6/4/24
We met up with the Chums in Reception at 9am and set off for breakfast.
Dave had become the unofficial Tour Guide and general ‘go to’ person so he led the way out of the Hotel, up to the main Rd and turned left. He walked a short distance and went into the Restaurant (Papelon) we had visited, the night before.
They showed us to the back of the restaurant where they pulled two tables together to make a table suitable for us all.
Outside there was a queue of people running up the road and around the corner. We think it may have been the Dole queue or even Pension day but what ever it was the line of people never shrunk and even when we came out it was still around the block.
There was a good selection of items on the menu with a Spanish version of a Full Breakfast which the boys went for. Jaki went for a Croissant whilst Steph and Sue chose Toast with Jam.
The Full Fat boys was Ok. It wasn’t intended to mimic a full English but there were similarities.
It came with two Sausages though they were more Hot Dog Sausages than proper Bangers. Some thinly sliced bacon and some cold, uncooked Ham. I had two nicely fried eggs, (though you could chose Scrambled) and a fresh Roll.
All things considered it was pretty good
Once we had finished eating it was time to go our seperate ways. We three Boys plus Jaki were off to the #Prado Museum where we wanted to see the Hieronymus Bosch painting, The Garden of Earthly delights. I have explained why in previous blogs, so I wont repeat mysel, and the girls went shopping..
Dave had booked us tickets on line (£30 each) which gave us access to the Prado and two other Museums, so we could indulge our artist needs.
This was Terrys first Visit to an Art Gallery so he didn’t know what to expect. He was amazed and impressed when he finally stood in front of the legendary Bosch Triptych.
I have to say it was as good as I expected but, there were huge crowds and it was hard to get close enough to study it in any detail. I didn’t think to bring my glasses, so standing a long distance away was like trying to watch football from the top of the West Stand at Ashton gate, and often, Just as frightening.
We caught a Taxi from the cafe to the museum which cost us €10 but we later discovered it was but a 10 minute walk from our Hotel. In fact, nothing seems to be very far from our Hotel, it’s one of the great Illusions of Madrid.
When we got out of the Taxi there was a queue of probably 200 people waiting to buy tickets. We were able to go straight to the front of the queue and get in with almost no delay.
Its a huge place and a bit confusing so we asked for directions and found ourselves staring at the Painting within minutes.
We learnt some interesting information too.
The Triptych (three paintings) is designed to fold up and the back of the two side paintings is painted too, so when its closed up completely there is still some thing to look at.
The second and most confusing bit of information was that Bosch’s real name was originally Jheronimus (or Joen}. The Latin and Middle Dutch form of the name “Jerome, and he signed a number of his paintings as Jheronimus Bosch.
His surname ‘Bosch’ derives from his birthplace, ‘s-Hertogenbosch (‘Duke’s forest’), which is commonly called “Den Bosch” (‘the forest’). So he is an imposter!
The crowds built up and at one point I slipped out to the loo and wasn’t allowed back in until two huge groups of Asian Origin left the gallery.
There were other very impressive paintings on display but they were all overshadowed by the Bosch.
Once we had filled our boots with culture we slipped into the Restaurant for a drink, scoured the gift shop to see if there was anything worth buying and then left the building.
We crossed the road and soon found ourselves in the Thyssen- Bornemisza Museum where there was yet more to see. Dave was on the Hunt for a Hopper and he was very excited when he found it. Just past the Mondrians.
By now we were all getting tired so we decided to call it a day and head back to find the girls who were having lunch in Plaza Mayor.
They took a bit of finding as its huge and there are Cafe tables everywhere. Whilst we waited for them to pay their bill we were joined by one of the street artists who’s skill was making things from Balloons. They weren’t very good things, but it kept us amused for a while.
There were other people trying to make a living from entertaining the tourists though some were far more believable than others.
I’m not sure any kid would want his/her picture taken with this particular Superhero, more Peppa Pig than Spiderman??
Dave wanted to take us to a food warehouse he had visited once before and he knew it was close by but couldn’t remember quite where to find it, so we had a bit of a wander before coming across Mercado San Miguel just outside one of the arches on the North West corner of the square.
More than 100 years have passed since the San Miguel Market was inaugurated as a food market. Currently, this historic building is one of the main gastronomic markets in the world, as it allows its visitors to take a tour of the essence and flavors of each of the corners of Spain.
Newport Market could lear a lot from this place, it was amazing and it was popular. There were hundreds of people and if I had one criticism it was that there was not enough space to eat the produce we purchased. All around the outside of the building were small (Ish) stalls selling Tapas. The challenge was to find the one I liked and then to get served and I did several tours before deciding on one particular stall that sold Olive Kebabs. Well, Olives and other various items on a small skewer.
I asked how much they were each and the guy told me €1 so i chose 4 different ones. But when he gave me the bill they were €4 each so i bought a plate of Olives for €16. Not my best ever decision.
I was sorely tempted on several occasions but i need to watch what I was eating or this few days would wreck my diet. So I settled for a few Olives rather than Cakes and Pastry or the delicious Hot Dogs that were available.
Eating was done standing up at a high counter and we all went off in different directions to get Tapas that suited our mood. Jaki found some Fish Tapas that she really enjoyed and Dave went for a thick sausage in a soft bun that looked amazing and some crab dish that didn’t survive long enough for it to reach the table.
It seemed most Tapas were around €4 each and the drinks were about the same. There was a bar selling Tinto de Verano for €4.50 that was really good and I had two rather large glasses though remember to tell them ‘No Ice” (Sin hielo) or you end up with all ice and no drink.
We spent a good couple of hours before it was time to head for home.
When we got back to the Hotel we all needed our Siesta and agreed to meet at 8pm for dinner.
The German Guy I met earlier in the week had recommended a place called Lamiak so as no one had a better plan we decided to head there. It took us on a bit of a tour through some back streets and parts of Madrid Dave hadn’t visited before. When we got to Lamiak it was small and rustic. they werent equipped to cater for large groups and only had very small tables available. They did try to put two tables together just by the door to the kitchen but it wasn’t very comfortable and we didnt think it would be a good place to eat, though the menu looked fine.
So we ordered drinks and decided to move on.
Terry recommended a particular bottle of Red wine and I agreed to join him. Sadly no one else wanted red wine so the two of us polished it off between us. It was delicious, I recommend trying this particular tipple.
The red wine got the better of Terry and he declared he wanted to find an Indian restaurant, so I googled Indian and found three different ones within a stones throw. We chose Anorkoli as it had the highest score of the three.
When we got there we discovered there was a whole street (Calle de Lavapiés, 46, Madrid, ES 28012) full of Indian restaurants and we could literally take our pick.
The food was OK but nowhere near as good as we get in the UK, though I wonder if everyone says that?
They brought two Popadoms (between 6 of us) and some strange looking fluorescent green dip to start, but the Popadoms were damp. I asked if we could have some fresh ones. I think they put two more old damp Popadoms in an oven and toasted them so they did at least crack apart, where as the originals could be bent into any shape you wanted.
My dish was quite mild (even though I asked for it to be extra hot) though others in our group didn’t agree and my lamb Dansak didn’t have too many lentils in it, but it was tasty enough. The chickpeas though were very good. A huge bowl and they were in a thick tasty sauce.
Sue and Terry didn’t enjoy their meal, it was too salty for them, which was a shame.
Dave polished his off and seemed happy enough.
Jaki seemed happy with hers though it wasn’t hot enough for her taste.
There was a stack of Nan bread left at the end and I dont know why that was ?
So, stuffed full Of Indian food in the middle of Madrid (I know) we set off on the short walk home.
Bill and Jaki go Travelling 