Sunny Spain With Accordions

Our last day in Madrid and again we leisurely got up and had our last breakfast in our hotel. After checking our bags, we headed out and walked up to the Banco de España metro stop. Along the way, I pointed out the Westin Hotel that sits prominently in front of the Neptune Fountain and Puerta Alcalá. Here's a photo in the median down to Puerta Alcalá and then down Gran Via, the large road that cuts through Madrid:

We took the metro a few stops and got off at Opera where we rested in front of the Royal Theater as pictured here:

Just on the other side of the theater, is the Royal Palace. The royal family no longer lives there and it's just used for special occasions. Here are some outside moments:

As we tried to find the ticket office, we heard some drumming and a parade of soldiers with instruments, different horses, ponies pulling canons, and soldiers marching on beat. What a special sight to see! Apparently, they were practicing for a special visit next week for a foreign ambassador. Here is a collage of the parade experience:

While we waited on the security line, we enjoyed the music of an accordion player, so I gave him some change as I do when I enjoy any street musician's talents. A nearby beggar saw and so I gave her what I had left which was like a penny and she gave it back to me. Apparently, beggars can be choosers.

Unfortunately, the discount for senior citizens only applies if you are from the European Union. My brother said in Spanish to the woman manning the ticket booth, "does it help that my father is really really old?" She roared with laughter, even snorted a little. I chirped, "un chiste!" My favorite thing to say in Spanish, which means "a joke!" And she laughed even more. What can I say, Korean Americans speaking Spanish are charming.

In the courtyard, we asked a nice Chinese man to take these photos:

But what is magnificent and really impressive, is the grand staircase as pictured here:

Unfortunately, photos are not permitted in the palace, but we enjoyed the Goyas, tapestries, ceilings, chandeliers, Stradivarius violins, and jewels. The rooms were beautiful and we meandered through in a much calmer fashion than we did in Versailles. It's a bit of a catch-22 when you can't take photos - there's a higher sense of calm and you enjoy the moments more without the excitable tourists, but then I don't have my own photos of the visit to share on the blog.

We finally left the Royal Palace and headed to the Sabatini Gardens which sits just behind it. Here, we sat and enjoyed the fresh air and wonderful weather. Again we listened to accordion players playing Frank Sinatra, Despacito, Time to Say Goodbye, and Ave Maria - quite the eclectic set! Here's a collage from the gardens:

We walked down the avenue and I suggested we pop into the Cathedral which I've never been to before. I'm so glad we did - it was beautiful and a bit modern in design and color, as you can see below:

I was also in awe of the Chapel which is only for prayer and not for tourists which I had to remind Mama Kim who desperately wanted to snap a picture. I've been to many chapels within Cathedrals and this one was so unique. My mom said it looked like if a Klimt painting was a chapel which is pretty accurate.

It was time for us to head to La Musa Latina where I had made reservations for lunch and which was about 500 meters away. However, it was a bit deceiving as it was a bit hilly. Nonetheless, we made it 10 minutes late which the restaurant said was totally fine, and made our lunch even more satisfying as we chugged water and a sangria.

I feel like the weather is a lot hotter than it says it is, because the buildings are much shorter and so the sun beats down on us more. I asked for us to be seated in the coolest part of the restaurant and the hostess placed us underneath the air conditioning.

We opted for the tapas tasting menu that feeds 2 and ordered several more to supplement. All was delicious: hummus, salmon, ceviche, potato stuffed with meat, fried green tomatoes, dumplings, shrimp salad, calamari, carpaccio rolls, mushrooms, beef in a cream sauce, and a dessert plate of cheesecake, passion fruit yogurt, and apple crumble.

Full, but not stuffed, we walked up and down hills back to Calle Mayor which cuts through the city center and over to Chocolatería San Gines - the most famous churro shop in Madrid. It had expanded since I was last here in 2014 and there were many tourists. A coffee, cappuccino, churros, and giant churros called porras pictured below made a fantastic afternoon snack while again being serenaded by an accordion player:

Afterwards, we went to the bus stop and boarded for a few stops, so my dad could conserve his energy and rest a little after the hilly walks. But we made it to the Museum Thyssen-Bornemisza, which completes the famous Madrid Museum triangle.

Justin went off to what I thought was check my dad's backpack and returned wheeling himself in a wheelchair rental. You can see my dad run to him with excitement in the collage with a picture of the front of the museum:

We wheeled around my dad and walked the various floors and saw Dali's, Miro's, all the impressionists, and etc. You can see in the collage an O'Keefe, Lichtenstein, Dali, and Chagall. I'm pretty sure I took the same photos on my last trip here, but I just love them:

After wheeling my dad around who said that he started to get sleepy, we headed across to the Prado as we wanted to visit a second time during the nightly free admission. We wanted to see paintings we missed last night and because Justin skipped out on it yesterday as he was not feeling well.

We only waited 20 minutes or so, sandwiched between a Brooklynite and some Turks and they all borrowed my map and floor plan to get acquainted with the museum. I assured them there will be enough time and pointed out the must-sees as it was all their first time while this would be my third.

Justin went off to see the main masterpieces and my dad, mom, and I went to more obscure rooms. My mom was delighted when we walked by Velasquez's Las Meninas again. We also saw Goya's "Maja Clothed" and "Maja Naked", side by side and his "The Parasol". We also visited with Titian's paintings and sat on a comfortable bench to soak in his large paintings. Here's a collage of us all celebrating that we saw the Prado museum two times in front of the statue of Goya - I'm sure that others thought we were being stereotypical Asians:

With Madrid conquered, we went back to the hotel to get washed up, check emails, picked up some sandwiches from a small restaurant around the corner, and get our suitcases. We headed to the main road for our 2 minute drive to Atocha train station. We ended up having to split into 2 cars as our suitcases didn't all fit in the small taxi's trunk.

At the train station, we met and made it through security and on the train. In Europe, you're assigned seats which I explained to my family and after a bit of a cluster putting our suitcases in the storage compartments at the end of the train car and an impatient old man who got annoyed we even had suitcases, we were finally on our way to Córdoba. We ate our sandwiches and tortilla and rested during our 2 hour high speed train ride south to Córdoba.

We're staying one night in Córdoba at the AC Hotel Marriott which is one block from the train / bus station / rental car pickup. We checked in and set up our early wake up calls. Also, I preset the GPS with various location addresses that I had downloaded Spanish maps to, so we could be prepared tomorrow for sight seeing and driving - yay for Papa Kim with less walking planned for a few days!