As I mentioned in a previous post, we had visitors throughout the month of November of last year. My wife’s parents and my mom both came to visit, and their time overlapped by about a week. We planned a trip to Madrid around this time that they overlapped.
My wife’s parents had already been with us for about a week before we left for Madrid. We took them to several of the places in Northern Spain (including our first trip to San Sebastián and Potes) during that week. Then, we drove down to Madrid, with a stop in Burgos along the way. We arranged for my mom to fly into Madrid rather than Bilbao as part of this arrangement, so we were on a bit of a timetable with our need to pick her up at the Madrid airport.
The Capital of Spain
Of course, most people probably know Madrid is the largest city in Spain and that it is the capital city. I’ll be honest and say I didn’t know a whole lot else about Madrid before we decided to move to Spain. I think I might have known there were some famous art museums, but that’s about it.1
Madrid is more or less in the center of Spain. I don’t know for sure, but I think this is partly why it was made the capital of the country. It isn’t as old or historically well-established as some of the country’s other areas—it doesn’t have easy access to any of the major ports or other avenues of international trade of the past—but it is certainly Spain’s central city nowadays (in more ways than one). So, it seemed a little weird to live in Spain for the time we did and not make an effort to see the country’s cultural and political capital.2
A Trip to the Airport
As I said, we arranged for my mom to fly into Madrid and we agreed to pick her up at the airport. The family with whom we exchanged homes left two cars for us, so we took the bigger of the two through Burgos and met my mom at the Madrid airport. We timed everything just about right, even though it took us a while to figure out where we could park the car. I ended up going inside the airport to try to make things a bit easier on my mom, but while I was inside I saw her standing in a designated “pick up” area. So, I quickly ran outside to grab her and make our way back to the car (where my wife, son, and in-laws were waiting).
This was not my mom’s first time flying internationally, but (I think) it was her first time in Europe. She seemed to handle all of the difficulties well, including fighting through whatever jet lag she might have had.
We met up with a family the my wife (and her parents) knew from Sacramento for dinner and a quick tour of the Plaza Mayor area of the city. He is living in Madrid doing PhD research of some kind or another. He had only been living in Madrid for a few months, but he gave us what he was able as far as quick info and a tour.
Paella
I hate to say it, but I am not a huge fan of paella. It’s usually fine, but it has never really been something that grabs me as a “culinary experience.” Paella is kind of like the “national dish” of Spain. It is most specifically associated with València and the surrounding areas, but it’s probably the food most people readily associate with Spain. We had some Valèncian paella in València (including the traditional rabbit meat (and chicken)). But, since we were in a new place with new company (my mom) and that’s kind of “what you do” in Spain, my mom and I got some paella from a restaurant in Plaza Mayor. It wasn’t great. In fact, my mom’s was pretty “meh” at best. But, “when in Rome” I s’pose.3
In fact, pretty much every time I ate paella in Spain it was just kind of “okay.” It was never the sort of thing that was memorable or outstanding. This could be because we never went to the right place(s), or we were in too “touristy” of areas to get the authentic stuff or, maybe I just don’t really like paella. I will say, I have had better(in my opinion, of course) paella in San Diego than I had in any of the places I tried it in Spain. In general, I found Spanish food to be lacking in spice—everything was a little on the bland side, even when it was billed as “picante.” The family that lived in our house actually commented a bit about this at one point. They found some hot sauce in our cupboard and used and … wow was it spicy! So, maybe I am just used to the extra-extra-spicy nature of most Mexican food, seeing as that is the majority of what we eat at my house.4
Art and Music
We only really spent one full day in Madrid, which is hardly enough. We arrived in the afternoon on one day and left in the afternoon two days later, so you might be able to make the case that we spent two days, total in the city, but that’s a stretch.
We spent most of that one day trying to cram as many sights in as possible. We went to the royal palace and central cathedral. We saw some of the iconic architecture along Gran Via (kind of like the Spanish version of Times Square) and walked through El Retiro (the city’s main park). All of it was great but kind of quick.
My in laws really wanted to see a flamenco show while in Spain (again, the whole “when in Rome,” thing). Technically, flamenco is native to Andalusia (Southern Spain), but you can find shows spread out all across the country. (Again, it has come to be seen as “the” Spanish music and dance, even if it’s origins are from a specific corner of the country and from a specific population … the Roma in this case … which is to say, it’s technically not even really a “Spanish” style in as much as it is a style that developed among non-Spaniards living in a formerly-Muslim-controlled area of Spain.
Anyway, they wanted to see a flamenco show—as did my mom—but we were certain my son (14 at the time) would just be a pill about all of it, so we encouraged them to book a reservation while we (my wife, my son, and I) wandered around the city a bit more.
While we were looking for the flamenco venue, we found some especially interesting areas of the city. I don’t really know what this scene is even about, except that it’s a great visual and was a cool thing to stumble across while we looked for the venue.
Free Admission Just Before Closing
We dropped the old-timers off at the flamenco venue and headed out to see what we could see.
As we were exploring, we became aware of the fact that the Reina Sofía, one of the main art museums in Madrid, has free admission for the last hour it is open. Though we wanted to, we hadn’t really planned on going to the museum—again, the whole sometimes-kind-of-whiny-teenage-son, thing—but now we realized we really should. So, we hurried to get in the freeloaders’ line at the museum. We also sent a message to the old folks—whose flamenco show would get out in time for them to make it to the museum … if they hurried—and eventually made it into the museum.5
The museum’s most famous work is almost certainly Picasso’s Guernica. If we say nothing else, we wanted to see that. And we did. It was awesome! We were able to get a “front row” of the work, something we had heard could be difficult. It was great.
The museum is also home to several Dalí masterworks, which we saw after rushing to see the Picasso. I also liked an exhibit they had of covers of different editions of the Great Bear Pamphlet. I hadn’t ever heard of this publication, but I was especially excited to see one by John Cage.
Spanish Shoes
Our stay in Madrid concluded with some quick souvenir shopping the next morning (or course). Ever since we were in Italy I had been on the lookout for some shoes. My wife bought a really cool pair of black leather shoes in Florence and I had been kind of jealous ever since. We walked by a few shoe stores the night before so I thought it would be a good time to look a little harder.
I ended up buying a simple pair of shoes. They are a nice tan suede, nothing super special. In fact, they are quite basic, really. They have almost no padding or any “features” to speak of; they are just some suede sewn to a rubber sole. But, I like them a lot. I actually wear them pretty often. I kind of like “souvenirs” that are a but more useful than the usual kitschy stuff; I like my souvenirs to be somewhat unique but also things that are on the more practical end of things. These shoes are a nice reminder of the time we spent in Spain (and in Madrid particularly).
And, it turns out, there are some great museums in Madrid, some that might rival those in Paris! ↩︎
Although, we didn’t visit Barcelona, which is a bit of a bummer. ↩︎
Or, “when in Madrid” in this case. ↩︎
Maybe not “extra extra,” but still Mexican and spicy. ↩︎
My mom and my in-laws made it before the museum closed, just long enough for them to see one of its main attractions. They were pretty proud of themselves for figuring out how to get there on their own and on time. ↩︎