April 21-28, 2016
Let's start with a riddle. What begins in the morning with OJ and ends well after midnight with wine; days filled with Goya, Velasquez, Renoir, Degas, Rubens, Titian, Picasso, and others; each day more than 15,000 steps recorded by a very demanding FitBit; Churros dipped in chocolate (note to self: Disneyland's are better); a memorable tapas experience at an old Hemingway haunt, La Vencencia; drinking wine that tasted like sherry; tapas immersion, each night something new and unfamiliar (the first night, mostly meat - did they say burro? - the second night, mostly cheese; the third night, mostly fish; and the fourth night, snails in a tomato based sauce ( madrilenya ) - and chorizo), and always bread and olives (were Portugal's better?); sangria with flamenco dancing; an unexpected living art presentation by a local theater group at the entrance to the Prado Museum and a very memorable and moving concert by clergy and the 5 tenors at the Iglesia de San Jeronimo Real Madrid, where we were given VIP access and the opportunity to see an original copy of DonQuixote & the quill used by Cervantes, both laying on a symbolic coffin of Cervantes on the 400-yr anniversary of Don Quixote (who knew?); free tours and not-free tours covering some of the historical sites and tales of the Spanish Inquisition; and, daily, kindness from the people we met? By now you've probably forgotten the question, but The answer, of course, is our first four days in Madrid.
Our hotel, Paseo del Arte, is rather soul-less, but the room is larger than many European hotel rooms, the breakfast buffet is ample though redundant, the location is wonderful for visiting the three museums of the Art Triangle (the Prado, Thyssen-Bornemisza, and the Reina Sophia), and the hotel is just across from RetiroPark, a large, beautiful park designed and first opened in the 17th century. The staff is very friendly and our hotel proved to be in a reasonably central location for walking to many of the historic sights. We failed to see everything on our list during these four days, but GMA just couldn't keep her eyes open any more. Madrid obviously deserves a repeat.
After four days in Madrid, it was time to move on. So with just a day pack & a satchel, we caught the morning fast train to Burgos, a noteworthy stop on the El Camino de Santiago.
Hostal Rimbombin was just as pictured on booking.com & trip advisor: very white and efficient, clean and ensuite, and just a few narrow streets away from the gothic cathedral, a UNESCO world heritage site, important and impressive since the Middle Ages. Construction of the church started in 1221 and continued for more than 300 years, an apparently typical timeline likely due to the daily siestas, plethora of Spanish wines, and conflicts between the architects and construction workers (somethings never change).
We found La Cartuja de Miraflores, a hilltop monastic complex, about 2 miles from the center of Burgos, after following a path along the river which was witness to a piece of daily life: kids and dogs romping in the parks. The walk was relaxing, the monastery simply beautiful and highlighted by a recorded choir of clergy which brought peace to the occasion. Sore feet & all, it was a great walk. Finally there was Blood sausage & chicken wings for dinner, the former a specialty of the region & the latter , plan b.
Valladolid's Cathedral of our lady of the holy assumption was an afternoon stop off on our train route to Salamanca. The church was started in the15th century when Valladolid was the capital of Spain, but never finished as planned as funding evaporated when the capital was moved to Madrid in 1560. Today the cathedral is noteworthy as a rich musical archive with annual organ concerts, brought to our attention by the organist's husband, a gregarious gentleman of German origin ("my father was a famous surgeon after WWII") who took immediate interest in us & whose smile and chuckles filled the cathedral.
We arrived in Salamanca in the early evening. Rosa, the efficient and detached receptionist at Salamanca Suites, ushered us to our IKEA-built room where we dropped our bags and headed out to explore the city. Salamanca is another UNESCO world heritage site, and considered to be one of the most spectacular and beautiful Renaissance cities in Europe. The buildings were constructed from local sandstone which glows orange, gold, and pink depending on the time of day, thus giving it the nickname, "la Dorada", the golden city. The old city is perched on a hill, transacted by capillaries of cobblestone streets, pedestrians barely able & often unable to share space with automobiles. An American film company has filled some of the streets with dirt and brought in carts and hay, setting up to film "Romeo & Juliet". The setting couldn't be more perfect as the streets and buildings all look like part of a movie set depicting the Middle Ages with knights on horseback, peasants, & kings. We walked over a Roman bridge built in the first century, then climbed up into the bell tower and out onto the ramparts of a 12th century church, with a dizzying & unnerving view high above the nave. Time for coffee con leche then over to the convent, through the Plaza Mayor ( every city & town seems to have one), up one hill and down another, past the house of shells built in the 15th century, past the university, into the Art Deco museum, into the war museum, Gespacho and a selection of local pork parts & wine for lunch, & finally at the end of a great day we were back on the train to Madrid.
Let's start with a riddle. What begins in the morning with OJ and ends well after midnight with wine; days filled with Goya, Velasquez, Renoir, Degas, Rubens, Titian, Picasso, and others; each day more than 15,000 steps recorded by a very demanding FitBit; Churros dipped in chocolate (note to self: Disneyland's are better); a memorable tapas experience at an old Hemingway haunt, La Vencencia; drinking wine that tasted like sherry; tapas immersion, each night something new and unfamiliar (the first night, mostly meat - did they say burro? - the second night, mostly cheese; the third night, mostly fish; and the fourth night, snails in a tomato based sauce ( madrilenya ) - and chorizo), and always bread and olives (were Portugal's better?); sangria with flamenco dancing; an unexpected living art presentation by a local theater group at the entrance to the Prado Museum and a very memorable and moving concert by clergy and the 5 tenors at the Iglesia de San Jeronimo Real Madrid, where we were given VIP access and the opportunity to see an original copy of DonQuixote & the quill used by Cervantes, both laying on a symbolic coffin of Cervantes on the 400-yr anniversary of Don Quixote (who knew?); free tours and not-free tours covering some of the historical sites and tales of the Spanish Inquisition; and, daily, kindness from the people we met? By now you've probably forgotten the question, but The answer, of course, is our first four days in Madrid.
Our hotel, Paseo del Arte, is rather soul-less, but the room is larger than many European hotel rooms, the breakfast buffet is ample though redundant, the location is wonderful for visiting the three museums of the Art Triangle (the Prado, Thyssen-Bornemisza, and the Reina Sophia), and the hotel is just across from RetiroPark, a large, beautiful park designed and first opened in the 17th century. The staff is very friendly and our hotel proved to be in a reasonably central location for walking to many of the historic sights. We failed to see everything on our list during these four days, but GMA just couldn't keep her eyes open any more. Madrid obviously deserves a repeat.
After four days in Madrid, it was time to move on. So with just a day pack & a satchel, we caught the morning fast train to Burgos, a noteworthy stop on the El Camino de Santiago.
Hostal Rimbombin was just as pictured on booking.com & trip advisor: very white and efficient, clean and ensuite, and just a few narrow streets away from the gothic cathedral, a UNESCO world heritage site, important and impressive since the Middle Ages. Construction of the church started in 1221 and continued for more than 300 years, an apparently typical timeline likely due to the daily siestas, plethora of Spanish wines, and conflicts between the architects and construction workers (somethings never change).
We found La Cartuja de Miraflores, a hilltop monastic complex, about 2 miles from the center of Burgos, after following a path along the river which was witness to a piece of daily life: kids and dogs romping in the parks. The walk was relaxing, the monastery simply beautiful and highlighted by a recorded choir of clergy which brought peace to the occasion. Sore feet & all, it was a great walk. Finally there was Blood sausage & chicken wings for dinner, the former a specialty of the region & the latter , plan b.
Valladolid's Cathedral of our lady of the holy assumption was an afternoon stop off on our train route to Salamanca. The church was started in the15th century when Valladolid was the capital of Spain, but never finished as planned as funding evaporated when the capital was moved to Madrid in 1560. Today the cathedral is noteworthy as a rich musical archive with annual organ concerts, brought to our attention by the organist's husband, a gregarious gentleman of German origin ("my father was a famous surgeon after WWII") who took immediate interest in us & whose smile and chuckles filled the cathedral.
We arrived in Salamanca in the early evening. Rosa, the efficient and detached receptionist at Salamanca Suites, ushered us to our IKEA-built room where we dropped our bags and headed out to explore the city. Salamanca is another UNESCO world heritage site, and considered to be one of the most spectacular and beautiful Renaissance cities in Europe. The buildings were constructed from local sandstone which glows orange, gold, and pink depending on the time of day, thus giving it the nickname, "la Dorada", the golden city. The old city is perched on a hill, transacted by capillaries of cobblestone streets, pedestrians barely able & often unable to share space with automobiles. An American film company has filled some of the streets with dirt and brought in carts and hay, setting up to film "Romeo & Juliet". The setting couldn't be more perfect as the streets and buildings all look like part of a movie set depicting the Middle Ages with knights on horseback, peasants, & kings. We walked over a Roman bridge built in the first century, then climbed up into the bell tower and out onto the ramparts of a 12th century church, with a dizzying & unnerving view high above the nave. Time for coffee con leche then over to the convent, through the Plaza Mayor ( every city & town seems to have one), up one hill and down another, past the house of shells built in the 15th century, past the university, into the Art Deco museum, into the war museum, Gespacho and a selection of local pork parts & wine for lunch, & finally at the end of a great day we were back on the train to Madrid.
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