Vivid Happiness

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The flight from London-Gatwick arrives 10 minutes early into Madrid Barajas Airport. Once we get into the terminal, we look for the Baggage Claim” signs and follow them for the next 20 minutes, walking through this huge glass structure, escalators down, elevators up, then end up in a downstairs hall where we take an underground train that takes us around the airport and finally to the baggage claim area.

Those of our fellow travelers who were carrying hand luggage are exhausted. Good thing we only carried our laptops. Later I find out that Terminals 4 & T4S, inaugurated in February 2006, are one of the world’s largest airport terminals, second only to the Hong Kong International. Architects Antonio Lamela and Richard Rogers, won the 2006 Stirling price for their creation. The airport is designed to handle 70 Million passengers per year. The use of glass panes instead of walls, roof domes that filter light into the buildings and steel walkways with glass floor make this a modern architecture marvel.

Once inside the arrival hall, we look for the METRO to take us to our hotel in downtown. There is an information booth and several ticket vending machines on the wall. We finally figure out how to buy a 2-day Metro pass, which cost Euro 8.75 each (US$ 10) and a few minutes later we board our subway train.

We change trains 3 times and even though we were told there were elevators in every Metro station, this was not the case. Thanks to some polite young Spanish men, we get some help carrying our suitcases up the stairs. We stay close to them to watch their every move. We certainly did not want to lose our luggage on our first day.

It takes us about an hour to get to our hotel near the Atocha train station, not too far from the Gran Via area in downtown. We booked the hotel on www.Hotwire.com and found it to be reasonable and quite comfortable with clean and air conditioned rooms.

Later that evening, we go for a stroll in the neighborhood and find many lovely cafes and restaurants just around the corner on a busy plaza. We realize quickly, that sitting in the outdoors cafe’s comes with an additional 10-20% price tag.  We decide to stay anyway, as it is great people watching. We try to figure out, where tourists are from, listen to the variety of languages spoken around us and enjoy our first day in Madrid. Around 10:30 pm, people start getting up and walking to the nearby restaurants.

We follow the crowd and have our first experience of an 11 pm dinner. The menu looked promising at reasonable prices we thought.

We share a meal of endive salad, green beans with ham, grilled sardines, bread, dessert and a bottle of Rosado wine. The tab runs Euro 35.00 (US $ 46.00). After dinner, at around 1 am, we find our way back to the hotel through small and windy roads, lined with bars and restaurants. Even at this late hour it is full of people of all ages enjoying the pleasantly warm night out.

The next morning we catch the “hop on-hop off” tourist sightseeing bus. There are two options, a 1-day or 2-day pass.  We purchase the 1 day pass for Euro 11.00 (US 14.30).  Discounts are available for children and seniors. Passes can be bought right on the bus or at the closest magazine kiosk near the bus stops.

Sitting on the top of the doubledecker is fun, but we have to be careful, the sun is quite hot.

Madrid has nearly 4 Million inhabitants and the traffic is horrific. At times, the bus just sits idle, stuck in traffic, surrounded by cars.
Madrid is the capital as well as the financial center of Spain. It is the 3rd largest city in Europe, after London and Berlin.

Starting near the Corte Ingles Department store, near Gran Via, the bus takes us by the beautiful baroque style Royal Palace of Spain, where we briefly saw the changing of the guard. The guards on their horses looked impressive.

Passing by the Prado Museum, City Hall, Plaza Espana, Hotel Palace, along Plaza de Colon, Communications Ministry, Parque del Retiro, along the Calle de Acala,  Atocha Railway Station (where the March 11, 2004 terrorist bombing took place) and through all the beautiful Avenues lined with ornate apartment buildings. We hear that Madrid is the city with the most trees in the world (right up there with Tokyo,Japan).

There are so many beautiful sites in Madrid, we encourage you to take more time for this city than we did. We are especially sorry, that we missed going to the largest private art collection in the world, the Museo Thyssen-Bornemizca. But we liked it so much, we are sure we’ll be back to this bustling and friendly city soon.

Our courteous staff at the hotel recommends a restaurant for dinner: Bazaar, Calle Libertad 21, 28004 Madrid, Tel: 91 523 39 05,
www.restaurantbazaar.com. A delicious dinner for two (at 11:30 pm at night) with a couple of glasses of wine ended up being Euro 10 per person (US$ 13.00) The place is absolutely packed with mostly young people.

The next afternoon, we catch the train from Atocha Station to Jerez de la Frontera. The 4 1/2 hour ride takes us from the middle of Spain all the way to the Southwest, through Ciudad Real, Cordoba, Seville, and the agricultural region of Spain to Jerez.

The train passes through fields of wheat, potatoes, oranges, olive trees and rolling hills. The train only accommodates passengers with reserved seats, so it’s very important to make an advance booking through www.Renfe.es

The price for the one way fare is Euro 65.00 (US $ 85.00). Children and Senior discounts are available and refreshments and snacks can be purchased in the Bistro Cafeteria on the train for reasonable prices.

Our friends are waiting for us at the train station in Jerez and drive us to their lovely condo apartment in a development in Costa Ballena, about 20 miles from the city of Jerez, right near the Atlantic Ocean. Their condo was built about 5 years ago. There are two PGA golf courses, as well as several Spa Hotels right around the corner. We are lucky, this is their vacation home, and we get to stay here and use their second car for our excursions around the Andalucia region.

The next morning, Monday, we drive to Jerez de la Frontera. Together with Seville, it is the birthplace of Flamenco.  It is also known for horses, sherry and the Moorish marketplace. A walking tour through Jerez brings us to the oldest Bodega (Winery) in town, Pedro Domecq, founded in 1730. Jerez is busy this morning, its market day and the Plaza de Mercado is filled with people. We visit the 18 Century Cathedral and walk the narrow streets of this charming town. We do as the locals do, sit in a street café, drink delicious coffee and buy Churros from a nearby stand.

Spain

Then it’s off to Cadiz, a bustling city, which is said to be the oldest town in Europe, more than 3000 years old. Cadiz is surrounded by water from three sides, a resort city, full of apartment buildings and lots of traffic. When we finally get to the old part of town, we see the P&O cruise liner “Ventura” in port. A 3100 passenger ship, it looks more like a large apartment building than a cruise ship. People are walking everywhere and it’s nearly impossible to find a parking space.

Cadiz was colonized in 1100 BC by Phoenicians from Tyre. It came under Roman rule in 210 BC as Gades. Its greatest glory began in 1717 when it became the port of entry for all goods from the Americas.

After a brief stop, we decide to take a drive along the water toward San Fernando, past a large Spanish Naval Military base. After a few miles we find a lovely little marina and fishing area where we stop for lunch at:  Restaurante “Casa La TiTi”, Muelle de Gallinera 8/N, 1100 San Fernando-Cadiz, Tel: 956 487 104. A large bowl of mixed salad, Fish Soup, Iberian Ham and Flan is plentiful for two to share.
Together with two soft drinks, the bill came to Euro 31.00 (US $ 40.00).

Along the water, there are apartment buildings everywhere. It seems that all the original houses have been demolished and replaced with condos. The building boom of the last decades has changed the look of this region. The Spanish call the current financial situation “crisis” (in English) and we see the results in abandoned construction sites everywhere.

Gila Beckermann www.buzzyvoyager.com

Excerpt from: Visiting Spain