The final part of our Iberian adventure took us in the early hours of the morning from Porto to Madrid.
Our apartment was in the busy Tirso de Molina plaza - here is the view from our balcony. We had bus stops and a metro station in the square, so travelling around was no problem. We invested in a 5 day Tourist travel ticket which gave us unlimited travel on bus, metro and suburban trains.
Some of the sights were also within walking distance. This is the Palacio Real (Royal Palace). It claims to have more rooms than any other European palace. The Hapsburgs' original palace on this site was burned down on Christmas Day 1734. The current building was built in the mid-18th century and was the principal royal residence until Alfonso XIII went into exile in 1931. It is now used for state occasions only.
Almudena Cathedral : Santa María la Real de La
Almudena is Madrid’s Catholic cathedral.
When the capital of Spain was transferred from
Toledo to Madrid in 1561, the seat of the Church in Spain remained in Toledo
and the new capital had no cathedral. Plans to build a cathedral in Madrid
dedicated to the Virgin of Almudena were discussed as early as the 16th century
but the cost of expanding and keeping the Empire came first and the
construction of Madrid's cathedral was postponed. The construction of Almudena
only began in 1879 and was finally finished in 1993
The Plaza Mayor (Main Square) was built during Philip
III's reign (1598–1621) and is a central plaza in the city. It has been the scene of many
events ranging from markets, bullfights, football games and public executions.
On our first full day in Madrid we visited the famous Botanical Gardens
The
Royal Botanical Garden of Madrid is an 8-hectare botanical garden located at
Murillo Square, in front of the Prado Museum
The
garden was originally founded on 1755, by King Ferdinand VI in the Orchard
of Migas Calientes, near what today is called Puerta de Hierro, on the banks of
the Manzanares River.
In
1774 King Charles III ordered the garden moved to its current location, with
design by architects Francesco Sabatini and Juan Villanueva that organized the
garden into three tiered terraces, arranging plants according to the method of
Linnaeus. Its mission was not only to exhibit plants, but also to teach botany,
promote expeditions for the discovery of new plant species and classify them. The new site opened in 1781.
On leaving the Botanical Gardens we caught the first bus that came along and we ended up at the Bernabeu Stadium - home of Real Madrid FC.
We went on the tour of the stadium - very impressive. Lots of trophies on display as well as history of the team - displayed through interactive screens.
The tour also included a walk through the changing rooms
The following day we visited the Casa de Campo - the largest park to the west of central Madrid. It was
formerly a royal hunting estate.
We watched some canoe polo on the lake in the park
On our 30th wedding anniversary we visited the famous Prado Museum - the main Spanish national art museum and features one
of the world's finest collections of European art, dating from the 12th century
to the early 19th century.
Works
by Francisco de Goya, Diego Velázquez, El Greco, Titian, Peter Paul Rubens and
Hieronymus Bosch are some of the highlights of the collection
From the Prado we visited the
Buen Retiro Park (Spanish: Parque del Buen Retiro, literally means "Park
of the Pleasant Retreat", or simply El Retiro). It belonged to the Spanish
Monarchy until the late 19th century, when it became a public park.
At
the beginning of the 20th century, the Monument to Alfonso XII of Spain was
erected next to the pond
At the north west end of Retiro Park we saw the Puerta de Alcala - one of the two remaining gates from the old city walls. When it was built in the late 18th century it was the biggest in Europe.
This is just a small selection of our photos of Madrid. For more photos click Madrid
A splendid adventure and a wonderful way to celebrate our wedding anniversary.
