Semana Santa Part 1: Madrid

Semana Santa (aka Holy Week) was my first spring break this semester. It was a whirlwind. And a great time! I will be breaking it down into three parts, one part per city I visited. 

On Friday morning, I took the AVE high-speed train from Seville to Madrid. It took about 2.5 hours and I dozed most of the time. I love taking trains. Out the window I saw lots of flat, open fields with church bell towers poking up here and there and even an old castle perched on a hill. I arrived in Madrid at about 11am. With my flight at midnight, I had the whole day to explore the city. With Rick Steves in hand, and my giant backpack strapped on tight, I set out toward la Puerta del Sol.

I had read an article about this guy in a magazine on the plane from London. Very cool.

The weather was gorgeous and the city was clean and lively. From this plaza I strolled through town to la Plaza Mayor. It was a big open courtyard with a bunch of people trying to sell you things or people in costume to take pictures with. I didn't think it looked all that special, but I did find a Steves-recommended place for lunch to come back to.

More walking... through a market, through some plazas, past a giant cathedral, past the royal palace, and then to lunch. I had Madrid's famous bocadillo de calamares (fried squid sandwich).

Catedral de la Almudena

Catedral de la Almudena

Royal Palace

The bocadillo was excellent, the cerveza not so much.

 After lunch, I decided to spend a little time relaxing in Retiro Park before going to the Prado Museum. My backpack was feeling very heavy and I wanted to lay down.

I didn't take any photos at the Prado, but I really loved the museum. It wasn't so big that it was unmanageable and it had some really great famous paintings in it including Saturn, Las Meninas, La Maja Desnuda, The Third of May, The Triumph of Bacchus, as well as some Picassos.

After the museum, I still had some time before I had to get to the airport, so I went to a little cafe for a coffee. The waiter was so nice and brought me a free slice of tart! It was delicious and the cherry on top of the perfect day in Madrid. It was there in Spain's capital that I decided I would definitely live long-term in Spain if I was given the chance.