One night, when it was cold and dark and I was bored I must have decided to look on the Easyjet website and book lots of weekends away - not for when it was cold and dark in England, but just as autumn was beginning to descend on England, when any hope of a good summer had gone, and the leaves begin to turn golden brown. That explains our spate of weekends away and how we ended up in Madrid on a Friday night, enjoying the 30 degree warmth and the sights of another new city.
I've always thought that cities are made for people, but the success of a city is not in how many people live there but how many people enjoy living in it and visiting it. Madrid certainly gave the impression that visitors enjoyed the scenery, warm weather, buildings and cafe culture while the locals also seemed to enjoy the same thing (we didn't travel on the undergrounds so didn't see a lot of Madrid's suburban life - so conclusions are drawn from a somewhat limited sample of young couples pushing children in buggies, older children playing in the parks, other people drinking coffees and beers in the cafes). We arrived late in the evening at our central hotel - right on a corner of a busy intersection, where people came together to talk, shout and sing, cafes were open late into the evening, sirens were heard off and on and buses and trucks came to a halt at the traffic lights - all day and all night. If you can't beat them join we decided after one sleepless night, and so the next evening ventured into the centre of this vibrant and bustling city that just doesn't appear to sleep. I read that the authorities (whoever they may be) have tried to make the city 'go to sleep' but somehow most people haven't caught on - and we can see why - in 30 degrees, that siesta in the heat of the afternoon is just right - and hey it means you don't need to sleep as much at night. So we were up at midnight touring on the last bus around the well lit old city and then vying for a seat in a busy cafe to eat and drink.
The city, unlike other European cities, doesn't seem to close down during siesta time leaving tourists with plenty to do all the time - and some very tired people - who needs a siesta when you are in Madrid for the first time. We had forgotten how draining the heat was, and so spent a lot of the time on the open deck bus or sitting in the shade drinking very cold drinks or licking an icecream - just perfect!!
The buildings, in the old part of the city are beautiful, and made a feature by night with lights strategically placed to highlight the statues, carvings and fountains.
I've always thought that cities are made for people, but the success of a city is not in how many people live there but how many people enjoy living in it and visiting it. Madrid certainly gave the impression that visitors enjoyed the scenery, warm weather, buildings and cafe culture while the locals also seemed to enjoy the same thing (we didn't travel on the undergrounds so didn't see a lot of Madrid's suburban life - so conclusions are drawn from a somewhat limited sample of young couples pushing children in buggies, older children playing in the parks, other people drinking coffees and beers in the cafes). We arrived late in the evening at our central hotel - right on a corner of a busy intersection, where people came together to talk, shout and sing, cafes were open late into the evening, sirens were heard off and on and buses and trucks came to a halt at the traffic lights - all day and all night. If you can't beat them join we decided after one sleepless night, and so the next evening ventured into the centre of this vibrant and bustling city that just doesn't appear to sleep. I read that the authorities (whoever they may be) have tried to make the city 'go to sleep' but somehow most people haven't caught on - and we can see why - in 30 degrees, that siesta in the heat of the afternoon is just right - and hey it means you don't need to sleep as much at night. So we were up at midnight touring on the last bus around the well lit old city and then vying for a seat in a busy cafe to eat and drink.
The city, unlike other European cities, doesn't seem to close down during siesta time leaving tourists with plenty to do all the time - and some very tired people - who needs a siesta when you are in Madrid for the first time. We had forgotten how draining the heat was, and so spent a lot of the time on the open deck bus or sitting in the shade drinking very cold drinks or licking an icecream - just perfect!!The buildings, in the old part of the city are beautiful, and made a feature by night with lights strategically placed to highlight the statues, carvings and fountains.
Palacio Real - the royal palace and the Cathedral. It was built by Italian architects for Philip V after the original palace was destroyed by fire. Rather large at 3000 rooms it is now only used for state functions - probably a bit too big for the smallish royal family's of today who need to economise. Sitting right beside the palace is the cathedral 'Catedral de la Almudena' - inspired by King Philip II in the mid 1560's - a place somewhere for the city to worship. The idea never quite took off until well after his death due to some political turbulence and inter-city rivalry (archdiocese in Toledo didn't like the idea). It opened finally 300 years later - quite a lovely church (though we could only look at a little bit of it because a service was on) but we did see had some amazing carved doors to welcome the visitor and some very Pacific Island looking ceilings.
Plaza Mayor - We had some tapas in the early evening at the Plaza Mayor - this means Main Square. Again, it was begun by Philip II and completed by the next Philip in 1619. It is rather a pleasant place to sit and while away the hours with lots of people coming and going, street artists, and the preacher who spends most of his time condemning bull fights (unfortunately still very much a popular activity in Spain today).
Palacio de Comunicaciones - By far my favourite, after driving past it on the bus we decided to take a walk to take some decent photos. It is a bit like a cathedral, but now sports huge signs to say that Madrid is the host of the 2016 Olympics. Being built in the early 1900's it has a somewhat different look to other buildings and was originally, and may still be, the post office headquarters. In the evening the moon came out behind the clouds which led to some great photos and a somewhat romantic atmosphere.
Torres de Colon - It is a rather modern 'twin towers' building - which for some reason we could never manage to get a picture of standing straight - it doesn't really have a lean on it like the Tower of Pisa.
Metropolis Building - The Metropolis Building was just around the corner from our hotel and designed by a couple of French men. It was built in the early 1900's and is an office for the insurance company. It has a huge statue that is meant to be the mythological Phoenix and Ganymede on top (30,000 leaves of 24 carat gold grace the outside of the statue). 
On one of the bus tours we came across a Londoner spending a day in Madrid who recommended a visit to the football stadium - the home of Real Madrid. I have been heard to say (but not very loudly) I prefer watching a game of soccer to rugby - so I dragged an unwillingly All Black supporter along to the stadium for a tour - and very glad I did to. The club, with all its sporting achievements was the vision of Santiago Bernabéu Yeste, born in 1895 and who dedicated most of his life (83 years) to the well being of sport in Madrid. He has been given credit for transforming the club into the most successful club in the country and Europe. When he was a teenager he helped to lay the pitch and paint the fences for the new club, joined the club's first team, became captain and kicked over 200 goals. After retiring, he became director of the club and then manager of the team. When the Spanish Civil war broke out professional football wasn't played for a while, I guess the players were required elsewhere but as soon as the war ended it was football's turn again. Bernabéu was elected President of Real Madrid and he went about restructuring the club and extending the sports to lots of other sports - a bit like a sports academy of today. It now has 2 sports that do well in the international arena - football and basketball but used to include tennis and others which I can't remember.
Plaza Mayor - We had some tapas in the early evening at the Plaza Mayor - this means Main Square. Again, it was begun by Philip II and completed by the next Philip in 1619. It is rather a pleasant place to sit and while away the hours with lots of people coming and going, street artists, and the preacher who spends most of his time condemning bull fights (unfortunately still very much a popular activity in Spain today).
Palacio de Comunicaciones - By far my favourite, after driving past it on the bus we decided to take a walk to take some decent photos. It is a bit like a cathedral, but now sports huge signs to say that Madrid is the host of the 2016 Olympics. Being built in the early 1900's it has a somewhat different look to other buildings and was originally, and may still be, the post office headquarters. In the evening the moon came out behind the clouds which led to some great photos and a somewhat romantic atmosphere.
Torres de Colon - It is a rather modern 'twin towers' building - which for some reason we could never manage to get a picture of standing straight - it doesn't really have a lean on it like the Tower of Pisa.
Metropolis Building - The Metropolis Building was just around the corner from our hotel and designed by a couple of French men. It was built in the early 1900's and is an office for the insurance company. It has a huge statue that is meant to be the mythological Phoenix and Ganymede on top (30,000 leaves of 24 carat gold grace the outside of the statue). 
Temple Debod -We were surprised to see a touch of Egypt in Madrid - the Temple Debod - one of those that would have been flooded when the Aswan dam was built. It began its life in the 2nd century BC and was originally a one roomed chapel dedicated to the god Amun. It is pretty small compared to some of the ones we saw in Egypt and inside was a 3D map of all the temples and how they stood prior to the dam flooding the area in 1960. About the time of the dam construction UNESCO asked for international assistance to save the old temples and as Spain had helped to save Abu Simbel (been there on a long early morning flight) donated Temple Debod to Spain as a thank you for this help - it is on a lovely spacious area overlooking the valley and surrounded by trees and gardens - it looks happy in its new home.
There were lots of other buildings around that probably deserve a mention, but aren't going to get one. And some great tile work, which adorned old pubs and cafes and street names. A lot of the tiles featured gardens and fountains which really are a key part of the city. Every roundabout has a fountain (with goddesses, dolphins, horses or something that wasn't anything). We saved the gardens for the warm part of the day and enjoyed sitting in the rather large park with lots of other people watching the world go by and people rowing boats on the man made lake. We also went to the botanical gardens which weren't very big - over here they don't tend to be public gardens but areas of scientific and natural interest. We found some New Zealand tree ferns and a red squirrel and then went off to find another cold drink.
Anyway to finish off our rather quick, warm trip to Spain:
Hint for travellers:
Hint for travellers:
- Don't catch a taxi - anywhere!! They travel fast, way above the speed limit, honk their horn continuously at other drivers, and text and write notes on paper throughout the journey. Someone described them as a 'menace to anyone driving in the city', but apparently, they are not involved in many accidents (probably just cause them and then drive away is my take on that one).
- Food can be very expensive - especially a drink in a glass at a table seems to be about 400% more than if you'd bought it in a cardboard cup to take away.
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