Returning to a city that you’ve already visited has its advantages: you can revisit some favorite spots, explore some new ones that you missed before, and discover others that you didn’t even know existed. That was the case when our English friends Pete and Gaynor suggested meeting up in Spain, as we had done with them in previous years in Belgium, Switzerland, and the Channel Islands. They had already seen us in Carcassonne soon after we moved here, so we all liked the idea of meeting up elsewhere in Europe for another adventure. Madrid seemed to be the logical choice, since they could fly there non-stop and we could take a direct train from Narbonne.

In August, Bill and I were in Greece with my brother and sister-in-law and on our first day there we went on a food tour entitled, “10 Tastes of Athens” that gave us a great introduction to the city and some traditional foods. A similarly named excursion was available in Madrid so the four of us spent 3 hours of our first full day there nibbling tapas like croquetas, tortilla española, jamón ibérico and patatas bravas. We also had samples of wine and vermouth. As in Athens, we timed this over the lunch hour(s) so we had a complete, tasty meal made up of many small dishes.

Madrid has more than 40 museums, 50 monuments and statues, and at least that many historical sites. To narrow it down, we decided to focus on a few places that interested us the most and then planned our itinerary based on the location of each attraction, so that we could easily visit nearby sites. The Prado Museum, the Royal Botanical Garden, and Ritiro Park formed our first grouping. 

Fine art lovers will instantly recognize the names of the artists whose works we admired at the Prado: Rubens, Caraviggo, Velázquez, El Greco, De Goya, and Raphael are among the 7600 paintings lining the walls. Just down from the Prado on the same street is the Royal Botanical Garden created in 1781 to complement the nearby Museum of Natural History that, at the time, was housed in what has become the Prado. To complete our “green” theme, we finished off the day at Retiro Park, home to 15,000 trees including a 400-year-old Mexican conifer. 

Although not officially called a museum, in our eyes the Royal Palace was exactly that given that within its 3,418 rooms (!), only a few of which are open to the public, are paintings by some of the same masters we had seen previously at the Prado plus frescoes, statues, and other works of art reflecting the history of Spain. A highlight was the Stradivarius string quartet display: 2 violins, a viola and a cello (no photos allowed). Exiting the Palace, we went back further in time to the 2nd century BC to walk around the Temple of Debod. This was a gift from the Egyptian government in 1968 to save the monument from being destroyed during the construction of the Aswan Dam. Next stop was the enormous 17th century Plaza Mayor, big enough to hold bullfights, fiestas, and theatrical productions. Just off this square is Mercado de San Miguel, a covered fresh food market from 1916, that was the perfect spot to pick up something for dinner.

The modern art museum Reina Sofia contains at least 18,000 modern and contemporary art works but the one masterpiece that everyone comes here to see is Guernica by Pablo Picasso (today’s featured photo across the top of this post). It depicts the horrors of the bombing of the Spanish town Guernica during the Civil War in 1937 and is displayed in a room containing sketches and documents that help explain this complex painting.

Since the apartment we rented was just off the Puerta del Sol it was easy to explore this major square on our last day in the city. Although known mostly perhaps for its clock and bell and for being a transportation hub, I was fascinated by the point marking “Kilometer Zero”, the geographical center of the country from which national road distances are measured.  From there, a stroll up Gran Via, an iconic street of the capital lined with shops, theaters, and hotels, culminated at the 18th century Cibeles Fountain surrounded by grand buildings that immediately brought “wedding cake” to mind. This was a favorite spot on our previous visit to Madrid so this was a memorable way to say goodbye to the capital.

From one capital to another: next time we’ll visit the former capital of Spain, Tolédo.