This is a long-delayed follow-up to Things to do in Spain – Part 1. (Like many others, we’ve been distracted by the wild political developments of-the-day in addition to normal pre-wedding business).
In the post, we talked about some of our favorite things to do in Barcelona, one of the more obvious possible entry or departure points for Spain. In this post, we`ll talk about Madrid and we’ll follow-up with Lisbon (which we’ll be travelling through roughly a week before the wedding) in a third part.
As the capital of Spain, Madrid is an obvious choice if you’re either an art or museum lover. In addition to the obvious imperial paraphernalia like the Royal Palace of Madrid, you will find the “Golden Triangle of Art” with three exciting arts museums, the Prado, the Thyssen-Bornemisza, and the Reina Sofia. These contain historical European art, 20th century art, and a formerly private collection in turn.
One of my personal favorites would be the deeply moody Black Paintings by Goya although plenty of lighter fare is on display as well.
Another great thing about Madrid is that it lies at the centre of Spain’s high speed train lines. This allows for many great day trips using Madrid as a home base.
We particularly enjoyed the Roman aqueduct at Segovia and the city of Toledo. But day trips to the monastery/imperial residence of El Escorial and a number of other locations are also possible.
While in Madrid, the city has a number of relaxing parks including the Parque de El Retiro and the Parque del Oeste which includes the Temple of Debod. Like the Temple of Dendur which you may have encountered in New York, this temple was gifted to Spain by Egypt in gratitude for aid in moving temples out of the way of dam construction.
Restaurants of note that we visited include the Casa Salvador (an old-school restaurant which used to be for bull-fighters and which retains a rich historical decor) and the Marisqueria Reibeira do Mino (a seafood restaurant where we ordered entirely too much food by accident).
