After departing our RyanAir flight, we boarded the Airport Express yellow bus which Julie had researched back home. For just five Euro each, it dropped us within a half mile of our hotel.
After being greeted by a cheerful front desk clerk and a piece of fruity candy, we were so impressed with the modern decor that we almost went into the Euro-modern lobby's Gourmet Bar right then, but we remembered there was supposed to be a rooftop terrace bar, too.
Why not start at the top?
When we stepped out of the elevator, however, we found the terrace bar was engulfed in a private business event where everyone wore suits. We were told we could sit in a small area not being used by the party, but we decided to come back at sunset.
Off we went down the gorgeous avenue in the general direction of the Royal Palace.
We detoured through tall wrought-iron gates into Madrid's version of Central Park, which had paths shaded by large trees, fountains, a large lake and even a ruin or two from ancient times.The history of Madrid is not that different from other Iberian cities we visited. It was founded as a fortress by the Moors when they conquered Spain and eventually won back by Christians, in this case in 1085 for the King of Castile.
It seems initially Madrid was more of a staging area for defense of wealthy Toledo, which we would visit the next day. Gradually, Madrid became a more important government center. In 1561, King Philip II moved his court from Toledo to Madrid, and in 1606, it became the permanent capital of Spain.When Spanish exploration of the world spearheaded by Christopher Columbus brought great wealth home, Madrid prospered immensely.
The Spanish seem particularly adept at protecting their heritage, and while we're not a big city people generally, we loved it there. Madrid is unquestionably one of the most beautiful cities in the world.
Madrid also seems to be a very lifestyle-friendly city, with diverse restaurants, sidewalk cafes and well-stocked stores.We took lots of photos as we strolled for miles.
On our way to the Palace, we had passed one particular sidewalk cafe with an awesome view of a neo-classic granite arch, the Alcala Gate, and we decided to return there later for Sangria and tapas rather than going to the rooftop terrace at our hotel.
The total tab was quite reasonable, coming in at fifteen Euro after adding a tip.
Would that first day alone have been worth making the effort to see Madrid after a long, wonderful cruise?
Definitely!And we would visit two other historic cities of Spain during our two-night stay.
In fact, we could have used one more night, if only to have tapas at the posh rooftop terrace bar with panoramic views of Madrid.
We hoped to do so the next evening after our full day excursion visiting Segovia and Toledo, but we returned too late, after rooftop cafe had stopped service for the night.
As we noticed upon arrival the prior day, the modern lobby featured a sleek, spacious Gourmet Bar.
A soccer game was in process on a gigantic television, which we enjoyed watching on our last evening in Madrid.
We had decided to simply splurge, regardless of what the metropolitan hotel lobby price might be.
Our smiling waitress rewarded us with salty snacks to go along with our drinks, and while I may not watch too much European football (soccer) back home, it felt like the thing to do in Madrid, as the home team battled Barcelona. We ordered a second round and drank a toast to a sensational vacation.
When the bill came, we found the total was only twelve Euro, a price way lower than my most optimistic guess. That sealed the deal for us.We loved this hotel that also provided a spacious, attractive, comfortably-furnished room and bountiful breakfasts.
The fact that we had been traveling two weeks and would have happily stayed longer in Madrid speaks volumes, and there's still a bit more to share about this trip.
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