Europe 2010 - Days Fifteen, Sixteen and Seventeen - Madrid

Bernard, Craig, Liz and I jumped on the high speed train from Seville to Madrid, opting to get to Madrid asap as opposed to hanging around and listening to the Cats game, like Bernard and I had done a week before in Lisbon. Turned out to be a good move.

I said it in a previous entry, and I’m feeling a rant coming on. Train travel is the absolute best, probably losing only to naval travel on a calm day when you’re not in a hurry. As you may tell, I’m a few days behind on the blog and I sit on a train to Bilbao as I type this. I rocked up to the train station 30 minutes before the train left, grabbed a ticket and I was on the train no dramas. I got 1^st class for a few extra bob and I’m sitting very comfortably taking in the stunning Spanish landscape. No hassles checking in, boarding, listening to the safety announcements. If you’re hungary, get up grab a feed or a beer. Its just the best. As opposed to the six hour bus from Faro to Seville which sucked in every way imaginable. Australia needs to invest in rail infrastructure… The skeleton is there.

Anyhow, train travel absolutely rocks. We took the high speed from Seville to Madrid. It took just over two hours to cover over 500kms. When we arrived we got a cab to our hotel and got our bearings. The first thing we noticed about Madrid is the traffic. It is a nightmare. Cars go wherever they want, whenever they want and without indicating. We saw one guy try and merge lanes but was cut off by two drivers. What did old mate do? Sped up a bit, then forced his way in between the two cars that cut him off. It was nuts.

We went around town and had a look. To be honest, there isn’t much of a story to tell. Plaza De Mayor was cool, the city centre was bustling, especially at night. But Madrid has not won me over. The best part was hanging out with my brother, sister and brother in law. We had a great time eating the world’s best ham and chilling in a really cool bar.

Day two in Madrid, the lads went for a walk to Santiago Bernebau, the home of Real Madrid, while Liz went off and saw the Museo de Prado. The stadium was a fair hike, very unimpressive from the outside and very expensive to go and have a look. We cut our losses and took the metro back to town to meet up with Liz.

We had lunch near the Market and then we went and checked out a modern art exhibition, while Bernard went and read a book. The exhibition was awesome. Saw some of the world’s most famous artists, including Dali, Monet, Manet and of course, Picaso.

We spent our last night in Madrid just chilling and playing cards. It was a fun evening and a good way to spend some time with family before going our separate ways in the morning.

I would be taking the train to Bilbao as mentioned above. It was a six hour trip, but it went by really quickly. There was vista after vista, from rugged almost desert terrain, to slum towns, to castles and even wind farms. When we passed through the mountains and some of the more historic areas near Miranda, it was approaching dusk and the views got even better. I can’t describe how amazing it was. The only downside, the glare caused from the windows made taking photos nigh impossible. By 80 Euro ticket had paid for itself.

Madrid