This was part of our family vacation in Madrid and Surrounding (2012).
(Click here to see all our trips.)
Day 1: Prado Museum, Puerta del Sol, Plaza Mayor
We arrived in Madrid yesterday. After we picked up the rental car and drove to our apartment in Madrid city center, it was already late. Therefore, we didn’t do much last night.
After a delicious churro and chocolate breakfast, we went to visit the famous Prado Museum, which is a world-class art museum with a lot of artworks by famous artists. The most “interesting” painting in the museum was probably Nude Maja, a painting of a nude lady by renowned artist Francisco de Goya. It was said that after the lady’s husband requested to see the painting, Goya quickly did a clothed version of the same lady. Clothed Maja was displayed together with Nude Maja, and of course people all considered the nude version superior to the clothed version 🙂
We could have spent the entire day in Prado admiring all the magnificent artwork. However, a couple of hours in the museum were enough for the children. (Brother, when he was younger, once commented that there were only 3 kinds of paintings in Louvre Museum: dead people, naked people, and people not doing anything interesting.)
We went to lunch afterwards. The famous Iberian ham meal was delicious!
The famous Bear and Berry Tree statue was at a corner of Puerta del Sol. There were many bakeries and dessert shops around the area, and their merchandise all looked very tempting! It was holiday season, so we saw Christmas trees and many other holiday decorations. The place and the nearby Plaza Mayor were full of visitors.
The Christmas Market was still going on in Plaza Mayor though it’s already after Christmas. There were many stalls selling Christmas decorations, souvenirs and food. Performers were staging a show in the middle of the plaza, and people all gathering to watch.
Day 2: Royal Palace, Cathedral of Almudena
We visited the Royal Palace this morning. The palace was a huge building (one of the largest palaces in Europe), and the self-guided tour allowed us to visit many rooms inside. Royal bedrooms had intricated wooden carvings. Some carvings looked like castles. We heard a guy exclaiming: “There’s an entire Hogwarts on the top of this bed!”
We walked around Campo del Moro next to the Royal Palace afterwards. It was drizzling, so we didn’t spend much time there. We also entered the adjacent Cathedral of Almudena to take a quick look.
Day 3: Retiro Park, Cibeles Fountain, Churros and Hot Chocolate
We went to Retiro Park this morning. The park was very popular with the locals during warm weather. People came here to take a walk, have a picnic, or take a boat ride on the big lake inside the park. However, the weather was cold and gloomy today, so there were few people in the park.
We then walked to the nearby Cibeles Fountain, a famous landmark of goddess Cibeles riding a lion-drawn chariot, to take more photos. Afterwards, Cutie suggested having churros and hot chocolate at a famous shop. He ordered a big plate of churros!
There were still a few places we wanted to visit such as Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia (where you could see Picasso’s famous painting Guernica) and Templo de Debod. However, we decided to save those for the future.
Amy 'n Rei 