Mostly Madrid.

Madrid doesn't have a cool theme song by Freddie Mercury the way Barcelona does.  Nor does it have a David Bowie exhibit or a beach.  But it is still a wonderful city and like everywhere we've been  in Spain the food was marvelous, the wine was pretty good and the local public transport was frequent, clean, and not over-crowded.

The train trip from Barcelona to Madrid was fantastic.  Incredibly fast speeds and our seats were in the carriage next to the restaurant and bar.   We had a pleasant afternoon watching the mountains speed by while enjoying a glass of rosé (me) or beer (Matt).  Madrid was forecast to be hot! hot! hot! but it only topped at around 36 degrees while we were there.  As we had an apartment with a decent kitchen it meant stocking up on magnum minis and tonic water.  We were lucky enough to find a bar very close by which was mostly patronised by local workers.   Their sangria was wonderful and Matt sweet talked the recipe out of the owner.  Ingredients included gin, brandy, red wine, prosecco (not cava), and sweet red vermouth.  

I had been very excited to read about the Temple of Debod and was looking forward to visiting it.  It is an Egyptian temple which was to be inundated by the Aswan Dam.  Instead it was taken apart and painstakingly rebuilt on a hill in a park in Madrid. It really is a spectacular location.  Unfortunately, we were unable to see the inside as it was closed for maintenance.  Why the people at the tourist office who gave us directions didn’t convey that important piece of information we shall never know…

The rest of our brief time in the Spanish capital was spent on mostly walking around.  It has a similar vibe to other modern big cities and is very easy to get around on the frequent and not overcrowded metro and buses.  Naturally we didn’t miss the local food markets – which were crowded  but full of great food both to eat there or take home. 

It was a bus onwards to our next stop too.  I had thought we were in for a 3 ½ hour bus trip from Madrid to Granada but apparently the bus timetable didn’t follow normal practice and use 24 hour time.  The trip was actually 5 ½ hours and arrived at 3:30pm.  Unlike other coaches we’ve caught it didn’t stop so the driver could have a coffee break, it was a direct service.  It wasn’t too bad with seat back screens offering movies, music, and limited internet browsing, but goodness we were peckish by the time we arrived!  Thank goodness for tapas.

All this for eight Euro