We arrived at Madrid, took the metro to hotel Plaza Mayor, ate at a place called Corazon Loco (crazy heart) with lots of Spanish rock style / tattoo people. It was okay, not as good as the tapas we had in Barcelona. Madrid overall is not as travel-friendly as Barcelona. I guess it's only good for politics and work. The good thing was that we went to a Flamenco show. We got there late but the seats were reserved and the drinks were served. It was good learning the dance culture and music. The performers are very famous. They performed for the king and queen of Spain before. It was a good show.
In the morning we went to visit the garden and the Palacio Real de Madrid. The 18th century castle is beautiful. There were several museums to see. The most notable ones are the Grand Palace where the king used to stay and the weapon/armor museum. The design were amazing and I wonder how much effort was put into building the palace. However, they didn't allow photos. But of course, I took several sneak shots. I don't come all the way from America to just see the museums, gotta take some photos.
For lunch we went to this Tarvana place, which was really good. Their chips and eggs and boar (jamon iberia) were really good. We walked around the city, taking pictures and sitting in a local bar drinking beer. Most people in Barcelona speak English or at least were very tourist friendly. Here in Madrid, they are not as friendly. They keep speaking Spanish to you like they think you know what they're saying. When you start to look confuse, they keep going again in Spanish. In Barcelona there were plenty of dogs and their owner picked up their dogs' drops. In Madrid, dog poops are everywhere and you need to be careful walking at night. There are also a lot of poor people in Madrid.
We went to the Prado Museum which was very large and contained lots of Europe Paintings, art works, and sculptures. It's interesting to see art works from different areas of Europe. The museum is TOO DAMN BIG, it's like a forest, you can get lost in there easily. If you want to see the whole museum, you have to take up the entire day or more for it. I am not an art person so I didn't really pay attention. No photos, no pointings allowed in the museum. It's kind of ridiculous that they do that. In America, when they say there's no photo allowed in the museum, they mean you can take photos without flash. Here they ask for your camera or you have to delete the picture in front of them. Everywhere I go I hear "no photos", "no pointing at the picture". I guess they don't allow photos so that they can sell post cards or photos at la tienda de el museo. So in honor of their no photo policy, I'm gonna post a sneak shot inside the prado museum. Small digital cameras are handy at times.
For dinner we ate at "La case de los abuelos", very good place.
Everywhere you go in Spain, you'll be able to find tapas. There are plenty of good restaurants and bars in Spain. However, Spanish starts out the day really late. They serve breakfast at noon and lunch doesn't start until 2-3. People coming back from work for lunch. Their dinner begins at 8 (earliest) and last until after midnight. I guess eating is a very common social activity in Spain. There are also plenty of pick pockets in Madrid. My bag was unzipped on our way back to the hotel. But I didn't lose anything. There were only paper towels, make up stuff, wet paper towels, napkins, and more paper towels in my bag from my girl friend. I wish they stole those so I don't have to carry them around and it will solve our suitcase problem when we get to on the next plane.
So there you have it, Madrid was a good place to visit, but if I have to pick one best city in Europe, it's not going to be Madrid.
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