

A visit to Madrid & Toledo Spain Map
After departing Nice, France we flew to Madrid, Spain and found that the "Madrid Challenge" bicycle racing event was taking place on the Paseo del Prado. As our hotel was located a short distance off the intersection of the Plaza de las Cortes & the Paseo del Prado, our taxi driver (after repeated attempts) finally told us that he could not get us to our desired destination. The bicycle racing event barriers were effectively blocking crossing access (cars & pedestrians), requiring pedestrians to walk to the Estacion del Arte circle, and then walk back up the Paseo del Prado to our hotel.
With tens of thousands of people watching the bicycle race, we quickly realized that we were not going to be able to walk on the Paseo del Prado while rolling our suitcases behind us! Celeste fired up her cell phone mapping Application, and found us a "back street" route to reach the hotel.
Even though it wasn't exactly the arrival we had anticipated, we were glad to arrive and start our Madrid exploration. The back street route wound up revealing some interesting pubs & restaurants, so it was useful information for use later.

Paseo del Prado Race View
We decided to stop and watch (since we could not yet determine how to cross over) the bicycle racers, you
can see how crowded it was, bicycle racing in Europe is widely followed. Click this image to see a video we
took from this location on the Paseo del Prado.
We finally asked a policeman how to get to the Hilton Hotel and he told us to walk to the
Réplica de la Fuente de la Alcachofa ("Fountain of the Artichoke") traffic circle where we could cross
over. As you can see in this video, the bike racers are on the Paseo del Prado headed north, and the Hilton
Hotel is on the other side of that boulevard.

DoubleTree by Hilton Madrid-Prado
During our trip planning, we had researched VRBO for a Madrid rental that would give us quick downtown access, and be close to the places we wanted to see. Not finding anything that fitted our requirements exactly, we decided to stay at the DoubleTree by Hilton Madrid-Prado. We made that decision because the hotel is very nicely located, and within easy walking distance of most of the Madrid sites we planned to visit.
Here are examples of how well located this hotel is; a number of art museums are located within
three blocks, the Royal Palace area is a 1.7 kilometer walk and the Paseo del Prado
(a major Madrid street) can take you from one end of Madrid to the other.
Images are the property of Hilton Hotels


Spain's Royal Palace
This was our first adventure goal, and the Hotel warned us that it is a popular destination and to try and arrive there as early as possible. So we rode a taxi there expecting to be in a short line. Didn't quite work out that way.
As you can see, tourists and other visitors are already lined up to gain entry. The good news for us is that these people are waiting to buy tickets, and we had obtained our tickets online and were therefore able to walk right in.



Plaza de la Armería & Palace Entry
From the visitor's entrance, you have to walk across the Plaza de la Armería court yard and then walk to the entrance area - which is to my right below the flag.
The entrance to the Palace is in the center of image # 2, and the walled area on the left overlooks the Campo del Mora gardens.
The entire Royal Palace complex is in really excellent condition, and considering it's construction was completed in 1755, it is in amazing condition.

Plaza de la Armería History
The Plaza as it exists now was laid-out in 1892, according to a plan by the architect Enrique María Repullés. However, the history of this square dates back to 1553, the year in which Philip II ordered a building to house the royal stables. This picture is looking south from the Palace and that is the St Mary Royal of the Almudena adjacent to the Palace complex.

Palace Grand Staircase
The Palace Grand Staircase is composed of a single piece of San Agustin marble. Two lions grace the landing, one by Felipe de Castro and another by Robert Michel.
Our interior tour of the Palace was not a guided tour (there is a guided tour available), as we wanted to be able to move about at our own speed and to view rooms of our own selection. Needless to say, the entire interior is a stunning living museum.
Inside the palace rich materials were used: Spanish marble, stucco, mahogany doors and windows and important works of art, particularly frescoes by leading artists of the moment as Giaquinto, Tiepolo and Mengs and his Spanish followers Bayeu and Maella.

Lunch in the Parque del Oeste
After we completed our tour of the Royal Palace, we decided to walk north into the Parque del Oeste and find a place for a quick lunch. We wanted "quick" because we were on our way to the Teleférico de Madrid, which is a cable car from the park to the Casa de Campo. This isn't a long walk, and you will pass through a couple of nice parks along the way.
We had decided that the plan for our next day was to visit some of the nearby museums. We tried to obtain tickets for the del Prado, but it was "sold out" that day. So we decided to visit the Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza which was only several blocks north of our hotel on the Paseo del Prado.
The art collection in this museum is quite large, to view a list of the artists that can be found on display, click here. Or to view an overview of the art collection contents, click here.
Unfortunately, no photography was allowed inside the Museum but they have a really good collection of art works and it is nicely laid out for visitors.
After the Museum, we we looked for a lunch spot by walking along the Calle de Antonio Maura to the Puerta de España. This is considered to be the entrance to El Retiro Park.

El Retiro Park: Retiro Pond
This is the Estanque grande del Retiro in the El Retiro Park, a beautiful lake surrounded
by a huge number of trees and flowers everywhere! The park is an excellent place to enjoy
nature, get some shade, or just stroll along admiring the park's natural beauty.
Although the lake is man-made, the placid waters in front of the massive columns and statues
of the Alfonso XII monument are a sight to see, especially around sunset. You can even rent a rowboat
for a few euros and paddle around the lake.
Click here to
go to the official Park Website.

El Retiro Park: Rose Garden
This view is looking west toward the Prado Museum, as we were headed back to our hotel. You can see a few of the more than 4,000 rosebushes in the garden.
Churros at Las Farolas
We had read a number of people's reviews about Madrid, and many of those stated that one must try the chocolate churros at Las Farolas.
The Churreria-Chocolateria Las Farolas restaurant has been in business for over 100 years, and they have several other locations scattered about Spain.If you are ever in Madrid, we would suggest that you consider stopping at Churreria-Chocolateria Las Farolas. The best churros & chocolate we have ever had! They are located at Calle Mayor, 11, 28012, Madrid, Spain at the intersection of Calle Mayor and Calle de San Cristobal.
Flamenco at La Taberna de Mister Pinkleton
One of our goals while in Madrid, was to experience a "real" Flamenco show, so we attended one at La Taberna de Mister Pinkleton. The singers & dancers were very good and the flamenco guitarist was excellent.
Image # 2 was during a break in the Flamenco show, the musicians and dancers were changing costumes, so we ordered another round of sangrias - which by the way, were quite good.
You can acquire your tickets online at Viator in advance of the show, highly recommended, as we saw a lengthy line waiting to purchase tickets at the door when we entered with our reservations.
La Taberna de Mister Pinkleton serves drinks & food as well as dinner if you so choose. We don't have any flamenco experience, but we thoroughly enjoyed the show.
Tapas at La Meripepa
We had decided to have tapas one night, and we only had to walk a few blocks from our hotel to this highly recommended restaurant.
They had a great beer on tap, and we ordered what we thought was going to be a couple of "small plates" and wound up with a full meal!
WARNING: We were hungry, but there was so much food that we almost could not finish it all !
Click here to go to their website.
Our next day's adventure was to visit Toledo, only 87 kilometers from Madrid. We got our tickets from Viator. You would have to select from several different types of bus tours, we took the "Toledo half day" tour.

Original Jewish area of Toledo
This Jewish emblem notes the boundary of the original Jewish section of the old city. However, during the Spanish Inquisition all Jews were expelled from Toledo and none live there today.

Monastery of San Juan de los Reyes
The courtyard of the
Monastery of San Juan de los Reyes.
This is a beautiful building and quite famous!
The original church was completed in 1504, commissioned by King Ferdinand II of Aragon and Queen
Isabella I of Castile. Mass is still celebrated here!

Jardines del Cabo Noval
We had just exited Jardines del Cabo Noval (park near the Royal Palace) and had
entered the Teatro Real area when we saw this street performer. Yes they are
pan-handling, but you have to admit that it was a unique costume!
I should mention that it was a warm day, and we were wondering how this
street performer could remain still for such long periods of time without
hydration?
Dinner at Fogg Bar Birras & Cheese
This was our last dinner in Madrid, we ate at the Fogg Bar Birras & Cheese on the Calle de Moratín about 1.5 kilometers from our hotel.
That item in image # 1 is the Spanish version of nachos with a guacamole sauce and it was delicious! The restaurant had a very good draft beer selection, of which we put to good use too.
The name of this establishment might make you think that it was just another pub, but their food was quite good and the restaurant filled up rapidly while we were enjoying our dinner.
2018 Europe Trip Overview & Guide We started in Paris and it has been called many things, but we like to think of it as one of our favorite cities in Europe, click here to read more.
Mont Saint-Michel, France: We did this as a day trip from Paris, there is a lot of mis-information on the Internet about how to do exactly that, so click here to view our Mont Saint-Michel page and see how we did it.
Nice, France: The capital of the French Riviera along the Cote d’Azure. A city of rich culture and history with a laid back vibe - a vibe very different than Paris. Click here to view our Nice France page.
Principality of Monaco: Monaco is only a short train ride (~20 kilometers) from Nice and is more scenic than the images we took could possibly capture. Click here to view our Monaco page.
Madrid Spain: The capital of Spain, and neither of us had ever been there so we were anxious to see what it was all about. Click here to view our Madrid page.
A Week in Portugal: This destination was the centerpiece of this trip to Europe., click here to view our Portugal page.
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Note: If you are interested in our European Tips & Warnings, Click here. Or to take a look at our methods for Trip Planning click here.
