Madrid
Mad traveled to Tenerife (Canary Islands) with her class, just after school ended. While she was away, the 3 of us traveled to Madrid by train. Ed and Henry had been to Sevilla the week before, but for me, it was my first time seeing any of Spain beyond Catalonia. It was honestly a little strange. Just before we went, the Spanish government finalized pardons of the Catalan political leaders who had been jailed since the 2017 independence referendum. Things seemed pretty quiet in Barcelona as the pardons were made official. In Madrid, on the other hand, there was at least one large rally protesting the planned pardons the week before we visited.
If I could choose just one word to describe Madrid, it would be monumental, from the Plaza Major...
...to the massive Royal Palace, strategically presiding over the western half of the city
...to the beautiful and vast Retiro park with its own Crystal Palace.
While the architecture didn't charm me the way Barcelona's combination of medieval and Catalan modernist heritage does, the food was excellent, and varied. We ate great Mexican and Peruvian food in addition to Spanish classics. Instead of churros and chocolate I had a wonderful chocolate ice cream milkshake a the famous San Gines.
The cathedral - also massive - has vaulted ceilings decorated with glorious vibrant colors.
The train trip between Barcelona is easy, fast and enjoyable. Madrid's main station is massive. The older wrought iron structure was built in the late nineteenth century. A huge addition, designed by Rafael Moneo and built in the 1990's, accomodates highs-speed trains. The older structure now houses an impressive tropical garden.
The scenery is beautiful and varied between Barcelona and Madrid, with verdant irrigated farmland, arid yellow plains and distant mountaains. The return trip to Barcelona offered the occasional peak at the sea.
