The Mystique of Madrid

In my mind, the name Madrid had a mystical element associated with it. I don’t know why, but I expect it’s a result of having not known much about the city, having never met anyone from there, and that it’s a relatively uncommon destination for Canadians. So from the time we arrived until we left, I was looking to uncover that mystique.  Madrid is the capital city of Spain. It didn’t appear to be very industrial; it felt white-collar, government and conservative. There was lots of history since the city had been the capital since the1500s. The history of a city is most obvious in its architecture, and Madrid’s was quite historic and beautiful but certainly not unusual for Europe.

Bullfighting and football (soccer) are popular national sporting events. Soccer seemed to be on TV every evening in every restaurant and bar we walked by. The Bullfighting season hadn’t started yet, so the only fighting we experienced was the establishment’s fight against the negative image of the sport being inhumane. As with many things in foreign countries, bullfighting seemed off colour to us, but its part of their history and culture.

Spain is well known for Flamenco dancing, and we had the good fortune to see a wonderful performance.

Our accommodation was in the Weston Palace Hotel which is one of the finest hotels in Madrid. The hotel lived up to the Weston reputation, but what we really enjoyed about our stay was not the hotel, but our introduction to reasonably priced Spanish wines. There was a vast selection around the 4 Euro ($5.25) range from their twenty five wine regions. Our typical lunch included a bottle of local wine, cheese, crackers, buns, fresh tomatoes and fruit.

Spain was in economic recession, so even though the city appeared to be bustling, there was reportedly 25% unemployment. There were some street-people, along with street-performers, a relatively high police presence, and a one day general strike by public service employees.

When we departed on a high speed train and headed for Seville, we wished them well in solving their economic wows. Hopefully, the best of Spain was yet to come. For me, Madrid was just our gateway into the country; it had lost its mystique.

Click here for the next leg of our adventure, seeing the Spanish countryside enroute to Seville by high speed train, and more:
http://travellingwithsteveandmarlene.blogspot.ca/2012/04/high-tech-train-old-tech-elevators.html