11/12/2007 - Madrid Tour With Miguel's Mom

Miguel’s Mom runs a business organizing tours and symposiums for tourists to Spain. She mostly works with school groups but she also works with people in young democracies who want to learn about the democratic system of government. At dinner the night before she offered to show us around parts of Madrid during some free time today.

We met her at Puerta del Sol which is in the Madrid city center. The first thing she showed us was the Origen de las Carreteras Radiales. It is marked as 0 Km as it is the geographic center of Spain. After that Mrs. Kelsey (actually, she said I can call her Dori since I am no longer thirteen years old) had an errand to run so we went with her to a sewing shop called Almacen de Pontejos. In fact there were several sewing shops grouped together in what was almost a sewing district. This place was absolutely packed and it appeared that they had anything you could ask for. From thread to parts for sewing machines, it was all there.



Next she continued her tour at the Plaza Mayor. Built in the sixteenth century, this was the old commercial district of Madrid. There are still stores operating in the Plaza today but it is not as vibrant as the area that surrounds it. In addition to the stores in the Plaza itself, there is a street lined with Mesons which are a unique Spanish restaurant that serve a style of Spanish food.





We saw the smallest street in Madrid near the Mayor’s office.



Next we visited the Catedral de la Almudena which is the Madrid city Catholic cathedral. It is a modern-style cathedral because Madrid didn’t have the population to support one until later in their history. It was consecrated by Pope John Paul II himself.



Olive tree outside the Cathedral



It is, apparently, not as grand as other cathedrals we will see on our trip, but it is spectacular in its own way. Many people were there when we visited. They were paying their respects to a patron saint of Madrid. You can see them filing by a relic in this picture:



Next to the Cathedral is the Palacio Real, which is the Palace of the King and Queen of Spain. It is only used now for official ceremonies but it was the royal residence until the thirties when the fascists came to power and the royals went into exile. Now it is primarily a museum on public display. We were walking through the palace when we came upon an English tour. We snuck into that and had a nice guided visit to the treasures of the Spanish crown. I was only able to take a picture of the Room of Columns before the security guard yelled at me to put my camera away. I also took pictures of the courtyard and the view of Madrid from the Palace.

Room of Columns



Tom in the Courtyard



View of Madrid



We were pretty tired after walking around for several hours so we thanked Dori and took a cab back to the hotel. She was an excellent guide and it was really nice of her to take the time to show us around.

After resting for a while it was time to meet our tour group for dinner. We had arrived at ten in the morning on Sunday but we came a day early. Most of the group would arrive today and the tour starts tomorrow so there is no time for them to get oriented to the city. Because of this the tours usually have a welcome dinner so people don’t have to worry about getting in from the airport and finding something to eat on their own. Additionally, it allows for the tour director to review things like excursions and tour documentation as well as get a gauge of how things are going to go with the group.

There are only eighteen people on our trip. Fifteen is the minimum number they require to run the tour so we got in just under the wire. I am happy about the low number because we will be able to spread out on the tour bus and the coordination of people at the stops should be much easier. Unfortunately, some of the excursions may be cancelled because of lack of interest. Tomorrow we get up early and we are going to the Prado Museum where I’m sure we will see many works by Goya and El Greco.