Madrid, Spain

It’s still so hot! Another cloudless scorcher as we go into the first of two days checking out Madrid.

We started by catching the tube across the street to Atocha, where we got out and went to Centro de Arte Reina Sofia. This art museum houses mainly 20th century Spanish art including Picasso and Dali. One of Picasso’s most famous works, Guernica, is housed here. It is a painting that was done in protest of the Germans bombing Guernica in 1937. Because the museum was only open for half a day, being Sunday, it was free, which was an added bonus. Unfortunately, like St. Petersburgh, Madrid’s museums close on Monday, so tomorrow we will be unable to visit any, especially Museo del Prado, said to be one of the world’s great art galleries.

After a quick McDonalds lunch, we took in the sights via the walking tour suggested in the Lonely Planet.

We did as follows: We started at Puerta del Sol, like a town square, which has a statue of a small bear climbing a tree. Why? I have no idea. From here we walked to Caja de Ahorras, a building built for King Felipe V in 1733, across from the 16th century convent, Cenvento de las Descalzas Reals.

Cenvento de las Descalzas Reals, Madrid, Spain

We then walked to Plaza Mayor, which is renowned as a trendy café area. The huge square is filled with outdoor cafes surrounding a statue of Philipe II, who commissioned the building of the square. The northern wall is covered in colorful murals, which enlightens the square.

Plaza Mayor, Madrid, Spain

Real Casa de Panaderia, Madrid, Spain

The next plaza, Plaza de la Villa, is where Madrid’s City Hall is, as well as two of the city’s oldest buildings. We passed Capitania General. The national military headquarters, and Inglesia de la Almudena, a cathedral that was more than 110 years in construction, on our way to Palacio Real. We were there too late to go in, so we’ll come back tomorrow. Across the road is Plaza de Oriente, a park with many statues and a beautiful fountain.

Plaza de la Villa, Madrid, Spain

From here it was on to Plaza de Espana, which has a monument to Miguel de Cervantes, the Spanish writer, with statues of his characters Don Quixote and Sancho Panza at his feet.

Statue of Miguel Cervantes, Plaza de Espana, Madrid, Spain

We got back to the hostel at six pm and opted to go to the movies. We walked back down Grand Via, then a short way along Calle de la Princesa, where we found a cinema which had English speaking movies with Spanish subtitles. We ended up seeing “Kicked in the Head”. It was bizarre, but funny, in an offbeat kind of way.

It was still 38ºC when we got out of the movies at 10.30pm. We did finish the day the way we had started, with a bite to eat and a cup of tea at Dunkin Donuts. We then took a short walk home.