Saturday morning had an early start with an 8a departure from our hotel in Barcelona. It was a long bus ride, with about 6.5 hours of driving. We made three stops along the way (apparently there are EU regulations about this), including a lunch stop that turned out to be a bust - I skipped out on the salad bar, which turned out to have tuna in it, and had some fries at the last stop.
We arrived at the Novotel Madrid Center a bit after 4:30p. After checking in and a short rest, the three of us headed out at 6p to find dinner at the nearby Plaza de Salvador Dali. Our dinner woes continued, as we had a hard time deciding on a place to eat, and the restaurant we decided on turned out to be a bit underwhelming.
After dinner, I said goodbye to the moms and crossed the street to attend the Radiohead concert at the Movistar Arena, which began at 8:30p. More at this blog post. The walk back to the hotel after the show took hardly five minutes.
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| Radiohead at Movistar Arena |
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I barely got any sleep overnight, partly due to the concert, having slept on the bus earlier in the day, and anxiety about the early wake-up. So I was struggling mightily for the first half of the day. The breakfast buffet at the Novotel was impressively expansive, though Mutti was even more unsatisfied with the coffee than at the last hotel. We departed at 8:30a for a “panoramic” bus tour around Madrid, during which I barely stayed awake; the local guide’s catchphrase was “my dear family”. The stops were for a brief stroll through Plaza de España, and then a final stop for a guided tour of the highlights of the Museo Nacional del Prado (the national art museum).
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| Overlooking Toledo |
We signed up at the last minute for the optional excursion to Toledo (a cultural city that has preserved its medieval architecture and heritage) which departed immediately after the Madrid bus tour returned to the hotel around 12p. This included about an hour drive each way between the cities, as well as an hour break for lunch (a sandwich) in the main square of the old city. The bulk of the excursion was a walk across the old city, with stops at the Catedral Primada de Toledo (Toledo Cathedral), Iglesia de Santo Tomé (to see El Greco’s El Entierro del Conde de Orgaz), and the Sinagoga de Santa María La Blanca (Synagogue of Santa María la Blanca). We also drove to a damasquinado for a demonstration and some shopping, before heading back to Madrid.
After returning to Madrid around 6:15p, we walked to a somewhat nearby Mexican restaurant for dinner. The food turned out to be acceptable for everyone, which was notable for the trip so far. We also stopped for ice cream (for Mutti and me) on the walk back to the hotel.
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Full trip photo album: https://photos.app.goo.gl/ubSqXjyFue9AWmAn8
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