and enjoyed exploring the city during the 3 days we spent there.  My favorite place in the city is Plaza Mayor (Main Square).  Plaza Mayor is an historical and stunning square. The square is very large, with shops all around.  I particularly remember all the shops displaying ham.  Ham or Jamon in Spanish, is a major food of the Spanish and you will find shops to purchase Jamon all over Spain.  In the evening the Plaza Mayor comes alive with families who come out to visit their neighbors, children playing, dogs being walked, or just playing with each other, and restaurants bring out chairs and tables and serve their food along the sides of the square.  It is a fun place to people watch.



tapas

In Spain, you do not eat dinner until around 10 p.m.  If you are hungry earlier you grab a table at a tapas bar, or under the stars at Plaza Mayor, and you order tapas.  Tapas are small bites of food, both cold and hot.  You might decide on some marinated cheese and some olives, or Tortilla de patatas (Spanish omelette) or tortilla española - a type of omelet containing fried chunks of potatoes and sometimes onion.  Tapas bars quite often have several seafood dishes to choose from, and tapas are quite often heavy with garlic and olive oil.  Usually you will have a glass of beer or wine with the tapa.  I loved going out for tapas, and sometimes filled up on them, and skipped dinner.

Madrid is a city for walking. The areas that you will want to see are all within walking distance.  There is public transportation if you want to go across town, but for the average tourist you will find most things within a short walk from your hotel.  Do be careful of pickpockets though, the city is full of them, so keep things in front pockets and purses in front of you.


Plaza de Espana

The main street in the city is the Gran Via.  The lively street is one of the city's most important shopping areas. It also contains a large number of hotels and large movie theaters. But what makes this street so special is the architectural design of many of the large buildings. While walking through this crowded street, make sure you look up once in a while and admire the often lavishly decorated buildings. 

At the western end of the Gran Via is the Plaza de Espana.  It is a large square and a popular tourist destination.  It features a monument to Cervantes, and is bordered by two of Madrid's most prominent skyscrapers. The Cervantes monument was built between 1925 and 1930. It was finished between 1956 and 1957.  The tower portion of the monument includes a stone sculpture of Cervantes, which overlooks bronze sculptures of Don Quixote and Sancho Panza. Next to the tower, there are two stone representations of Don Quixote's "true love", one as the simple peasant woman Aldonza Lorenzo, and one as the beautiful, imaginary Dulcinea.

Prado Museum

If you have an afternoon and are into art, then Madrid has one of the best art museums in the world.  The Museo del Prado features one of the world’s finest collections of European art, from the 12th century to the early 19th century, based on the former Spanish Royal Collection, and unquestionably the best single collection of Spanish art. Founded as a museum of paintings and sculpture, it also contains important collections of other types of works. A new, recently opened wing enlarged the display area by about 400 paintings, and it is currently used mainly for temporary expositions. El Prado is one of the most visited sites in the world.



The Plaza de Oriente is a charming square with the Royal Palace to the west side and the opera house to the east. There you will find statues of kings, manicured garden and stone benches.



Retiro Park in Madrid

Madrid's main park, El Parque de Retiro, is not far from the city's main tourist attractions such as the Prado Museum, and is a popular and magnificent place for a stroll. Home to several sculptures, monuments, and a boating lake, it also presents an annual book fair, and there are free concerts throughout the summer. Many local families spend their Sunday afternoons here, renting a horse-drawn carriage or paddling a rowboat in the pond. But it wasn't always this democratic, as in the 17th century only the royal family was allowed to use it privately, hosting pageants, bullfights, and mock naval battles. Only a century later did it open to the public, but even then visitors had to be formally dressed to enter.

Botin Restaurante
Oldest Restaurant in the World

If you are looking for a good place to have dinner, Madrid has the oldest restaurant in the world. Anywhere billed as the world’s oldest restaurant is going to have the tourists beating a path to its crumbly portals, but El Sobrino de Botín is as famous for its roasts as for its longevity (300 years old and counting). That old Spanish favourite, cochinillo – suckling pig – is it’s most famous dish.  We had that when we visited the restaurant, and it was quite good.  I enjoyed our meal and the atmosphere of the place.


And if you are looking for a place to go out in the evening and enjoy some Flamenco dancing, which Spain is famous for, then consider the Taberna Flamenca El Cortijo.  This famous tavern is famous for its Flamenco dancing and you can have dinner there as well. If you are in the mood for colourful dresses, foot tapping rhythm and raw passion expressed through dance, this small venue offers a lively atmosphere, giving the experience an authentic feel.

Alcazar in Toledo, Spain

Less than an hour from Madrid is the city of Toldeo.  You should definitely plan to spend a few days visiting this city as well, before you move onto the rest of Spain.  Where Madrid is younger and more modern, Toledo is an old walled city, with many sights to see.  You can get to Toledo from Madrid by train in less than 30 minutes and less than 10 euros.  You can do just a day trip, and be back in Madrid that evening, but if you can, spend a night or two, it is a fun city to explore.

We actually visited Toledo at the end of our trip.  We rented a car from Madrid and drove south and spent 2 weeks exploring Southern Spain.  We then drove back north, spending a few nights in Toledo before heading for the airport in Madrid and our trip home.  I think Toledo was one of the highlights of our trip, and I was glad I had allotted a few days just for that city.

Toledo is also a city to see by foot.  If you have a car you might as well just park it at the hotel, because trying to find another parking spot will be difficult.  And there is a lot to explore while on foot.  But, unlike Madrid which is fairly flat, Toledo is built on hills, so there will be a lot of up and down the hills while walking.

 

At the highest point in the city, looms the foreboding Alcázar.  The Alcazar is a stone fortification which was once used as a Roman palace in the 3rd century, it is now the site of the Army offices and a Army museum.  You will see it towering over the city.

 

Walking around in Toledo

Plaza de Zocodover is a lively square flanked by cafes that are prime places for people-watching.
It was here that for centuries the people of Toledo enjoyed their bullfights or, morbidly, gathered to witness public burnings at the stake carried out by the Inquisition.  Today it is just a place for people to gather.

The magnificent synagogue, Sinagoga del Transito, was built in 1355 by special permission of Pedro I (construction of synagogues was prohibited in Christian Spain). Toledo's former judería (Jewish quarter) was once home to 11 synagogues. The bulk of Toledo's Jews were tragically expelled in 1492. From 1492 until 1877, it was variously used as a priory, hermitage and military barracks. The synagogue now houses the Museo Sefardi, open the same hours as the synagogue. The vast main prayer hall has been expertly restored and the Mudéjar decoration and intricately carved wooden ceiling are striking.

Map

But the main thing to enjoy about Toledo is just walking around the city and exploring all the nooks and crannies.  It is an old historic walled city, with wonderful little shops and lots of great restaurants, tapa bars and places to sit outside and people-watch.

River and bridge near entrance to Toledo

**pictures taken from the internet

There is currently a problem with blogspot and importing pictures, so I cannot use my own pictures until the problem is fixed.