Madrid

With our WWOOF placement confirmed, we needed to move our plans along, so set off near to 3pm with the centre of Madrid in our sat nav. We knew Park del Oeste provided on street parking, and the plan was to find a spot to stay, ready for exploring the city the following day.

Criss crossing between motorway slip roads as the sirens of emergency vehicles blared, our near view was taken up with ochre high rise flats and giant billboards advertising sex toy centres. By now we are used to the fug that pervades the air on the approach to major cities and Madrid was no different. The greyish tan hue made the distant view of snowy mountains seem like a smoke damaged painting.

Will did a cracking job of driving through the traffic jams and we heaped praise on our updated sat nav maps for getting us to the one way street with roadside parking, that circled Park del Oeste. After a quick scout we found a wide stretch with grass nearby for Poppy and easy access up stone steps to the park for us. It was only 50 cents per hour and charges ceased from 9pm, allowing us a free overnight stay after we'd put a couple of euros in the machine. Our timing was good too, because on Saturdays it was only necessary to pay between 9am - 3pm and Sundays were free, meaning we got to spend 2 days and nights in Spain's capital, within 2km of the city centre, for the princely sum of €5!

Within a few hundred metres of the van there was a fantastic viewpoint overlooking the city and specifically the Palacio Real de Madrid, an imposing grey and cream conglomeration of cuboidal buildings with bell towers and a dome and it the nearby Catedral de Santa Marìa, a large building of pale stone, its hemispherical roof rising above the others. We climbed up to the park as the sun set over the west of the city to watch the colours of the clouds change with a crowd of people doing the same, a busking saxophonist providing musical accompaniment. Unlike our time in Barcelona, we'd been favoured with blue skies and little wind. People had wrapped up, but there was a real buzz in the air as they gathered together.

Despite the mass of folk nearby, the rest of the evening and night was pretty quiet. It was only at 7:45am when the bin lorries began arriving and transferring their load to a large crusher right alongside the van, that we were disturbed. For the following 3 hours the lorries' engines ticked over, the hoists squeaking as they lifted bins and banged them off the metal sides. There were a lot of advantages to this spot, so we accepted this noisy disadvantage as part of the package.

Having seen the Royal Palace and Cathedral dominating the skyline from our park viewpoint, we made a beeline for them. Approaching the black iron railings of the Palace through the hedge mazes and white stone statutes of the Sabatini gardens, we saw royal guards preparing 4 horses. Following them round to the east wing, we watched as a small troop marched out of a large door, playing a drum and flute. They completed a lap of the small courtyard, before two broke off and installed themselves in front of the sentry boxes either side of the door. The horses were then ridden onto the courtyard, and the two blacks broke off to join the standing guards, while the dapple greys returned down the ramp from whence they'd come. It was all very grand and precise, although we weren't sure about the welfare of the horses, whose bridles were attached to chest harnesses, forcing their necks to remain arched. They were frothing and dribbling because of the bits between their teeth and noticing the riders' shining silver spurs we felt a little uneasy watching the display.

Next we made our way to Madrid's central square, Plaza Mayor. A large cobbled rectangle bordered by tall, stately buildings, joined by arches that acted as grand entrances to the little streets leading to and away from it. The regular pattern of shuttered windows looked out on to a bronze statue of a horse that was covered by some sort of red netting suspended and hanging in folds above it (we assume as some sort of modern art display). Beneath it tricksters blew gigantic bubbles, sellers tried to flog selfie sticks and people dressed as large cuddly animals or painted gold like statues posed with smiling tourists.

Choosing an interesting looking alley we exited the plaza and soon stumbled accross a wool and needlecraft shop, the first we'd seen in Spain! Vicky's eyes lit up and she dived in. It turned out there was a cluster of 3 craft shops along this road, selling yarns, threads, fabrics and tools for sewing, crochet, knitting and lace making, each busier than the last. Midway through her yarn fest, Vicky begrudgingly had to admit she wasn't feeling well, so we went in search of something sweet and a place to sit. La Casa de la Torrijas was an old pub that seemed mostly unaffected by the international tourist trail. A kind customer recommended a Vino Dulce (a sugary strip of wine doughnut) that had wonderful restorative qualities! Will looked around and ordered the same as another customer sat at the bar; a piece of baguette with a small portion of battered fish and a shot of Vermouth; many locals' drink of choice. We sat in a corner watching the steady flow of people coming in and out. A wide strip of decorated tiles ran around the walls below a shoulder height mirror and brass bar shelving where you could stow your hats and coats. It had a good atmosphere, so we stayed for Tortilla de Patata, a glass of red for Will and thanks to a misunderstanding, a sweet martini for Vicky.

Feeling refreshed we ended up buying a couple of zips for Vicky to try and fit to Will's raincoat and taking a walk down Gran Via; Madrid's main shopping street. Being a Saturday, it was packed! At the foot of yet more stately looking apartment buildings, the shoppers bustled past shoe shiners, homeless with their dogs on quilts and illegal sellers holding ropes attached to the corners of sheets on which their goods were displayed, ready to haul them up, sling them over their backs and hop it if the police showed their faces. This noise and business isn't an environment we feel at home in, but as we travel we want to find out about and experience a whole range of cultural aspects, drawing comparisons and identifying key differences. In this way it was an interesting walk.

Talking about walking, all this tramping the streets had made us tired, so we climbed back up the hill to Martha Motorhome and Poppy. We wanted to go out again in the evening, so we did the very Spanish thing of having a siesta! We'll tell you about our night on the town in our next post...Read more