When we tried to figure out which airport offered us the lowest associated costs alongside my American Airline miles, the lovely AA person I spoke with told me that she couldn't get me out of Barcelona. She told me, I can get you out of Madrid.... maybe..... nope.... yes... maybe you'll just have to take a train to Madrid. Additionally, we wanted to spend extra time with Elena in Valencia without sacrificing our already short time in Barcelona. What did that leave us with on our Spain itinerary? One afternoon in Madrid.
It turned out to be just the right amount. We used a popular European share car service to get the 300 kms from Valencia to Madrid. It's a cool system. If you are driving to a certain location, you select the departure time, arrival time (based on your knowledge of the route), the pickup and drop off location, and the price per seat in your car and then you can 'rent' your car seats. Our driver, Tony, works for the Spanish National Police, and had to drive to Madrid for work. Did we learn much about what the Spanish National Police do? No. Did Tony get to practice his English with us? Yes! His English is way better than my limited Spanish anyway.
We got to Madrid and immediately got to exploring the place. We had two items on our agenda: the Palacio Real and the Prado art museum. Everything was within 1.5 kms of each other, so we got a chance to walk around the city. I can now understand how and why Spanish territories all have a certain look to them. Madrid architecture has the exact same feel and design. The churches all have what I know to be typically Latin look (obviously, it's a Madrid look). However, Madrid itself doesn't have the same charm as Barcelona. It appears to be the kind of city that is fantastic for world-class museums, night-life, and history; however, it certainly isn't the place you go for charm. At least not in my opinion.
We walked to the Palacio Real, or Royal Palace, past the Plaza Mayor (which not only held bull-fights and parts of the Spanish Inquisition, but is now the location of the happening Christmas market), only to find the Palacio Real was closed for some event. We then started our walk to the Prado museum. The Prado is on par with the Louvre, known for having works by El Greco and Goya. The museum also has this great art appreciation scheme where it opens to people for the last 2 hours of the day for free. We stood in our queue and went and saw some amazing art! Thankfully my Lonely Planet had the museum highlights by room, or else we would have missed so much of the Prado's great works.
After we had finished, we walked around for the evening, but we ended up feeling so cold that even though it was the last night of our trip, we just took a hot shower and went to bed, ready for our early morning airport pickup.
It turned out to be just the right amount. We used a popular European share car service to get the 300 kms from Valencia to Madrid. It's a cool system. If you are driving to a certain location, you select the departure time, arrival time (based on your knowledge of the route), the pickup and drop off location, and the price per seat in your car and then you can 'rent' your car seats. Our driver, Tony, works for the Spanish National Police, and had to drive to Madrid for work. Did we learn much about what the Spanish National Police do? No. Did Tony get to practice his English with us? Yes! His English is way better than my limited Spanish anyway.
We got to Madrid and immediately got to exploring the place. We had two items on our agenda: the Palacio Real and the Prado art museum. Everything was within 1.5 kms of each other, so we got a chance to walk around the city. I can now understand how and why Spanish territories all have a certain look to them. Madrid architecture has the exact same feel and design. The churches all have what I know to be typically Latin look (obviously, it's a Madrid look). However, Madrid itself doesn't have the same charm as Barcelona. It appears to be the kind of city that is fantastic for world-class museums, night-life, and history; however, it certainly isn't the place you go for charm. At least not in my opinion.
We walked to the Palacio Real, or Royal Palace, past the Plaza Mayor (which not only held bull-fights and parts of the Spanish Inquisition, but is now the location of the happening Christmas market), only to find the Palacio Real was closed for some event. We then started our walk to the Prado museum. The Prado is on par with the Louvre, known for having works by El Greco and Goya. The museum also has this great art appreciation scheme where it opens to people for the last 2 hours of the day for free. We stood in our queue and went and saw some amazing art! Thankfully my Lonely Planet had the museum highlights by room, or else we would have missed so much of the Prado's great works.
After we had finished, we walked around for the evening, but we ended up feeling so cold that even though it was the last night of our trip, we just took a hot shower and went to bed, ready for our early morning airport pickup.
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