Flying to Madrid to start Malta, Morocco and Mediterranean Cruise

 

We decided to forgo economy class and step up to Premium Select, as Delta calls it.  Every airline has a different name for it.  So when we got on the plane, the seats were full of stuff - blanket, pillow, bottle of water, headphones and the little pouch above that was filled with a range of comfort items.  Lip balm, lotion, ear plugs, a pen toothbrush with little toothpaste, eye mask and a pair of socks.  

The seats had leg rests, and they also reclined further than economy class seats. 

We had flown via Atlanta where we had met up with the two other couples we would be traveling with.  

This was the frittata on the pre-arrival menu.

Approaching Madrid, Spain. I wasn't sure what was being grown in those fields. This area grows apples, pears, peaches, figs, apricots, cherries, and nuts as well as Spain's most well-known crop, olives.   

Sorry for the blur.  I like to look at the flight information on the seatback screens.  Only problem with flight is I left my rain jacket in the seat when we landed in Madrid. 

Our first time in Spain. We saw some interesting buildings on the way to our hotel. 

We got to our room at the Intercontinental Hotel.

When you enter the room, you can go left to the beds or right to the bathroom.

Walking into the bathroom, you go right to a little toilet room or left to where the tub/shower is located. 

Safety and practicality wise, this tub/shower combo was the worse I have ever seen.  The tub was very slanted at the rear. Great for a bath but horrible to try to step out of.  No grab rails so I hung on to the towel rack at the back of the tub and the towel hook just outside the tub.  I held them close to the wall just in case I slipped.  There was a plexiglass partition between the tub and the bathroom, but it only covered half the length of the tub.  The floor outside got well-watered.  

The toilet and bidet were in a small room with barely enough room to sit and still close the door.  No nightlight in any part of the bathroom so I'm glad I brought my own.
We took showers and short naps before venturing outside.  We walked to the supermarket for some snack items then stayed in for the night. 

Madrid, Spain

 

Our pre-cruise extension included a 3.5-hour tour of Madrid.  Our hotel was on the Paseo de la Fuente Castellana, or Castilian Fountain Walk, a major road cutting through the city.  It originally followed a stream but that was buried in 1807. 
This building, the main headquarters of the Bank of Spain, was completed in 1891 but has undergone enlargements since that time.   

Across the Paseo de Prado from the Bank of Spain building, is the Palacio de Cibeles. Previously the main Post Office, it now houses Madrid City Hall and Centro Cultural Center.

Between the two buildings in the prior photos, is the Cibeles Fountain.  Erected in 1782, it depicts Cybele, the Great Mother of the gods and Roman goddess of fertility, atop a chariot drawn by two lions. All three figures were made with purple marble from the town of Montesclaros, in Toledo, and the rest of the monument was carved from stone from a town north of Madrid. When first erected, the monument was not only intended to be decorative but also functional, providing water for the official water carriers – who would deliver water to houses – and for the general public. It was also used by the cavalry as a water stop for their horses.

Another pretty building around this square is the Palacio de Linares, built between 1877 and 1900. It houses the Casa de America, a Latin America Cultural Center. 

Looking down the street from the Fuente de Cibeles, I see the Metropolis Building, an ornate 1911 beaux arts structure featuring a gilded cupola with a winged goddess statue.

Dinosaur skeleton displayed by the Caixa Forum.

The Fountain of Neptune depicts Neptune, God of the sea, standing on a carriage in the form of a shell, which emerges from a rocky base and is pulled by two hippocampi, symbol of storms and agitated sea. As part of the original project of Ventura Rodríguez, this fountain and the Cibeles Fountain were placed facing each other on either side of the Paseo del Prado. At the end of the 19th century, both Cibeles and Neptuno underwent a restoration process and were moved, finally occupying the center of the squares Plaza de la Cibeles and Plaza de Cánovas del Castillo, respectively.

The Atocha Train Station was the first railway station in Spain, inaugurated in 1951 when Spain's second railroad connected Madrid with Aranjuez. The station has been renovated and enlarged several times.  These train services are run by Spain's national rail company, Renfe. 

The bus dropped us of at the Plaza de Santa Cruz. The Palacio de Santa Cruz or Palace of the Holy Cross is a baroque building with an attractive pink facade. Originally constructed in the mid-17th century to house both courts and jail facilities, its use changed in 1767 when it was converted to a residence. A fire destroyed all but the facade in 1791. Today it is the home of the Spanish foreign ministry.  

Across the street, just outside of the Plaza Mayor, sits a fountain.  I was amazed when I couldn't find out any information on it. 

In the center of the open space, this monolith was trying to tell us something important, but I think it is in Latin.  I looked it up and found that it was erected in 1986 to commemorate Spain's entrance into the European Union.

The gold paint job had me wondering if this bicycle had belonged to a person that paints themselves to look like statues, then pose on sidewalks so tourists pay them for their efforts. 

Now we start our walking tour by heading to the Plaza Mayor, a central square found in the heart of Hapsburg Madrid, the oldest part of the city. 

Plaza Mayor was erected on the former Plaza del Arrabal, where Madrid’s most popular market was held until the late 16th century. When King Philip II moved the Spanish court from Toledo to Madrid in 1561, he began to plan a remodeling of the square, although it wasn’t till his son and successor Philip III was in power, that the new square was built. This space has been used to host all kinds of events, from local festivities and bullfights to beatifications, coronations and even the occasional performance of public penance during the Spanish Inquisition.

The equestrian statue found in the center of the square is that of King Philip III. It was started by the Flemish sculptor Giambologna and finished by his disciple, the Italian sculptor Pietro Tacca in 1616. It originally stood at the entrance to the Casa de Campo Park, but in 1848 Queen Isabella II had it moved to the Plaza Mayor.

In modern times, the square is the site of the city's Christmas Market every December. Since it was the last day of November, the vendor stalls were still being erected. 

Madrid's official tourist site gives us this info, "At one end of the square stood -and still stands- Casa de la Panadería. It was erected by Diego Sillero around 1590, although only the cellar and the ground floor of the original building remain. Since it was built, it has served as the town’s main bakery (in charge of setting the price of bread, so even the poorest citizens could afford it), royal chambers, the San Fernando Royal Academy of Fine Arts and the Academy of History. Today it houses the Plaza Mayor Tourist Information Centre and the Tienda Casa de la Panadería, a shop selling souvenirs of Madrid made by local artisans. The façade is covered by exquisite frescoes painted in 1992 by the artist Carlos Franco, and which feature mythological figures that are linked to the history of Madrid, such as the Goddess Cybele."

A few of the vendor stalls were open.  Mostly selling tiny Christmas figurines. 

Streetlamp in the square.

We left the square through the Arco de Ciudad Rodrigo

One of the stores along the way sold a Madrid food called a squid sandwich.  Don't think I am interested. 

The Mercado de San Miguel, a covered market offering local food, delicacies & events, was built in 1915.

Apartment building by the Mercado. 

I've seen a lot of these old buildings sporting heat pumps. 

Beautiful door on an old palace that has been made into apartments. 

Convent of Las Carboneras is a convent, founded in 1607, named for an image of the Virgin Mary found in a charcoal pit that was donated to the convent. The church has a single nave with three sections and niches without a transept. It is covered with a barrel vault with lunettes and has the main chapel raised above the general level. It is the only example of this type preserved in Madrid.

This convent of cloistered nuns has a seemingly social pastime.  They make and sell Spanish cookies. At limited times, announced on the white paper on the door, the entrance is unlocked. You step into the purchasing area where you’ll find a bilingual menu detailing the selection. Once you’ve selected which cookies you’d like to order and the quantity, you announce it and wait for the nuns to respond. They have taken a vow of silence and will not be seen by you. When your order is ready, it will appear on a Lazy Susan turnstile.  At that time, you would place your cash beside the bag. The turnstile goes around once more with both the cash and the cookies. Then the cookies and change (if you have any) will return on the next spin.

Continuing down a narrow passage and turning a corner, we arrive at the Plaza de Villa, Villa Square.  Completed in 1693, the first building we see is what was the headquarters of the Madrid City Council.  On November 5, 2007, the Mayor's Office of Madrid moved to the Palacio de Cibeles, leaving this building reserved almost exclusively for the headquarters of the Municipal Plenary.

Statue of Don Álvaro de Bazán in front of the Casa de Cisneros on the south side of the square. 

 This bronze sculpture showing Álvaro de Bazán, a famous 16th century Admiral of the Spanish Navy.

Plaza de la Villa sported these, almost, Christmas tree-shaped containers of colorful cabbage. 

In this old area, street names are announced with tile plaques on the walls of the buildings.

Calle Mayor toward the Royal Palace. 

Official crest of the city of Madrid, the bear and the strawberry tree, is encased in the sidewalk. Neither the bear nor the strawberry tree is found in Madrid so why are they on the city crest? The bear was part of Madrid’s coat of arms since at least 1212, when troops from Madrid were first recorded in history as carrying a flag showing a bear with the seven stars of the constellation Ursa Major. The strawberry tree, or Madroño, it was added to the seal in 1222, when a dispute between the church and the city council was resolved by King Alfonso VIII. Both parties laid claim to the forests and fields in the area, which were a vital resource. The king decided that the trees and land would belong to the city, while the animals would belong to the church. Thus, the tree was added to the crest and the bear's position became upright.   

This narrow street has become a pedestrian walkway. 

This store sign emulates the full-skirted females in the famous painting "Las Meninas" (Ladies in waiting), Diego Velázquez’s masterpiece that hangs in the Prado Museum.  This outline has become a symbol of Madrid. 

Beautiful candy shop window. 

Cristo de Los Alabarderos, or Christ of the Halberdiers Church

This monument stands in tribute to the victim of a bomb intended for Queen Victoria Eugenia and King Alfonso XIII on the occasion of their wedding parade. Instead, the bomb exploded into a crowd that were watching the royal carriage.
This monument is actually the second such monument, the original having been dismantled. The current monument is a bronze sculpture of an angel kneeling on one knee, holding a scroll in his hands. The sculpture sits atop a granite pedestal, on which is written the words "In memory of the victims of the attack against Their Majesties Don Alfonso XIII and Doña Victoria Eugenie on 31 May 1906".

The bronze statue of the Curious Neighbour stands at the junction between Calle Mayor and Calle de la Almudena.  Made in 1999, it is a male figure looking over a railing from which the archaeological remains of the Church of Santa María de la Almudena can be seen.

The east wall of the Catedral de Santa María la Real de la Almudena come into view.  

We have to walk up the street a little way to get to the front of the building. 

This Baroque Catholic cathedral known for its colorful chapels, a Romanesque crypt and a museum, sit on the Plaza de la Ameria facing the Royal Palace of Madrid. 

Built on the site of a medieval mosque that was destroyed in 1083, construction began in 1883 and finished over a century later, when it was consecrated by Pope John Paul II in 1993.

Across the plaza is the Royal Palace behind a 20' tall fence.

At the center of the fence is the Puerta del Príncipe, main entrance to the Palace's courtyard.

The Royal Palace of Madrid is the official residence of the Spanish royal family. It has 1.458 MILLION square feet of floor space and 3,418 rooms, the largest in Western Europe and one of the largest in the world. 

The Royal Palace was built in the 18th century by order of Philip V on the site of the old Alcázar fortress, a former Moorish castle.

Since we didn't have tickets, or the time, we walked around to the east side of the palace. The Lepanto Gardens, across the street for the palace, is the site of this monument to Captain Melgar, a captain of the Spanish army who took part in the Spanish war in Cuba in the years 1905 to 1909.

East side of the palace. 

The Plaza de Oriente is a rectangular park that connects the east façade of the Royal Palace to the Royal Theatre. The plaza contains statues of 44 Spanish kings from the medieval period.  The statue of King Phillip IV of Spain (below) is notable for the fact that the whole thing is balanced on the rear legs and a couple strands of its tail.

From the Plaza de Oriente, we descended some steps to an underground parking garage.  Historical artifacts unearthed during construction are displayed in cases in the waiting area. 

Just south of the cathedral is a vista point, not that we saw much as we were in a moving bus. 

Interesting architecture. 

Puerta de Toledo, Toledo Gate, is one of four that were erected on roads that lead to the city. The others are Puerta de Alcalá, Puerta de San Vicente and Puerta de Hierro.  
The Puerta de Toledo Monument is built from granite and stone.  It was erected to commemorate the arrival of Ferdinand VII to Madrid. In the December of 1813, King Ferdinand VII’s return to Spain and his entry into Madrid were announced by the Treaty of Valençay, which that year ended the Peninsular War. Ferdinand had been a prisoner of Napoleon in France since his own abdication in 1808. 

Sometimes I am surprised when I see an American production advertised in a different country. 

Looks like they added a narrow building alongside another on Ronda de Valencia.

The Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, often simply referred to as the Reina Sofía, is one of Spain’s most renowned modern art museums. Located in Madrid, it specializes in 20th-century and contemporary art. The museum is named after Queen Sofía of Spain and is housed in a former hospital building that has been beautifully adapted for its current use.

The exterior stairs are interesting.

Another road heading below ground level.  Madrid is covered by 2,500 miles of underground roads, dark tunnels, and passages that connected buildings in the city. Significant portions of M30 run underground, with sections of more than 4 miles in length and 3 to 6 lanes in each direction.

Holiday decoration

This is a replica of the Fuente de la Alcochofa, or Fountain of the Artichokes. In 1987, as part of the work to renovate the Glorieta de Carlos V, the decision was made to place a reproduction of the Fuente de la Alcachofa in the center of the roundabout.  A road tunnel goes directly under this fountain. 

Palace on one side of Plaza de Cánovas del Castillo is now a Westin Hotel.  The blue sign in the middle of the roundabout is just a way to cover the work being done on the Neptune Fountain.

This is an overhead map of the Plaza de Cánovas del Castillo.  Doesn't that look confusing to drive?

The bus drops us off on the north side of the Prado Museum. The Museo del Prado is the main Spanish national art museum. It houses collections of European art, dating from the 12th century to the early 20th century, based on the former Spanish royal collection, and the single best collection of Spanish art. Founded as a museum of paintings and sculpture in 1819, it also contains important collections of other types of works. 

The Monument to Goya is located near the entrance of the Museo Nacional del Prado in Madrid. It stands as a tribute to Francisco de Goya, one of Spain's most influential and celebrated artists. The bust depicts Goya when he was Director of Painting of the Real Academia de San Fernando.

On a rise to the east of the Prado is Saint Jerome the Royal Church, or in Spanish, San Jerónimo el Real. This Roman Catholic church is from the early 16th-century.

We were not allowed to take any photos in the Prado, but the Prado shows some of them on their website. This 1518 painting by Tintoretto is named Christ Washing the Disciples' Feet.  Our guide had us walk back and forth in front of it and watch how the table seemed to rotate toward you.  Very cool. 

Our guide didn't stop to mention this statue, but I caught a glimpse in passing and was amazed.  Queen Isabel II commissioned a specialist in portrait busts named Torreggiani to sculpt a bust of her. The queen’s face is veiled, a device recalling the veiled images of Faith, Virtue and Religion. Torreggiani also produced the pedestal on which the bust rests.

My sister and I declined to ride back to the hotel on the bus, but instead, found a place to eat then headed to Retiro Park. El Retiro Park, recently named a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is home to miles of walking paths, a pond, specialized gardens, lots of sculptures and some fountains. We entered at the Spanish Gate, created circa-1893, the main entrance to the park.  This entrance is lined with statues.

The park is home to a large artificial lake, where you can rent a rowing boat.  On the far side is a monument to King Alfonso XII that was erected in 1922.

Originally located at the Atocha roundabout, the Fuente de la Alcachofa, or the Artichoke Fountain in English, was moved in 1880 as it was obstructing the flow of traffic. Made of granite and white stone, the monument features some of the most characteristic baroque motifs, including marine deities, plants and water, as an indispensable element for life. At the top of the fountain an artichoke can be seen, a plant much appreciated for its medicinal properties and culinary use. Flanking a round base, a triton and a nereid are holding up the city’s coat of arms.

We walked by the Velázquez Palace as it was closed.  So was the Crystal Palace. 

The Fuente del Ángel Caído, or Fountain of the Fallen Angel, is notable for being one of the few public sculptures in the world that depicts Lucifer, the fallen angel.  It was erected in Retiro Park in 1885. Some say that this work has evil properties, because it is at a height of 666 meters and its pedestal has eight sides (the number attributed to chaos). However, the Demon appears with a considerable human appearance.

Uniquely shaped tree.

The Cecilio Rodríguez Garden had rectangular waterways and peacocks.

The gardens also had this sculpture. 

Bear sculptures and interestingly sculpted trees flanked the sidewalk in one spot. 

Time for a foot break.

After exiting the park, we saw the Church of Saint Manuel and Saint Benedict across the Calle de Alcala.  It was built at the beginning of the 20th century. 

The second city gate we saw was the Puerta de Alcala, built by Charles III in the 18th century.

You can see the sculptures a little better in this photo. 

With a total of 34 sculptures distributed throughout Madrid, the Madrid Cow Gallery was a temporary exhibit.  Each cow was hand-painted by one of 30 different artists. 

Another new art installation has seen 80 sculptures of Las Meninas (‘the ladies in waiting’) placed in iconic spots around the Spanish capital.  These were inspired by a famous painting by Velázquez which hangs in the Prado.  This is the 8th time versions of these sculptures have been distributed around the city. 

This Monument to the Discovery of America is at the Gardens of Discovery of the Plaza de Colón ("Columbus Square") in Madrid. It was made of concrete by Joaquín Vaquero Turcios (born 1933) and inaugurated in 1977. It's composed of three macro-sculptures: The Prophecies, The Genesis (two blocks) and The Discovery.  This is The Prophecies. 

This is The Discovery.

Some buildings just scare me. 

For dinner, we went around the block to a tapas bar.  This was my cool plate before I added tapas. 

We walked north of the hotel for a short distance to see the Christmas decorations. We would have made a great comedy act for anyone watching.  My sister who is only about 5' tall, got up on a bench so she would be tall enough to get this photo without also getting a lot of cars.  Then she managed to jump off.  What made it funny is that we are in our 60's.  

Coming back to the hotel, we checked out its Christmas decorations.