Highlights: Arrival, Palacio Real, Mercat san Miguel, Chocolatier san Gines
After over 17 hours of traveling, we arrived in Madrid at 2:17pm local time.
Slight hiccup in trying to negotiate with the metro ticketing machines to spit out a T10 ticket. In the end we managed.
Hotel Regina seemed like a pretty good choice, given its location right smacked in front of Seville metro station.
FABORIT
Alcala 21, 
PALACIO REAL
First stop is to pay homage to the much raved about Palacio Real.
En route we walked past a jamon shop. The Spaniards sure love their ham, which is awesome for us.
it rained incessantly
Check out the queue - try to spot Steven!
We queued for a long time (an hour?) in the drizzle just to get in. The long wait meant we only have about one and a half hours to explore the largest palace in Europe! How about that for some touch and go?
sprawling royal grounds
No photography allowed inside which was a shame because some of the Official Salons were really lavish. When visiting palaces I tend to end up with a sore neck because I have a thing for gorgeous ceilings and ornate cornices. Apart from the ceilings, the salons were also filled with incredible details, tapestry, carvings and furniture. Not forgetting plenty of paintings (many of Goya's works) and potraits eyeballing the countless admiring residents and visitors.
My favorite part of the palace was the pair of grand sweeping staircases at the entrance, right below the most fantastic ceiling painting ever. Picture of the right is a stock picture from lonelyplanet but it doesn't bring out half the grandeur and regal that was so very imminent.
What was also fascinating was the room housing the Stradivarius collection. King Carlos II ordered five instruments from Stradivari. One viola was lost from the palace when Napoleon's troops robbed it. The remaining four instruments are a viola, a violoncello, and two violins. These have the name of the Spanish Quartet and when the four instruments are played at the same time, it sounds like there are a dozen instruments playing. It is estimated that the Spanish Quartet has a value of 100 million euros!
Then of course you have the salons which are fabulously over the top such as the Porcelain Room and Dining Room which makes my head spin with all the garish bling.
The Armoury Room was a little intimidating what with all the weaponry and protective gear dating back to the 16th century and I could not shake the thoughts that any of the exhibits before me could very much have witnessed a battle or took a life before. It is incredible the amount of strength soldiers would have needed to have to bear the weight of all that armour and fight, and to have to pierce those metal in order to kill. Don't even get me started on how impossible it seemed to weak little me to be able to yield a 2-metre spear with one hand.
The Royal Pharmacy was alright - plenty of pretty glass, ceramic and porcelain containers for various pharmaceutical uses. I was with fantasical expectations of mysterious apothecary instruments and magical looking bottles of potions a la Hogwarts spells class. Um, really really not.
When we exited Palacio Real it started to rain heavily so we ducked into the Almudena Cathedral which was quite frankly a waste of time considering the richer history and architecture of other churches in Europe.
Plaza de Oriente
Plaza de Oriente is a pretty and colourful little square in front of the palace filled with streetside cafes which would have made a lovely coffee stop if not for the rain. It made me sad to learn that 56 homes were removed from the site in order to build the square.
Within the square we see a bronze status of Felipe IV and his horse, designed by Velazquez. Apparently he had troubles figuring out how to balance the statue solely on the horse's hind legs, but Galileo intervene and came up with what seemed like a simple solution in retrospect - make the front half of the horse hollow.
In all, I enjoyed seeing Palacio Real and would probably love it more if I didn't have to hurry. It has every potential to contend with my current favorite palace - the Schoenbrunn Palace in Venice. The king who ordered the construction of this palace died before it was finished, which is why the palace has only (yes, only) 2,800 rooms which is like a quarter of the original intent. With my sense of direction, or the lack thereof, I could get so lost in there if all of the 2,800 rooms were open for visiting.
MERCAT SAN MIGUEL
I was really excited about having tapas at Mercat san Miguel due to the raving reviews on multiple travel research platforms. At best, it was an interesting place for observing Madrilenos socialise while suffering mediocre food.
I know foodies and culinary professionals around the world wax lyrical about the quality and the exciting variety that is Spanish cuisine, but I strongly feel that growing up in Singapore with the amazing amount of cheap but excellent food here it would take something really special for us to be wow-ed. And most of the food places during this trip, including this mercat, didn't quite cut it.
Don't get me wrong, it wasn't bad, just not as awesome as I thought it might be.
Shortly after I took the shot of the churrons, Mr Klutz toppled the entire cup of thick, gooey chocolate all over the hotel room table. So I went to bed.
The rain was a bummer but otherwise it was a lovely, relaxing first day in Spain!
After over 17 hours of traveling, we arrived in Madrid at 2:17pm local time.
Slight hiccup in trying to negotiate with the metro ticketing machines to spit out a T10 ticket. In the end we managed.
Hotel Regina seemed like a pretty good choice, given its location right smacked in front of Seville metro station.It was clean, spacious, and sufficiently stocked with amenities. Air-conditioning was off for the winter so the room was a tad stuffy, but leaving the windows ajar quickly solved the problem as it was chilly outside!
The weather was somewhat grey and dismal with light drizzles, so our first plan was to have lunch at Faborit - this nice little cafe located just next to our hotel entrance.
The weather was somewhat grey and dismal with light drizzles, so our first plan was to have lunch at Faborit - this nice little cafe located just next to our hotel entrance.
What with the hunger, any food would do. Faborit offered decent hot sandwiches, coffee, and english-speaking staff to complete us. Our panini and focaccia were good enough for us to consider coming back since our hotel is literally twenty steps away.
2 sandwiches + 2 juice + 2 hot beverages: Euro 13.90
FABORIT
Alcala 21,
28014 Madrid
PALACIO REAL
First stop is to pay homage to the much raved about Palacio Real.
En route we walked past a jamon shop. The Spaniards sure love their ham, which is awesome for us.
it rained incessantly
Check out the queue - try to spot Steven!We queued for a long time (an hour?) in the drizzle just to get in. The long wait meant we only have about one and a half hours to explore the largest palace in Europe! How about that for some touch and go?
sprawling royal grounds
My favorite part of the palace was the pair of grand sweeping staircases at the entrance, right below the most fantastic ceiling painting ever. Picture of the right is a stock picture from lonelyplanet but it doesn't bring out half the grandeur and regal that was so very imminent.What was also fascinating was the room housing the Stradivarius collection. King Carlos II ordered five instruments from Stradivari. One viola was lost from the palace when Napoleon's troops robbed it. The remaining four instruments are a viola, a violoncello, and two violins. These have the name of the Spanish Quartet and when the four instruments are played at the same time, it sounds like there are a dozen instruments playing. It is estimated that the Spanish Quartet has a value of 100 million euros!
Then of course you have the salons which are fabulously over the top such as the Porcelain Room and Dining Room which makes my head spin with all the garish bling.
The Armoury Room was a little intimidating what with all the weaponry and protective gear dating back to the 16th century and I could not shake the thoughts that any of the exhibits before me could very much have witnessed a battle or took a life before. It is incredible the amount of strength soldiers would have needed to have to bear the weight of all that armour and fight, and to have to pierce those metal in order to kill. Don't even get me started on how impossible it seemed to weak little me to be able to yield a 2-metre spear with one hand.
The Royal Pharmacy was alright - plenty of pretty glass, ceramic and porcelain containers for various pharmaceutical uses. I was with fantasical expectations of mysterious apothecary instruments and magical looking bottles of potions a la Hogwarts spells class. Um, really really not.
When we exited Palacio Real it started to rain heavily so we ducked into the Almudena Cathedral which was quite frankly a waste of time considering the richer history and architecture of other churches in Europe.
Plaza de OrienteWithin the square we see a bronze status of Felipe IV and his horse, designed by Velazquez. Apparently he had troubles figuring out how to balance the statue solely on the horse's hind legs, but Galileo intervene and came up with what seemed like a simple solution in retrospect - make the front half of the horse hollow.
In all, I enjoyed seeing Palacio Real and would probably love it more if I didn't have to hurry. It has every potential to contend with my current favorite palace - the Schoenbrunn Palace in Venice. The king who ordered the construction of this palace died before it was finished, which is why the palace has only (yes, only) 2,800 rooms which is like a quarter of the original intent. With my sense of direction, or the lack thereof, I could get so lost in there if all of the 2,800 rooms were open for visiting.
MERCAT SAN MIGUEL
I was really excited about having tapas at Mercat san Miguel due to the raving reviews on multiple travel research platforms. At best, it was an interesting place for observing Madrilenos socialise while suffering mediocre food.
I know foodies and culinary professionals around the world wax lyrical about the quality and the exciting variety that is Spanish cuisine, but I strongly feel that growing up in Singapore with the amazing amount of cheap but excellent food here it would take something really special for us to be wow-ed. And most of the food places during this trip, including this mercat, didn't quite cut it.
Don't get me wrong, it wasn't bad, just not as awesome as I thought it might be.
We decided on having breakfast food for dinner dessert. Chocolateria san Gines have been around since 1894 and is still thriving today because of their churros con chocolate. Throngs of locals and tourists pack up the place which opens 24/7. Again, despite the hype, it was just nice. The churros was too oily, was crispy but not fluffy enough, and didn't withstand a half hour walk in the cold and became quite chewy.
Shortly after I took the shot of the churrons, Mr Klutz toppled the entire cup of thick, gooey chocolate all over the hotel room table. So I went to bed.
The rain was a bummer but otherwise it was a lovely, relaxing first day in Spain!
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