{"id":5037,"date":"2024-05-15T15:04:16","date_gmt":"2024-05-15T19:04:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/travel.woodring.us\/wordpress\/?p=5037"},"modified":"2024-05-15T15:04:16","modified_gmt":"2024-05-15T19:04:16","slug":"five-nights-in-madrid","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/travel.woodring.us\/wordpress\/2024\/05\/15\/five-nights-in-madrid\/","title":{"rendered":"Five Nights in Madrid"},"content":{"rendered":"

If Madrid were a puzzle, it would take a long time to put the pieces together. Each time we visit we try to add another piece to the puzzle. This time we\u2019ve explored neighborhoods, tried to understand the tapas scene, and visited museums that we didn\u2019t know existed in this city. Madrid is always VERY busy, the cafes noisy, and the streets crowded. Still, we like it very much – many places are easily walkable, the museums the best anywhere, the subways easy to navigate, and the locals friendly and cheerful.<\/p>\n

Madrid is a vibrant city with a wonderfully high energy level. It can be tiring, but it’s also stimulating and never dull.<\/p>\n

As a way to explore the city, we\u2019ve visited the several museums. The bonus for us is that since we\u2019ve over 65, most of the entry fees are free to us. \u00a0Tuesday we started our day with the Museo Del Romanticism;<\/p>\n

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Museo Del Romanticismo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Not far away, we popped into the National Library for a quick visit.<\/p>\n

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Biblioteca Nacional<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

From the steps of the library we could see an interesting white sculpture near Plaza de Colon. It\u2019s titled \u201cJulia\u201d and made of white marble dust and polyester resin. The artist is Jaume Plensa.<\/p>\n

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\u201cJulia\u201d<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

And if that wasn\u2019t enough, from there, we visited the National Archeology Museum. It was impressive, with wonderful objects and interesting multi-media displays. The acanthus plants in the museum gardens were blooming.<\/p>\n

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Blooming Acanthus<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We bought a 10-ride Metro-Bus card and we we\u2019ve used it a few times for subway rides. The subways feel safe, they\u2019re clean and efficient. An easy way to get around.<\/p>\n

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Madrid Metro<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

On our last day in the city, we ate pastry for breakfast and left the restaurant with no destination in mind. We walked by the Real Academia De Bellas Artes Museum and made a spur of the moment decision to go inside – especially to see the current exhibition of works by Goya.<\/p>\n

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Goya at the Bellas Artes Museum<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We stayed for 3 hours. Another fascinating museum. We were fascinated by the prints and etched copper plates Goya used in his \u201cDisasters of War\u201d series. I took a photo of the copper plate before I knew that I wasn\u2019t supposed to.<\/p>\n

\"Copper
Etched Copper Plate<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

And the print\u2026<\/p>\n

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Goya Print<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We\u2019ve had a very busy time here in Madrid. It\u2019s a chaotic city that seems to work well. There is always something happening. In of the last couple of hours we\u2019ve seen couples dancing a traditional Spanish dance, an anti-bullfighting demonstration, and nearby, a pro-Palenstenian rally. Madrid is an exciting city that needs more than just a few days to explore.<\/p>\n

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Wednesday Evening in Puerto del Sol<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

we\u2019re packing up and leaving for Atlanta on Thursday. We\u2019ve had a great time exploring Spain!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If Madrid were a puzzle, it would take a long time to put the pieces together. Each time we visit we try to add another piece to the puzzle. This time we\u2019ve explored neighborhoods, tried to understand the tapas scene, and visited museums that we didn\u2019t know existed in this city. Madrid is always VERY … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “Five Nights in Madrid”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5037","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-spain-2024"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/travel.woodring.us\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5037","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/travel.woodring.us\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/travel.woodring.us\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/travel.woodring.us\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/travel.woodring.us\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5037"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/travel.woodring.us\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5037\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5054,"href":"https:\/\/travel.woodring.us\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5037\/revisions\/5054"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/travel.woodring.us\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5037"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/travel.woodring.us\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5037"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/travel.woodring.us\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5037"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}