On Sunday after lunch we toured the Royal Palace which is magnificent!  Once we had purchased tickets, we stood in line for quite awhile waiting to get in. They only allow a certain number of people in at one time, but between people watching, taking in all the sights and the street entertainers the time went pretty quickly.

. (Sorry I kept cutting off his head – still trying to figure out my new camera).

Once inside we headed up the Grand Staircase

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

and spent the next hour wandering from one incredibly extravagant room to the next.

It seems the former kings were somewhat competitive and each consecutive king would add something trying to outdo the previous king… eye roll. But the results are breathtaking. Here are just a few samples – I should tell you ahead of time, I took the Grand Stairway picture before I found out that photographs were not allowed…ooops.  So the rest are from the internet, but I swear we saw then and they really are unbelievable.

The grounds were just as lovely – quiet and serene.

Next we headed to Retiro  Park. I mentioned it in the last post when I talked about King Charles III. Among the other incredibly forward thinking things he did for his people, giving this park – which had once been a royal retreat – to the people making a public park for use by all. What a great guy!

Anyway, we hopped on the subway and zipped down to the Retiro Exit. This park, by the way, is over 300 square acres – huge and obviously well used.  There were people everywhere – joggers, strollers, segwayers (is that a word?) – locals and tourists alike enjoying the great weather and beautiful surroundings.

 

 

Though Parque de Retiro is  beautiful, we had worn ourselves out so we headed home. We had to rest up because tomorrow  – Museo Nacional del Prado – or in English The Prado National Art Museum!

 

We arrived in Madrid on May 17th around 11:00 AM and made our way to the Historic District to hunt for our VRBO (Vacation Rental by Owner). The owner, Richard, was there waiting for us  We walked down the street and he led us to this.  We were pretty disconcerted but followed him in.

After explaining the ins and outs of our apartment, he stayed and chatted for a bit directing us to the nearby markets and telling us about the area – very friendly and helpful.

Our building is over 200 years old as are most of the buildings in this district. Being that old it has no elevator and the stairs are narrow and steep with sharp bends.

Trying to haul heavy suitcases up them was not fun! – and did I mention that we’re on the fourth floor?  But hey, it has character and it’s home for the next four days.

Our place is tiny, about 300sqft. total, but the bedroom is tucked in the middle and so it is dark and quiet at night making sleeping good. The place is small but has everything we need (a small kitchen, lots of little markets close by, a teeny washer and even our own designated section of clothesline,

 

plus WIFI) what more could you ask?

We spent the first day settling in and exploring our neighborhood. The streets are cobbled, narrow, busy and  lined with long buildings which house shops and businesses below and floor after floor of small apartments above.

 

Richard used the word Bohemian to describe the people and the area and that certainly is an apt description. People from everywhere, all walks of life, and of all ages call this area home and the mix is wonderful! By the way, we quickly learned that our door was not singled out by the painters. It seem that no surface is safe from graffiti in the area even the beautiful, 200 year old, wooden doors.

There is a small square half a block from our place with an open market selling everything from old records (45s and LPs) to piñatas and, as there seems to be everywhere, street entertainers.

 

We open our window and listen to the local talent – very fun. Oh and about opening the window, we can do that and leave it open because there don’t seem to be any bugs -no flies, no mosquitos, no gnats zip, zilch, nada – which is lovely.

On Sunday we hopped on the subway heading for the Puerta de Sol (Gate of the Sun) to embark on a walking tour outlined in our guidebook. The tour took us to around the area pointing out statues and points of interest. The first statue was of King Charles III

an enlightened king who ruled Madrid in the late 1700s. According to the guidebook, Charles “had the city decorated with fountains and statues, got the meddlesome Jesuits out of city government, established the public school system, mandated underground sewers, made Retiro a public park rather than a royal retreat, and generally cleaned up Madrid.” He is still honored as the Best  Mayor of Madrid, for good reason it would seem. From there we followed the tour around the busy Puerta de Sol square taking in the sights, sounds, smells of the area. I won’t go into lots of detail, but will share with you some of the beautiful statuary and architecture that is Old Madrid.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After leaving Plaza de Mayor, we were led to an old convent. The sign outside stated that it was closed on Sundays which makes sense, but a woman sitting just down from us in the alley approached us and speaking in rapid Spanish

pointed at the door. We nodded and she pressed a button and spoke into an intercom. There was a buzzing sound and she pushed open the door and pointed inside.

We had no idea what we were doing or where we were going but we followed along the narrow hallways until we came to a dead-end.  We heard a sound next to us and there was what appeared to be an empty wooden cabinet.

Suddenly a box of cookies came into view on what seemed to be a lazy-Susan in the cupboard accompanied by a bodiless voice speaking again rapidly in Spanish. Tom asked, “How much?” To which the voice answered 8 Euro. and the cookies disappeared. Tom put the money on the platform and it too disappeared. A minute later our cookies reappeared in a plastic bag and we made our way back to the entrance.

Pretty strange but we had cookies for dessert the whole time we were in Madrid.

Our last two days in Marbella we spent doing one of our favorite things – hiking. As in Gran Canaria, Tom thought that he had located a hiking spot, but despite the fact that, in general the maps are better for the main attractions, for hiking trails – not so much. We traveled along curvy, flower lined highways

and enjoying the scenery as we searched for our hiking spot.

Again we got totally lost but in our search we happened upon El Refugio de Juanar 

a national park in the mountains near Marbella. The literal translation is Natural Refuge and it is – quiet, peaceful, beautiful and a wonderful place to hike. The first day we just explored the area taking in the enjoying the ambiance and getting the lay of the land.

 

From here we headed back toward the car taking in the views and planning tomorrows hike,

When we found a sign pointing to another overlook not too far away. The views and the flowers were terrific and worth the walk.

By the time we finished this, we had put in about four miles and had decided on a pretty aggressive hike (a climb to the top of one of the mountains) for the next day so we headed to the car and hotel.         The next day we were back bright and early with backpacks, water, and camera eager to get started.

It looked a bit more daunting up close, but we decided to go as far as we could.

It started out fairly easy but quickly began to get steep

but the trail and the views eased the way.

Eventually we made it clear to the top and man was it worth it! There was a large cross and a small grotto on a concrete block.

Tom and I sat and rested munching on apples and taking in the panoramic views. It doesn’t get better than this.

Then it was time to head back down.

For me that’s the scariest part when you can see just how steep it is and where you could end up, but we forged ahead.

 

 

We finally reached the bottom. It had taken us an hour and a half to climb to the top and only 45min. to get back down. Amazing how fast you can move when you don’t have to stop every 25 meters of height (that’s equivalent to climbing the stairs in a 5 story building) to catch your breath and let you heart calm down. I think we’re gotten our aerobic exercise in for the week and we have some wonderful memories to keep and share. Tomorrow is Saturday and we’re headed for Madrid.

Unlike the beautiful clear weather we’ve experienced so far, Tuesday May 13th dawned overcast and foggy. Despite the leaden sky, we decided to proceed with our trip to the famous Rock of Gibraltar. Even with the overcast skies, the scenery along the hour long drive was beautiful.

 

History: Before we move on, let me give you a bit of background information on Gibraltar. Gibraltar is a strip of land on the southern tip of Spain that juts into the Mediterranean Sea creating a narrow passageway between the Mediterranean and the Atlantic Ocean known as The Straits Of Gibraltar. Over the years this well positioned strip of land has been fought for and held by numerous countries. The current ownership belongs not to Spain but to Great Britain which has held possession of the fortress , despite many skirmishes, since 1704. In 1705 Gibraltar was declared a ‘free port’, which led to its development as an important international trading center and thus increased the desire of other countries to gain its possession and control. Over the years the attacks continued and in 1779 work began to drill a tunnel  through the upper rock to place a cannon at a strategic vantage point on the southwestern face of the Rock. Dust while working in the tunnels became so bad that the digging of side tunnels was ordered to create ventilation shafts to the outer wall. It was soon realized  that these shafts would make perfect cannon embrasures and more were added. The tunnels were extensive and were used over the centuries to defend the interests of Great Britain in not only the Great Siege 1782 – 1785 when France and Spain partnered to gain control of Gibraltar, but also during both WWI and WWII.

Okay, enough of the history. Tom and I drove into the city and walked several blocks to the cable car station at the base of the Rock, bought our tickets and headed up.

 

At the top we were greeted by some of the apes that call the area home. They seemed very comfortable around the tourists. At one point Tom was leaning on the wall overlook and the ape in the middle of this picture walked right over his arms.

We walked around the top for awhile,

ate a quick lunch in the café/souvenir shop and then started our exploration in earnest.  As I said, the cable car brought us to the top but from there a tour map leads you all the way down the side of the Rock to the town below with signs describing the sights along the way.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After quite a bit of walking, we came to the entrance of the tunnels described in the afore mentioned “History”.

Tom and I spent the next hour and a half following the main tunnel and reading about the past of this place.

Once through the tunnels, we continued down the road toward the bottom.

 

 

The next site we came to was St. Michael’s Cave. Some troupes were housed here during the early drilling of the tunnels. While not the most impressive cave we have ever been in, this one was pretty with soft music and a light show (nothing like when the tunnels were being constructed but cool anyway).

And shortly there after we came to the original fortress of Gibraltar dating back to the 1300s – the Moorish Castle or what’s left of it.

By this time we had been walking for nearly 5 I/2 hours and were pretty much shot, so we decided it was time to call it a day. We continued back down the hill  threading our way in between alleys and small houses carved out of the rock and taking in the sights as we went.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We finally reached the bottom and followed the busy streets to our car.

 

 

That took another half hour of walking and once there it took us another forty-five minutes to get through customs and back on the road.

The trip was interesting and well worth the effort but tomorrow is a day of rest.