Madrid
After the long trip from Louisville, and since I had
gotten some sleep in Cologne, I decided to go meander about Madrid for
the morning. After finally finding the airport express and stashing my
bag at Atocha Station in town, I set off to see what I could see. Armed
with an one day tourist pass on the Metro, I started my trip at Plaza
del Sol. I was looking for a sign that Grace has memorialized on
celluloid in her abodes for years.
Unfortunately it has been removed.
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| Palacio Real |
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From
there I walked down Calle Mayor and found a coffee shop to stop into
for a caffeine jolt and wifi. On down the road I came to the royal
palace and Plaza de Oriente. There's a rally neat, if pricy, cafe
there. I maybe just enjoy plush red velvet covered furniture. But I
dug it. So I had another coffee while waiting for the Palaca to open.
Turns out, it didn't that day. I bet the flocks of Asian tourists were
even more disheartened than I. By lunch I was in the Plaza Mayor
watching the crowds and street performers with a cerveza and tapas. I
also discovered there was a rather significant fútbol match in town that
day between RealMadrid and Manchester United. This is my second trip to Spain, and for the second time there was a big match in the city I was
visiting (last time FC Barcelona vs Chelsea in a semifinals match).
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| Plaza Mayor |
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After
lunch, back to Plaza del Sol and another cafe, complete with cerveza
and wifi check in. The the obligatory Irish Pub world tour stop for a
Guinness. My last item on the to do list before leaving town was a stop
at the Hard Rock for a pin. After locating the HRC, back to Atocha and
off to Cordoba. The high speed train (270 km/h) whisked me away, and
it was all I could do not to nod off... And more than I could do at
times. I had this giant fear of sleeping right through my stop. But I
do remember some lovely scenery out the window.
Arrived
unscathed in Cordoba, and found my way to my hotel thanx to a helpful
cab driver. Found a nice bar to watch the fútbol and have a couple
cervezas, which all came with snacks. I like it. By the time I got to
sleep, it'd had be 24 hours of wakefulness. Involving 3 cities in 2
countries. I plan to make a return visit to Madrid when I can focus more on just that area, perhaps some one I know who's spent some time there will be happy to show me around :-). Next day, to see Cordoba in earnest.
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| Cerveza and a snack?? Yes please! |
