Steve and Jackie's Travel Albums: Madrid Spain 2007 (154 images)

These photos are from our winter trip to Madrid in 2007. We visited Madrid for three days en route to Morocco.

We rented a three-bedroom apartment on Calle Amor de Dios. The apartment was great. The landlord, Nathalie, is wonderful and the location on Amor de Dios is perfect. The apartment is two doors down from La Sanabresa, one of the best restaurants in Madrid, and it is within walking distance to all of the major attractions.

We had a great time in Madrid. My favorite attraction in Madrid is the Thyssen Museum. It is one of the greatest museums in the world, yet it cost only a 6 euro adminission ticket (and children are free), and there was no line on the Sunday morning. We had all this great art work to ourselves, taking as much time as we wanted in front of some incredible art pieces. What an experience that was! I love the way the museum is laid out. It is divided into three sections, with renaissance art on the top floor, followed by 17th to 19th century art on the second floor and 20th-century art on the ground floor. I like the fact that the museum allows equal presentation space to modern art as it does classic art. Among the masterpieces, I was particularly moved by Edvard Munch's "Dusk. Laura, the Artist's Sister" and Edward Hopper's "Hotel Room". The museum also is unique in that it has a substantial Germain, Dutch and American art collection. I saw an interesting Georgia O'Keefe painting of New York City, which was done in a style quite different than her later work from New Mexico.

We did not have one disappointing meal during our entire stay. Everything was delicioso. And the wine -- I can't believe how inexpensive good wines are in Spain. A bottle of Ribera del Duero is often around Eu10 or the low teens in restaurants. I consumed mass quantity of Ribera and brought home as much as I could fit in the luggagge. Eating and drinking in Spain is an orgasmic experience.

Every morning, we'd walk down to the neighborhood chocolat place to have cafe con leche and chocolat with churros and porros. Afterwards we'd walk Calle Huertas to get to the attractions planned for the day.

On this trip, we visited Palacio Real, walked all over Calle Huertas, dined on Plaza Santa Ana, watched the crowd on Puerta del Sol and Plaza Mayor at night, and rented boat in Retiro Park. We left Madrid thinking the city and its people are both so beautiful. [ February 2007 ]

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