And we’re on to day two in Madrid: gonna get some religion and culture! Started with some minor technical difficulties getting the safe to open and relock that caused a delayed start while the tech guy fixed things. Then on to breakfast at a cervezeria (read: bar) where we found a waitress that translated “sin pan o harina o trigo” to “no gluten?” which made us very happy. I ended up with fried eggs, ham and chips (you’d think we were in Scotland they way they serve chips at every meal!); Gilly had toast and jam (and my baguette which apparently it didn’t register for them to omit!) and Frank and Duncan wound up with ham and cheese toasties. And cafe con leche – really good coffee! The Spanish must love their coffee sweet because the size of the sugar packet that comes with every cup of coffee makes my teeth hurt if I just use half of it!
Then to the Cathedral for our religion lesson for the day. We didn’t read up on it before visiting unfortunately and so much of the history was lost on us but it is very modern and the stained glass was beautiful. The lady chapel was multistory! But the modernity of the cathedral ruined one small point: the candles that you can light at various chapels to say a prayer for a loved one were electric rather than real flame! It just isn’t the same to put your one euro coin in and watch a light bulb flicker. I know my mom will understand why I didn’t “light a candle” for her today.
More impressive than the cathedral itself was the neo-roman crypt underneath the church – unbelievable! Like Westminster Abbey, people are being buried under the floor and in crypts all over the building (which is pretty much the same size as the church above!) but the dates are 1995 or 2009 rather than the 16th and 17th centuries. (Again, pictures will be posted when the wifi likes us more!) The church and crypt are celebrating the centenary of their dedication and on the wall was posted a list of the rules for plenary indulgences – anybody see Dogma?
Then to get some real historical perspective, we visited an Egyptian temple from 2 BC which is not far from the cathedral and royal palace! Unbelievable! There were rooms dedicated to Osiris and another god and visible hieroglyphs on the walls. Unfortunately, it was constructed there in 1969 rather than existing there for 2000 years but it was still pretty cool.
Then to the culture part: a visit to the Prado! It’s the Louvre for Spanish artists and is pretty impressive. We must have some really good karma because we had no lines to get in today just like we had no lines to get in to the royal palace yesterday – and today the line for the palace was 50 people deep! In addition, the woman selling tickets to the Prado decided that Duncan wasn’t 18 yet so both of the kids got in for free. He’s quite pleased that the waiters at the restaurants who have been serving him sangria don’t have the same problem!
We spent a couple of hours looking at the masterspieces that were recommended – unfortunately none of the artists are real favorites of mine – before grabbing another lovely lunch at a cafe across from the Bank of Spain (yes, I am that geeky!) Gillian went to take a nap while Frank and Duncan and I wandered around Madrid some more. I bought some adorable sandals – the women of Madrid really know how to do footwear! Even if they aren’t dressed to the nines, they always have the cutests – or most interesting – shoes! So now I can join in (my Tevas aren’t *really* styling!)
Gillian joined us for one last shopping expedition: espadrilles! Apparently, you can’t visit Spain without getting a pair and they look just like the Toms shoes that Gillian has been begging for at $50 a pop. Tonight we got a pair of locally made ones for 10 euros! Duncan even got a pair to kick around in while where here – he opted for the budget pair at 5 euro. We walked past the store that is written up in Frommers and therefore has a long line of tourists and went to another store nearby where we were the only ones speaking English.
Well Gillian and I were speaking English – Duncan has been doing a phenomenal job as our translator! He doesn’t always remember the word he needs when he’s speaking but he understands nearly everything that’s being said and has done a great job of making sure that we get extra towels, the in-room safe fixed, and something I can eat without getting sick. Go Señor Duncan!
We did a lot more walking (why didn’t I bring the pedometer!) before settling down for tapas and a few pitchers of sangria. Duncan seems to be really enjoying his adult status and tonight the waiter offered Gillian a glass but she isn’t very keen. Now to prepare to leave Madrid and continue our road trip!
Three things we noticed today:
- MC Hammer pants are alive and well in Madrid! It’s actually a little frightening but they have passed red skinny jeans for the strangest fashion trend noticed this week.
- Madrid is a phenomenally clean city. Everytime we turn around, someone is sweeping the streets and there doesn’t seem to be that lingering odor of urine in every alley.
- There are no flying bugs. No mosquitoes, no gnats, no midgies, nothing. I thought I saw a fly at dinner tonight but I might have been wrong.
P.S. For those who have been paying attention over the years, the nuns are back. We saw one yesterday but I didn’t pay much attention since it is a very Catholic city. But we saw 6 today at various times (and one monk which still puzzles me!) so the holy crusade is apparently still on!
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