Day 5 - Madrid

One of Madrid's specialties is decadent hot chocolate and pastries known as "churros". This is thick creamy stuff is delicious for dipping or sipping. We skipped Los Gines the heavily advertised tourist site in favour of the local recommendation Los Riojano.



After breakfast we jumped on the excellent subway system. We visited the palace of a Carlist marquis where we saw his exquisite collection of Murano glass lamps, china, sculptures and paintings including Greco's Ecstacy of St. Francis. This was a short visit so we could down to the Reine Sofia, Madrid's museum of modern art.



The star there was of course Picasso's Guernica, a massive canvas that only came to Spain only in 1981 after Franco's death. It tells the story of the Nazi bombing of the civilian population of Guernica. It was actually painted in Paris and during WWII a German officer searching his apartment angrily asked "Did you do this?" Picasso replied "No you did!" Above is his Woman in Blue, an early Picasso that simply dazzles.

Overall we moved quickly through the very large collection. While there were many fine pieces especially from the Spanish school to stop for, much of it did not speak to us. Still we were three hours.

From there, we headed back to El Retiro Park, the site of Phillip II's palace but now a gorgeous park on the scale of NYC's Central Park. Madrid has a huge amount of space devoted to parks and squares and fountains. They are used heavily by all ages. The young in particular are present at all hours perhaps due to their 25% unemployment rate but always look like they're enjoying themselves.





Before dinner we stopped into a sherry bar called La Venencia. It was famous as a Republican haunt and Hemingway apparently wrote Civil War dispatches from there. The old and dusty bottles and casks that lined the walls seemed at least as old as the Civil War. We had fino sherry (Tio Pepe) the first night in Madrid and neither of us were impressed. However, La Venencia's Amontillado sherry was lovely and nutty and it converted us.


We had a wonderful seafood dinner at La Combarra. Delicious turbot and cod with the always present sardines and olives.

Streets are packed again tonight. Can't get over the number of people, all ages congregating on the streets or in the very numerous bars and restaurants throughout the city. This is not a town that shuts down at night!

Location:Madrid