Madrid

Oct 10-13
AC824 YYZ-MAD, AC825 MAD-YYZ

Having recently discovered what Madrid has to offer, I jumped on a nice discounted business class fare to Marid over the Thanksgiving weekend. At the time, I didn’t appreciate that this was also a holiday weekend for Spain, celebrating Spanish National Day, which turned out to provide both challenges and opportunity. Initially, it was very expensive to find reasonably priced hotels, but ultimately I found the Hyatt Regency Hesperia in the Almagro area which, while outside of the central core, was well connected to transit and quite walkable.

Oct 11

After our non-stop overnight flight, although we managed to sleep for a good portion, we were quite happy that they had a room immediately available for early check-in, so that we could shower and have a short nap to make up for some lost sleep. We were then ready to explore the area around the hotel and head towards the old city.

Monumento al Marqués del Duero, one of many monuments, as we walked our way down Paseo de la Castellana

Palacete de Eduardo Adcoch (1906), further down the thoroughfare

Julia, by Catalan artist Jaume Plensa, in the Plaza de Colón, very similar to a favourite sculpture by the same artist in Toronto’s financial district

Visiting the National Archaeological Museum, some Paleolithic art (16,000-13,000 BC), decorating this animal scapulae discovered in the Iberian Peninsula

7th Century BC Bronze statuettes, likely representing the Priest of Cádiz (left) and the Egyptian god Ptah

Reconstructed Mausoleum of Pozo Moro, an ancient Iberian funerary monument from the 6th century BC, is the oldest known Iberian grave monument

3rd century, Celtic-Iberian goddess Loxa terracotta figurine

Bulls from Costitx, bronze 5th-3rd century BC

Bronze bust of Tiberius (42 BC-37 AD), Roman emperor

Marble statue of Livia wife of Augustus and mother of Tiberius

Roman Mosaic (3rd century AD) with the Labours of Hercules discovered in Llíria, near Valencia, Spain, in 1917

Bust of the virgin

Puetra de Alcala (1778) prominent neoclassical triumphal arch

Palacio de Cibeles and the Cibeles Fountain. The beautiful palace, originally the main post office, now serves as Madrid's City Hall.

Making our way down Gran Via, the Metrópolis Building (1911), designed by French architects Jules and Raymond Février

Basílica Pontificia de San Miguel (1745), a notable example of 18th-century Spanish Baroque architecture, with Italian influence

The Mercado de San Miguel retains its original early 20th-century iron structure, built between 1913 and 1916. 

Some of the beautiful tapas on display in the market

Very beautiful and tasty offerings

The Almudena Cathedral located next to the Royal Palace; construction started in 1883, finally being consecrated by the Pope in 1993

Statue of Euric, a 5th-century Visigothic king, located in the Plaza de Oriente

With many steps under our feet, we took the subway back to the hotel, and I went for a walk to explore the area and see some of the setup for Spanish National Day celebrations.

Oct 12

As I was preparing for the upcoming Toronto Waterfront Half Marathon, I started the day with a 16km/10mile to and run around Retiro Park, where I could see the preparations underway for the National Day parade. After breakfast, we decided to head out and experience the National Day celebrations.

The flags were on full display everywhere

An Air Force display started the parade

Showing off the Spanish colours

The parade of soldiers went on for over an hour with patriotism on full display

Each battalion had different uniforms

For practical reasons, the horses were at the end of the parade

Back in Retiro Park in daylight, the Fuente de los Galápagos (Fountain of the Turtles), appropriate given our recent trip

Monument to Alfonso XII, located on the Estanque Grande, an artificial lake in Retiro

Also in Retiro, the Monument to Jacinto Benavente, a celebrated Spanish playwright

The official viewing stands at the beginning of the parade route still had some crowds that hadn’t fully dispersed

Near our hotel is the National Museum of Natural Sciences

4m high bronze statue of Indalecio Prieto, by Spanish artist Pablo Serrano

The bell tower of the Church of San Ginés, (1645) one of the oldest in the city

Plaza de Chueca

Back at the National Museum of Natural Sciences exploring the dinosaur connection

A skeleton of a Camarasaurus

The skull of an Edmontosaurus

Having taken full advantage of the free evening entry hours at the museum and proximity to the hotel, we headed back to the hotel for evening.

Oct 13

Because our flight wasn’t super early after breakfast, we had just enough time to explore the immediate area around the hotel.

Bernabéu Stadium, the home stadium of the Real Madrid C.F. football club, a short walk from our hotel

32-story Torre Europa skyscraper

Monument to Isabella the Catholic (1883), located on the Paseo de la Castellana

The transfer from the hotel to the airport went well, and we had time to relax in the lounge before our flight home and back to work. It was a great Thanksgiving long weekend, and we had a new appreciation of how patriotic Spain celebrates their National Day.