The Ham Nomads

23 Jan 2015. <ES> Madrid —

Madrid! We were told at the camping area that we could either take a bus right outside, but then we'd need to change to a train further in. But if we walked about 2 km to El Casár station, we could take the train straight in to Sol station in the middle of town. So that's what we did!

On our walk, we could see out to the snow-capped mountains that edge the plain that Madrid occupies. This was a bit of a shock, as the view emphasised the amount of smog that Madrid puts up with. Hopefully it is just a transient effect of weather conditions, but we have our doubts!

The trains are modern, comfortable, and efficient. After our walk, the train took 15 minutes into town. We came up in the middle of Puerta del Sol, one of the main squares of Madrid. We felt very welcome, as there was a Mariachi band playing as we came up into the open air.

The plan for today was to have a quick coffee at McDonald's, get our bearings, and then walk down Carrera de Jerónimo to the Prado Museum. On the way we passed a demonstration opposite the Parliament — Congreso de los Diputados. Spain is on the verge of selling up to 60 per cent of the state-owned Aena airports group to private investors, and this move is not popular to some.

The Prado has an unequalled collection of Spanish painters, including El Greco, Murillo, Goya, but also a huge collection of French and Italian masters, including Tiziano, Tintoretto, Caravaggio. They have an unequalled collection of Rubens, a huge room filled with his larger canvases. Enough said! We spent most of the afternoon there, leaving only when our feet started to protest!

El Greco

Rubens

We looked at the goods in some shop windows near the Prado, walked back to Puerta del Sol, and then trained and walked back to the camping area. We went out in the van to an El Corte Inglés department store, where we bought a little heater for use while in camping areas with electricity. Sheer luxury! Came back, watched a couple of episodes of Due South and then to bed!

Distance driven — today, 10 miles ( 16 km ); to date, 11,898 miles ( 19,148 km )