A whirlwind tour of Madrid

So I had one day to revisit some familiar spots. I started with the Puerta del Sol, regarded as the centre of Madrid and also Spain. This is an approach road.

The iconic Tio Pepe (Uncle Pepe) sign on the north side. It's a brand of dry sherry.

This is the Real Casa de Correos. It's the office of the president of the Community of Madrid, the one that encloses Madrid.

And this is the reason I was there, to pose my feet for a picture on the Km 0 marker, the point from which the distance to all of Spain is measured.

This the equestrian statue of Carlos III of Spain. Apparently he was the most able of Spanish monarchs.

Just off the plaza is the Museo del Jamón. It's not actually a museum but a tapas restaurant that heavily features jamón, Spanish dry-cured ham. Naturally the shop is a tourist drawcard.

As you can see from the hordes waiting outside. No I didn't join them.

Just a few minutes walk down Calle Mayor is Plaza Mayor (Main Square).

A bit further west, Mercado de San Miguel, which isn't a traditional produce market any more, but a venue full of stalls serving tapas and other gourmet foods. Last time I passed through, I had a jamón bocadillo and a slice of truffle cake.

Drinks and tapas.

Croquettes. And in the back row, albondigas (meat balls).

Teeming with people.

Oysters, and fried fish further down on the right.

Yum, baked goods.

One last look at the side of the market. I was in and out of there inside of 10 minutes; I didn't feel like mingling with the crowd for too long.

About 15 minutes walk north found me at Cines Callao just off Gran Vía, a major east-west artery.

Another building on Plaza del Callao, advertising a jazz festival.

Another view with a metro station entrance. The Madrid metro system is very extensive and can whisk you large distances which would require a long walk.

A view down Gran Vía, full of traffic, with gleaming buildings of many styles.

About 15 minutes walk found me opposite the Palacio de Cibeles, which is the Ayuntamiento (Town Hall) of Madrid.

You can see that I had planned my walking path using knowledge from previous visits.

I got my lunch at Mercado San Antón in the Chueca neighbourhood.

There are the usual produce stores.

But on the top floor there are stalls serving meal from many cuisines.

I liked this mural. The bear is the mascot of Madrid.

It was a long way to walk back to my hotel so I went to the nearest metro station, Gran Vía.

Waiting on the platform.

I rested until the evening.

For the evening I decided to visit Parque del Buen Retiro. It's a large green space in the middle of Madrid.

I like the Spanish custom of taking a paseo (walk) in the evening.

In the middle of the park is the Estanque Grande with waterfowl naturally.

But this duck on the edge of the lake wasn't perturbed by the cat nearby. I guess they were practising convivència.

This is the Fuente de la Alachofa (page in Spanish) which translates as Fountain of the Artichoke. Interesting.

Further south is the Fuente del Ángel Caído (Fountain of the Fallen Angel), depicting the expulsion of Satan from heaven. It's claimed to be the only major sculpture depicting the devil.

I liked the look of these Italian stone pines with their foliage bathed in sunset light.

I exited the park near Atocha metro station and returned to Tetuán for dinner and to call it a day.

There are a few more pictures such as of Chamartin station where I boarded the train for the airport the next day, and from the few days I spent in Penang indulging in retail therapy, but this is a good place to conclude the blog of my time in France and Northern Spain. I hope you enjoyed the journey as much as I did.

 

 

Interlude: Gijón to Madrid by AVE

No pictures for today. I took the fast AVE train from Gijón to Madrid, which was supposed to take about 4 hours, and get me to my hotel in Tetuán by late afternoon. I had even preordered a lunch sandwich to be consumed at my seat.

As it turned out the service was slightly delayed due to trespass on an area surrounding the track, according to the announcement. Other passengers who had onward connections south suffered more. I hate trespassers. I probably could have made a flight in the mid-afternoon the next day, but I wanted a bit of safety margin and to reacquaint myself with Madrid since my last transit in 2009.

I wanted to fill a gap in my travels around Spain. In 1993 I only visited Santander and San Sebastian. I didn't see most of the marvelous coast in between and beyond. And while I'm at it why not see south-western France, also a neglected region in my travels.

There was another reason: I was scouting out the Camino del Norte with the notion of walking it in 2027. While the scenery is more spectacular and the path is cooler than the Camino Frances, it is more difficult because of the many changes in elevation and longer distances between stops. I witnessed the elevation changes firsthand; you can also see it many of the photos. So my revised thinking is to walk the section of the Camino Frances from Logroño to Burgos to get a taste of that, apparently the foliage is beautiful in autumn, and then teleport to the Ferrol to do the last 100 km to Santiago de Compostela to qualify for a compostela. A little known fact is that you can walk 25 km in a Camino related walk in UK or Ireland before crossing to A Coruña to walk the last 75 km of the Camino Ingles. Now you see the origin of the name. Or maybe omit the second part as I've already obtained a compostela. Oh well, we shall see.

Despite being disabused of the idea of walking the Camino del Norte, I got to see the beautiful coastline of Basque Country, Cantabria and Asturias, and the grand mountains of Picos de Europa. So that aspect was very satisfactory.

To Mirador Paseo Litoral

For my last evening in Gijón I explored the eastern half of Playa de San Lorenzo, up to the Mirador Paseo Litoral where I could look back on the beach and the city. I started about halfway along the Playa. There were volleyball players enjoying an evening game.

These panoramas were taken near Escalera 15 (Ramp 15) near where beach ends and Rio Piles enters the ocean.

The promenade continues up the coast.

Looking back at the city. Here the beach gets rocky. There is a gap between this and the previous photo. I might have sat down on a bench to enjoy the ambience.

I liked the dramatic light on the tide.

And the colour from the setting sun.

Another 10 minutes walk brought me to this statue Monumento a la Madre del Emigrante (Monument to the Emigrant's Mother). The name says it all. You can imagine a mother's sorrow watching her children sail away to a foreign land, in the hope of a better life. Representatives from Cuba and Argentina, countries that had received much immigration from Spain were consulted, and the statue was inaugurated in 1970.

It was now late enough to capture the sunset photos I wanted.

A lot of other spectators for the golden hour.

The marble blocks and plates are part of Mirador Paseo Litoral.

Perhaps the people were waiting for the sunset to get better before looking up from their phones. 🤷

The area around the Mirador.

Coming soon.

Deliberately underexposed for effect.

The Mirador, also underexposed.

The phone camera depicts a less dramatic scene, one our eyes would see. The spot isn't as isolated as it looks, there are runners, cyclists and dog walkers on the path.

Retracing my steps past the now lit lamps.

The beach in twilight.

Another panorama.

I couldn't leave Asturias without having some of the fabulous seafood so I found a restaurant where I ordered scallops. On the left are some pinchos (starters).

And that was my last evening in the north of Spain.