Thanks to Johnny's brilliant organisation, leaving Barcelona
and travelling to Madrid was completely painless. We caught a taxi outside the
hotel and were dropped off at the long distance train station. After half an
hour and following the x ray of our luggage we climbed on board.
The train was super clean and just like an aircraft inside,
with allocated seats, on board entertainment, provided earplugs and a
cafeteria.
The landscape we hurtled through varied between a bleak,
hard grey olive and a few places bright green with irrigation. As we left
Barcelona the air was cool and a slight mist hung on to the valley folds. Every
now and then a wisp of white smoke rose from one of the tumbledown farmhouses.
Fields alternated with tiny vineyards or olive groves clinging to the folds of
the hills. It looked a grim, hard life for the people making their living from
the land. Between Barcelona and Madrid there were so many lines of modern
windmills lining the tops of the hills and turning slowly in the gusts of wind
that raced across the landscape.
A half hour out of Madrid, the weather closed in, a grey
misty cloud enveloped the landscape and the whole view was reduced to monochrome.
A persistent rain started to fall and even though we sat in warm comfort behind
the double glaze windows of the train, I found myself shivering against the
weather. Stunted, black and leafless trees dotted the bleak clay coloured
fields. I was reminded of Millet's The Gleaners. Both Johnny and I snatched a
bit of sleep.
By the time we arrived in Madrid, the mist had lifted but
the rain persisted. With rain jackets on we rolled our bags the kilometre or so
to the hotel. Very swish! Our room was all dark wood and theatrical lighting.
It looked very expensive but gratefully it wasn't.
As soon as we dropped our bags off we hit the streets. We'd
missed lunch and I was keen to get a bite. Johnny had researched the hotel
location well. It was in the middle of a range of food streets and a very short
walk from a plaza ringed with restaurants of all sorts. We ended up at a bar
cafe and had a beer each and a shared plate of chicken and chips for 5E. The
competition out there is pretty fierce so I guess it forced the prices down.
Fortified we took a walk around the immediate area. Arriving on a wet day,
during the siesta break doesn't let you see the city in its best light. We both
though that Barcelona had so much more to offer the tourist.
We wandered down as far as Plaza Mayor, which was pretty
spectacular if a little faded. It must have been really imposing In its time
with armies parading through there. It's one of the most famous squares in the
city and the architecture owes a lot to the Austrians (the Habsburg empire had
control of the city at some point).
We wandered about with no particular plan but a desire to
get our bearings. We chanced upon the San Miguel market and we suddenly both
came to life. It used to be a traditional market but has recently been
renovated within an inch of its life and it looked fantastic. Like La Bocheria,
it is set up to tempt tourists to stay and eat and drink. The food was
absolutely beautiful and we had a glass of sangria as we wandered about in the
warm. We plan to come back tomorrow to have lunch there.
I really needed a rest so we worked our way back to the
hotel, picking up a few supplies from a local shop as we went. I had the most
delicious deep sleep.
Soon it was time to think about dinner and being in the middle
of the Madrid restaurant district we were spoilt for choice. We didn't want
anything flashy so settled on a nearby place. In Spanish terms 8pm is very,
very early to go out for dinner and there was only one other group in the
restaurant when we arrived. We were seated downstairs in what was once the
underground cellars that held large numbers of wine barrels. The whole thing
was beautifully restored. The girl upstairs warned us that the serves were very
large and she was right. We had a mountain of crumbed and fried Camembert for
starters. We honestly couldn't finish it all. Then the mains arrived. I had a
platter of stuffed squid with salad and John had a platter of cod and roast
vegetables. We could have fed at least another couple on what we had ordered.
Afterwards we tool another walk around the area. All the people that had gone
home in the afternoon were back!
The streets were full of people and the bars and restaurants
were packed to the rafters. There was a very strong police presence on the
streets and it felt very safe to be out there. We saw an amazing sight as we
walked back to the hotel. We'd become used to seeing people taking their dogs
for a walk with the dogs wearing all sorts of human clothing, but a pig????
Truly, a bloke was walking his pet pig, a black one about twice as big as
Bella, along the street. The pig was wearing a black puffer jacket and no lead
was needed as he knew to follow closely through the heavy crowds. Will wonders
ever cease! I fumbled for the camera but they disappeared into the night. We
stopped off for a coffee as there was no kettle in our room, then back to our
beds. Goodnight.
