Madrid Day 1

Travelled: 0km but walked 20,000 steps
Visited: Madrid
Stay: Valdebernardo free parking -as per last night

We spent a lovely day in Madrid. After a peaceful nights sleep we walked a short distance to the metro at Valdebernardo station on line 9. The automatic ticket machines are very easy to use as you put in your destination - SOL being the centre of Madrid and it tells you what you need to pay - €2 each one way . Even on a Sunday the trains run regularly every 5 mins. We had to change to #2 line and we were in the city within 30 min.  Too easy.  The Puerta del Sol is one of the city's most popular meeting places and is quite busy. We took a photo of the bronze statue of the symbol of Madrid- a bear reaching for fruit. 

In Spain nothing really starts happening until 10am but there are always cafés open, so we had some breakfast at a Jamon museum.

Our next destination was the Plaza Mayor, a splendid rectangular square that has experienced bullfights, executions, pageants and trials by the Inquisition.

 

After a visit at the tourist office and with map in hand we made our way to the famous and very popular Sunday street market. 

On our way to the Cathedral we visited the oldest restaurant in the world! The Botin was founded 1725 and we were able to take a look inside.  It is famous for its roasted suckling pig cooked in a wood fired oven that is never put out. 

After having looked around we chatted with an Australian couple. We were then on our way again and we walked through the popular Mercado De San Miguel and then  the Plaza De la Villa. 

By the time we got to the Almudena cathedral the Sunday mass was coming to an end. As we waited we admired the very modern and colourful interior. 

By this time the stomach was beginning to rumble but before we left this part of town on our quest to find a traditional bar to eat,  we walked up to see the Egyptian temple of Debod given to the Spanish as a tribute for their help in building a dam.  

From here we walked through the Plaza D' Espana and took a photo of a man on his horse and one on a donkey. We later found out that they are fictional characters created by the author Cervantes.  

We continued along the Gran Via, Madrid's theatre district. 

Not having encountered any suitable establishments of which we were happy to partake in our mid afternoon meal, we trekked back through Sol and into the area the tourist office circled on the map as the restaurant district. Now we had too many choices! In the end we decided on one and enjoyed some calamari and pimentos padron washed down with dos cervecas. .. 

Feeling very fortified we felt ready to tackle the Padro Museum (free entry in the last 2 hours of every day).  Many museums offer free entry at some time. So off we went. On our way there we walked through Plaza De Cibeles which is named after the fountain in the middle and the Ritz Spain's most extravagant hotel. 

We were also distracted for an hour in the Naval Museum. Which offered 24 rooms depicting Spain's maritime history and ship building methods.

The biggest wooden ship ever constructed.

Beautiful marble staircase.

 Finally we arrived at the Prado Museum and was not sure how long it would take to cue up. But 20 min later we were staring at the Goya collection (a Spanish painter).  

We explored the many other collections by wonderful artists including Rubens.  

I even got a couple of photos in before  Mark got told off when he turned his gopro on....oops we hadn't seen the No Photos sign. Anyway it was now 6:45pm and the feet were feeling weary and we still had to get back to Bluey. There is always that element of hoping he would still be there and in one piece. Of which he was and we were surrounded by some more campers ...safety in numbers. Hopefully a good sleep tonight to tackle another day tomorrow.