Hola de Madrid (Hello from Madrid)

As Grigoria’s parents are based in Madrid at the moment it seemed a very good opportunity to visit Spain’s capital, spend some time with them and see how the city compares to Barcelona.

So we flew out last night after work from Gatwick and 2 hours later arrived into the new Richard Rogers Barajas Terminal 4 airport, to be welcomed with big smiles by Grigoria’s parents.

Today’s order of the day was shopping and general sight seeing in Madrid.As Grigoria wanted some summer sandals, and Spain has strong reputation for leather goods, we started with the El Corte Ingles shopping centre and some time later (not too long really) we walked out with a pair of cute brown saddles.

With the shopping over our day started in earnest and Grigoria’s mum begun to show us the more historic and architecturally interesting aspects of the city.

First up was Puerta del Sol, the official centre of the city were all distances are measured from. Almost to the side of the square lies the most popular meeting point in Madrid, the statue of the Bear and the Madroño (a bear standing up eating away at a strawberry tree). This is the emblem of Madrid (still investigating why) and can be seen on all official crests, on footpath manholes, street lamps and taxi stickers.

A very short distance from Sol is Plaza Mayor, which has been the centre of social life in Madrid over the centuries. The square is dominated by the statue of Philip the third and by “La Casa de Panaderia” (the royal bakery, now the house of the municipal city council) and its vividly painted façade.

Our next destination was the Palacio Real (the Royal Palace). With over 2000 rooms the palace is one of the biggest and most opulent in Europe. What impressed us most however were the Armoury, a comprehensive collection of royal weaponry– including horse armoury – perfectly displayed, and the Royal Pharmacy, with rows upon rows of china vases full of plants and plant extracts which formed the basis of medicines. Grigoria’s mum, a chemist by profession, was in her element and explained to us how the old distillation apparatus used to work.

Located directly opposite the palace courtyard, and looking towards it, is the Almudena Cathedral, dedicated to Madrid’s patron the Virgin de la Almudena (of the walls). The proximity of the Cathedral to the Palace is a strong symbol of how the power was shared between the royal family and the church. The Cathedral took 110 years to build and was finally finished in 1993. As a result of the time it took to construct, and in contrast with La Segrada Familia which is build according to the vision of a single architect (Gaudi), the Almudena incorporates a blend of different styles ranging from Gothic to something similar to pop art. It is probably an acquired taste but still a very imposing building.

By the time we left the Cathedral we were tired and starving so we took a well deserved lunch break. Breaking with the tapas tradition Grigoria’s mum took us to Cafe de Oriente, one of the most popular in Madrid, where we devoured our croque maison (a little bit of French cuisine in Spain!).After lunch we headed home for a good rest before hitting the town later in the evening.Javier, Grigoria’s friend from LSE, and Carmen, his partner, treated us to tapas and great Spanish wine.

After a great night out, and a sneaky baileys or two, we tiptoed home at 2am dead tired from our long day and excited about our Toledo trip on Saturday.