So, if you’ve ever read my posts on previous trips you’ll know that there are certain things I like to do whenever I go to a new city. I like to ride a funicular if they have one. Well, I haven’t found one of those, but there is a cable car, the Telerifico, but sadly I just haven’t been able to cram it in. Maybe next visit. I also like to ride the trams if they have any. No, but I have been riding on the Metro, and you can see the picture I sketched this morning. I had to let three trains go before I’d ‘got’ it mind you, but wwe all have to make sacrifices in the name of Art. Then one of the other things I really want to do is find if the city has what I would call a ‘signature’ bridge.
You know what I mean, I’m sure. If you think of my previous sketching adventures, Prague has its Charles Bridge, Berlin its Oberbaumbrucke, Budapest has the Chain Bridge, and even Kaunas has the Vytatutas the Great bridge, albeit that’s rather more modest in scale. I was beginning to think that Madrid maybe didn’t have one. A bit of googling first thing this morning, though, brought up the Puenta de Toledo – the Toledo Bridge. This was completed in the 1720s, and in my humble opinion, as bridges go, it’s a bit of alright. Mind you, at this time of year the Rio Manzanares really isn’t anything to write home about. One of the other things I try to do is to take a river sightseeing trip, and up until I got to the bridge I wondered why I couldn’t find anyone in Madrid offering them. Having seen the Manzanares I think I now know. Basically you can forget about getting a boat down it. The closest thing you could have to a river sightseeing trip is wading through it in a pair of wellies.
I’d taken the Metro to the bridge, but I walked back along the river path towards the palace, and from there onto the Temple of Debod. Basically, the Egyptian Government donated it to Spain since it was going to be flooded by the Aswan Dam anyway. It’s, how should I put it? – a bit – bleh, mind you, it was built in the Roman period anyway.
I walked back to the hostel for lunch and a wee siesta, and then decided to check out the Parque de Buen Retiro. Now, the path that I took from the main road took me up hill, along an avenue full of what looked like little green beach huts on either side. Each of them belonged, so it seemed to a bookseller. I asked one of them if she minded me doing a wee sketch of her, and whether she understood - difficult to tell since she replied in fluent grunt – she didn’t make a fuss when I did. And so, good people, she became my Madrilena of the day. Thence to the park.
Considering that the park is in the middle of one of the busiest areas of the centre of Madrid it is incredibly peaceful and tranquil. Mind you, it’s huge. However most of the pathways are lined with trees, so it was well shaded, which is just as well since the tips of my ears were burning – although I notice that my legs are staying stubbornly white, a legacy of my Scottish ancestors, I’d guess.
One of the features signposted in the park was El Palacio de Cristal. Now, even with my poor Spanish I could work out that this probably meant crystal palace. Well, I’m very sorry, but offer me the chance to see a crystal palace and I’m your boy. I have to say, when I reached it I really wasn’t disappointed. It was built a couple of decades after the London one, and like that one, for an International Exposition. According to my research the plan was to make it in Bilbao, which they did, and construct it in such a way that it could be dismantled and re-erected elsewhere. The Spanish authorities had the good sense to leave it where it is. It’s terrific.
I shan’t lie – I’ve loved Madrid, but I’m cream crackered. So I’ve decided to call it a day. The train to Madrid is just after midday tomorrow, so if there’s anything I’m desperate to sketch I can maybe do it before I leave. I sketched the Toledo Bridge about 8:30 this morning, and it was so lovely to do because the day hadn’t really started to heat up, so maybe there will be an opportunity tomorrow morning.
So that’s almost it for Madrid. However don’t worry – for tomorrow we’re off to Alicante.
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