Madrid: First Impressions / Day 1 (Arrival)

Even though this was the first time in 13 years that I had been back to Madrid, compared to Lyon, I found it extremely clean: clean streets, relatively little graffiti (tolerable level), and well-maintained gardens. I noticed that the Spanish parks and gardens I visited were well taken care of: perhaps pure coincidence, but nevertheless a welcome introduction to the Madrid landscape.

Just the night before coming to Madrid, I had been up late to a concert for Arcade Fire, a Montreal-based rock band that had played in the Roman ampitheatre up on the hills of Fourviere. The concert finished at about 00h30 and by the time I was back in my place and packed up for the next day, it was already 3am. Nevertheless, I slept as much as I could and got myself to the airport in time for takeoff.

The first day (as is always the case when you arrive in a new city) I just walked around the area near the hotel. There was Metro Sol, the so-called Ground Zero of Madrid, from which all the highways count their distances. There was also the Royal Palace of Madrid, which one can only view from the outside. And there was also a modern cathedral adjacent to it which one could visit and marvel at the modern graphics on the ceiling and a magnificent (though almost sacreligiously elegant) altar to the Virign Mary.

The cathedral, incidentally, was built only 14 years ago, and in fact, if you look at older photos of Madrid you find an empty lot adjacent to the Royal Palace.

From the cliff on which these two structures are built you have an incredible view of the sunset and the city below ...

Near Sol were numerous tapas shops selling tapas for 1,20 EUR a piece (tapas meaning small finger foods, single servings), as well as an incredible chain restaurant called Museo del Jamon (Museum of Ham), which specializes in all grades and price levels of Spanish ham and cured meats. Dad would just love this place ...

The page below is in Spanish, but you should be able to figure out the type of place it is from the Carta (menu) ...

http://www.museodeljamon.es/mj.html




Final photo is a night view of Madrid buildings near Sol. Beautiful and bustling even at 11pm at night ... Shops do close at 10 pm, after all.