Madrid - The Royal Capital (Part 1)

We had finally come to Madrid, the capital and largest city in Spain, and the third largest in the European Union after London and Berlin. It has a population in the city of around 3.5 million and 6.5 million in the metropolitan area. It is also the seat of the Spanish government and the residence of the Spanish monarch, who at the time was Juan Carlos I. Funnily enough however the day after we left Madrid he abdicated and his son Felipe VI took over as King of Spain.

City Hall by night

Arriving in Madrid we were met by a good family friend of mine who lives in the suburbs of Madrid. He very kindly gave us a lift from the bus station to where we were staying in a really nice central part of the city, next to the main park, El Retiro. The apartment we were staying in was being rented by a couple of Chilean guys we met in Sevilla, where they had very kindly invited us to stay with them when we visited Madrid. It was a nice apartment and we felt very comfortable there straight away.

We were staying in Madrid for 8 nights, so it gave us plenty of time to look around the city, but also to do day trips to places around the city, as there are some beautiful towns and cities around Madrid. We ended up going to two different places. The first of these was Toledo, about 70km south of Madrid. To get there Mariano my family friend was kind enough to take us there by car with his partner Cristina who also knows my family and show us around the city.

Us with Mariano on the left

Toledo is known as the Imperial City as it was used as the main court for Charles I. It is also very popular with tourists, so it was quite crowded, which was a down side to Toledo, but it is a lovely medieval city, with loads of beautiful buildings and views, as Toledo is situated on top of a hill. We were also told Toledo is very famous for its armour and swords, as well as ceramics. Evidence of this was on display wherever we went, with lots of shops selling armour and swords. Unfortunately we couldn't really carry around a sword with us whilst traveling!

Carmen with a suit of armour in Toledo

The city has lots of churches, this is partly due to being a city in the past of three different cultures with religious buildings from Christians, Muslims and Jews. The main highlight of these was the cathedral. However there are many more beautiful sites in Toledo like the city walls and the gates to the city, but also including the Alcazar and the covered escalator (apparently the London eye of Toledo). Additionally whilst in Toledo there were lots of exhibits going on containing works by El Greco who lived in Toledo whilst he created many of his mature works. It turned out to be a lovely day and it was sad to say goodbye to them both at the end of the day.

The Alcazar of Toledo

El Escorial was our other day trip, this time going 45km northwest of Madrid by train. San Lorenzo de El Escorial is a Royal Site and functions as a monastery, royal palace, museum and school. It was built on the orders of Philip II of Spain, designed by him and a leading architect from Italy. When arriving and seeing the Royal Monastery, the first thing that hits you is the sheer size of the place, it is huge. Upon entering you further discover that it is even bigger than you first thought as you begin your journey beneath the monastery, looking at its history and how it was constructed and the tools that were used to construct it. It would especially be of interest to an architect due to the numerous technical drawings of the building.

El Escorial Royal Monastery from afar

You then move on to see the ground floor and you become awed by the size of the main corridors, which tower over your head with beautiful paintings on the walls and ceilings. You could imagine the monks who previously inhabited the place walking through these vast corridors in solemn silence, contemplating the religious art. You then move on to the Pantheon of the Kings, where you can see 26 tombs containing the remains of previous Kings and Queens and their children.

Inside the Pantheon of the Kings

The most amazing part of the whole Royal Monastery for us was the Hall of Battles. A huge room on the top floor of the palace section of the Monastery where on the walls are depicted famous military victories from Spanish history, including some of Philip's against the French, in floor to ceiling paintings along the length of the whole room (although more like a corridor). The detail and the sheer size of the pieces of artwork was amazing, especially the way they joined pieces together, so well done that you could not tell where one painting ended and the next begun. Last but not least you visit the library of El Escorial. The library is very grand and royally decorated, however it does have a used feeling to the room, as though Philip came to the room often and used to study (which he actually did). This ended our tour of El Escorial, but not before getting a nice shot of the Monstery before we left (below).

The view from the exit of the Royal Monastery

Back in Madrid there were many sites to see just by walking around and admiring the city, but one of the main draws for tourists to the capital is the Golden Triangle of Art, which includes; Prado Museum, Reina Sofia Museum of modern art and Thyssen-Bornemisza museum. We visited each of these museums during the week we were there, each time for free and saw works by some very famous artists, including Rembrandt, El Greco, Picasso, Dali, Rafael, Van Gogh, Goya and Rubens. I'm sure there were many more, but these were some of the main ones I recognised. My favourite paintings there included some works by Rafael and the Black Paintings by Goya. Unfortunately I am not a great art coniseur so although I recognised that they were great paintings, I was not able to appreciate them properly, and did not spend excessive time at any of the Art museums as for me and Carmen it started to get a bit repetitive. (Oh and here's another painting!)

Outside Prado Museum

This concludes part 1, but stay tuned for part 2!