This Time, It Was Madrid, Not Ma-dread

We trained up to Madrid, and Carol had the good suggestion to leave our bags at stored luggage (for a small fee) so we didn't have to go all the way out to the airport, and then back into the city.  So we took a cab to near the Royal Palace and popped into a restaurant for a late lunch, which means in Spain we were right on time to eat after 2pm.

As great lunches go, this wasn't one of them.  Carol and Maddy went off to get tickets for the Royal Palace, whilst I tackled the harried waiter to get the cheque.  (It was Good Friday, and the place was mobbed with people from Madrid, called Madridonians.  Or maybe Madridites.  Or maybe people from Madrid.  I have no idea what they are called).

The line for the palace was quite long, so whilst standing in line Carol and Maddy ordered the tickets on-line.  Instead of having to wait at least 30 minutes, we popped right in the door for those with tickets, and had to wait behind two or three other people to go through security.  What's stunning is, as in Seville with the Alcazar and the Cathedral, more people were not doing the "buy tickets online and skip the line" thing.  Smart phones don't mean smart people, I suppose.

I've been to Madrid twice before, in 2001 and in 2017 at the end of our trip.  I've found it the least interesting part of Spain that I've been to, and heck, it's my least favorite European city so far.  But this time, perhaps because it was Good Friday, it was much livelier and more interesting.

The palace is mind-blowingly overdone.  That was my memory from 2001, and I saw nothing to persuade me otherwise this time.  On one hand, it's pretty cool -- the craftsmanship, attention to detail, amazing design and decoration, and on the other hand it is nauseating -- gobs of money spent by inbred royals spent on themselves and to impress inbred royals of other countries.

After the palace, we went into the Almundena Cathedral, which is right next to the Palace.  The Cathedral was consecrated in 1993 by Pope John Paul II, and is very modern.  There was a service going on, so Maddy could not cover the whole cathedral.  It's very modern in a beautiful way (not a crappy way), and is certainly worth the drop-in.

We then headed toward Plaza Mayor, which is largely overrated, but still good enough to spend some time in.  First we walked through Mercado de San Miguel, a restaurant market right near the Plaza.  Maddy exclaimed how cool it was, which is good, because we ended up having dinner there.

We sat in cold, crowded Plaza Mayor and had an overpriced drink (Editor's Note: Adding "overpriced" is unneeded -- every drink there is overpriced.  Blogger's Note: Not every reader will know that.)  There was a really bad singer who sang at points, as well as other entertainment.  

The next stop was Plaza del Sol, which was wall to wall people.  Except for the water at the peak, you could not even see the famous fountain.  They had their fair share of costumed characters seeking a picture and a handout.  We found an El Corte Ingles, which had a cool rooftop bar, but alas no groceries.  Maddy realized there was a full service one right next door, so we bought some wine as gifts and a bottle for ourselves at the hotel.

We headed back the Mercado de San Miguel, which remained packed.  We split up -- I went to the wine bar and Carol/Maddy went tapas-hunting.  I scored three glasses of Rioja very quickly, primarily by flagging down one of the bartenders.

Carol and Maddy had a harder go of it, but eventually Carol got us four tapas each.  We stood at the crowded bar table and enjoyed our last real meal in Spain. . .for this trip.

The rest was anticlimatic -- Metro four stops back to the train station from Plaza del Sol, get our  luggage, and cab to the Marriott hotel.  And another Bolger family adventure came to an end!   I will say, Madrid was much more fun than the other times we had gone, although it could have been 10-20 degrees warmer!