The Rest of Centro Madrid

Sun-Ling was always in love with Madrid, John not so much. However, on this visit John took a liking to the lively yet peaceful Madrid city center. Most streets are vehicle restricted, or vehicle free. City buses are quiet, electric or gas, and sized to fit-the-street (see photo below). Young folks zip around on electric scooters but there are no roaring, polluting buses, and robotic lawn mowers are taking care of the Royal Lawn (see photo below). I'm guessing we'll be back.



Guess who's coming to Madrid this summer?

We are enjoying the fine selection of mushrooms in Spanish grocery stores.

The highlight of Wednesday was seeing this robot lawn mower cutting the lawn at the Royal Palace Gardens. First a photo, then a 25-second video.

We were lucky and happened to be in Madrid for nine-times-a-year "Solemn Changing of the Guard" at the Royal Palace that showcases uniforms from past eras, and horses.

Here's a 2-minute video, shot by Sun-Ling, that shows all the participants in the Solemn Changing.

The Royal Botanic Garden is adjacent to Atocha Station and close to our hotel. The tulips were attracting much attention.

We also liked the greenhouse and the exhibition at the onsite art gallery.

No visit to Madrid is complete without an early evening stroll to Puerto del Sol.

Our hotel was also near the Caixa Forum with its captivating design and Green Wall.

Stay tuned for our next post from the City Walls of Avila, Spain.

El Escorial Did Not Disappoint

El Escorial is another UNESCO World Heritage site that we had wanted to bag forever and finally got around to. The bad part is that officially there are no photos allowed inside, because there is some cool stuff that not all palaces have:

• Library: huge, beautiful ceiling frescos
• Chapter houses: elegant ceiling frescos that are really in the style of grotesque (link?)
• Royal Pantheon: eerie, unusual
• Wall tapestries: surely there are more here than the Prado, and they are in situ, vivid colors, some from Goya cartons.
• Gardens: big expanse of sculptured gardens

Our day trip to El Escorial started at Atocha Cercanias, the busy commuter rail station adjacent to the Renfe station.

It's just 1hr 15 mins each way on line C3, and after 30 minutes the morning commuters had vanished. So we relaxed and enjoyed the scenery.

El Escorial Station to San Lorenzo de El Escorial Monastery and Royal Site is an easy 20 minute, slightly uphill walk which was good for us on a chilly morning. The Monastery does not show itself until you are almost there.

The site admission is 12 euros. No photography is allowed inside. However, it's a huge and "lightly guarded" monastery with many rooms and corridors so we were able to take a few quick snaps. First is the Courtyard of the Kings entrance to the Basilica.

The dome of the Basilica.

Grand Stairwell Ceiling Fresco.

Cloister Murals.

Pantheon of Infantes; tombs of royal children who did not live to adulthood. [The Royal Pantheon for kings and queens is well guarded. No pics. Smile.]

Tapestries in the Royal Residence.

A few shots from the well-tended Friars Garden which surrounds the Monastery on two sides.

Lastly, the eastern facade of the Monastery.

We returned on the C3 to a busy Atocha Station.

Atocha's original 1892 main hall was turned into an atrium in 1992.

Monday Fun in Cuenca

We begrudgingly went to Cuenca only because it is on the UNESCO World Heritage list. The place is in the middle of nowhere and never seems to be on the way. It is a 100-euro 2-person daytrip from either Madrid or Valencia, which seems extravagant. John said we'd check it off our list this time so we would never have to agonize over whether/how to bag Cuenca ever again. In order to keep the trip under 100 euros, we had to make our train reservations a few weeks before. The evening before our trip I was furiously figuring out how we were going to kill 6 cold hours at an altitude of 1100m, because I expected Cuenca to be as exciting as Arcos de la Frontera which is just about the most underwhelming place we have been in all of Spain. Then it all changed after I came across a blog about going around to the viewpoints. Being suckers for miradors, I became excited about our Cuenca outing.

Cuenca is a hilltop town, surrounded by gorges on three sides. We went to Mirador del Cerro del Socorro, Mirador del Rey, and Mirador del Cuenca; that is, one mirador on each of the sides. Then we realized the waterways in the gorges are really beautiful and there are signs for walking routes all over the place, so we started to follow the water, and ended up walking all of SL-CU 10 – Ruta de las Hoces de Cuenca. And on the way back to the bus stop at the top of the town, we then checked off more viewpoints in the town. It turned out to be a super fun outing. Cuenca is far more scenic than Arcos, and even Ronda!

SL booked a hotel 8-minutes from Atocha Station (below, facade lit up) so the before dawn, chilly, downhill walk to catch the 6:45 am fast AVE train to Cuenca was a snap.



In less than an hour, our train covered the 187 kms to Cuenca Fernando Zóbel Station which is 8 kms from the Old Town Center. Bus line 1 makes the trip on the half-hour. So by 8:30 we were ready-to-get-moving in an empty Plaza Mayor.

The uphill walk to the mile-high Cristo at Mirador del Cerro del Socorro quickly warms us up, crossing the red bridge and passing the Parador de Cuenca resort and some rock climbing spots on the way. Once at the top there are awesome views down to town.

Coming back to town we cross Rio Heucar and walk uphill under the famous cliff houses. Then follow the Ruta upstream to the old Aqueduct and up to Mirador del Rey.

The view up the canyon reminds us of a smaller, green Grand Canyon.

And an awesome view of the Cathedral.

Back in town we walk down towards the Rio Jucar, passing a section of the old City Walls before heading up to Mirador del Cuenca.

And finally we take Ruta de las Hoces de Cuenca back up to the bus stop in front of the Cathedral. It's a very nice walk along the Rio Jucar and then the Rio Huecar.

Back at Plaza Mayor, the sun is out, and there is activity, though the word "lively" would not apply. Smile.

Just before the 3pm bus arrives we peep into the Cathedral for a look at their special Easter procession "platform" of the Last Supper, and bag a mirador with view of the Rio Jucar.

And for our railfan readers. Here are some short videos of the trip back to Madrid starting with our train pulling into Cuenca.