Blogasbord: June 19, 2008 - Day 4

If we were the type of family to believe in omens, we might have become very bummed about the prospects of our unfolding vacation based on how our first day in Spain developed. If this day were given a subtitle, it would be "The day Susanna marked our progress through Old Madrid with a trail of vomit."

The Puking Begins

Jet lag + exhausting late night = late start. Despite the best efforts of our lumpy beds (I, for one, could feel almost every spring in the mattress) , the crew slept in until a leisurely 10:30am. We didn't really have set plans for the day, just a handful of goals for the next several days, so once we finally got everybody ready and out the door we set our sights on an early lunch. We settled on one of the numerous sidewalk cafes that populate the alleys surrounding the Plaza Mayor, sat down in the shade, and ordered: Bocadillos, or baguette sandwiches for Jenna and I, Spaghetti for the little girls, and steak and eggs for Abby. Hey, it's what she wanted.

From Day 4: Madrid

Here we are waiting for our food, with the Palacio de Santa Cruz in the the background. It started out as a prison including during the Inquisition, was later converted to a palace, and now houses the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Our memories are a little fuzzy about what transpired next, but I remember spending most of the meal cutting Abby's steak, we remember that Susanna wasn't really interested in her pasta (which should have tipped us off, because she's a voracious eater), and Louisa kept whining about something. Both Jenna and I have highly developed whine filters, so lunch was almost over when we clued into the fact that Louisa was announcing that Susanna had "spit" or puked on her. About that time Susanna started to heave. Jenna snatched her up and pointed her away from the table as she spewed the clear, foodless contents of her stomach.

First thing that went through our minds, "This is a great way to start a vacation. What have we gotten ourselves into?" Second thought, "Guess this solves our quandry about what to do today. We're walking and staying close the door of any building we visit."

Plaza Mayor and el Supermercado

We had brought a city guide with us with a suggested walking tour for the area, and with that as rough inspiration we headed into the Plaza Mayor, the large area of interest closest to where we were. The Plaza Mayor is a big square surrounded on all sides by patio restaurants on the ground floor and four stories of residences (I guess) above. In the 15th century it was the main public market at the crossroads of two major thoroughfares. There's still a market there today where vendors sell artisinal meats (unrefrigerated, ugh), breads, honey, street performers, . . . , and on this particular week, a delegation from Mexico to entice Spaniards to bring their tourist dollars to the western hemisphere.

From Day 4: Madrid

Having passed through the Plaza we set out in search of a store and provisions for our day of trekking. We didn't have to travel far 'til we found a little corner supermercado. which would become our main base for supplies, and stocked up on water, juice (zumo en España) boxes, oranges and apples. Susanna puked on a tree outside.

Plaza de la Villa

Freshly provisioned, we headed down the Calle Mayor until we hit Plaza de la Villa. We didn't really know it at the time, but this plaza is kind of important. One of original squares from medieval times, Plaza de la Villa now houses several public buildings.

Casa and Torre de los Lujanes (left, in the above photo) are actually the oldest existing buildings in Madrid. Originally the home of wealthy merchants, they were built in the 15th century and now house the Royal Academy of Political Sciences and Morals. We just really liked peeking through the keyholes in the giant gothic door:

From Day 4: Madrid

Casa de Cisneros (straight ahead in that same photo above) was a palace home built in 1537 at the behest of the cousin of a Cardinal. Today's it's Madrid's City Hall.

Casa de la Villa (right in the photo above) is the new building on the block, built in 1645 as the home of some fancy pants Duke or Marqui. Today it's part of City Hall.

Plaza de la Villa was also where we first came upon the wonderful painted-tile street signs that adorn old Madrid. Branching off the plaza was the amusingly named Calle del Codo (Elbow Street). Down the street from the Plaza, we came across Calle de la Traviesa, which can be loosely translated as Naughty Street. Priceless.

From Day 4: Madrid

Iglesias de San Andrés and San Francisco el Grande
At this point the detailed map in our guidebook of old Madrid ran out. It seemed to early to head down the Calle Mayor to the Palacio Real, so I looked around and spotted an old Cathedral at the top of a hill to the south. After a long slog up a cobbled hill we arrived in a small plaza in front of the Iglesia San Andrés only to find it closed. In retribution, Susanna puked in their plants:

From Day 4: Madrid

Not to be deterred, we headed down the hill to the west, across a busy intersection to la Iglesia de San Francisco El Grande. Also closed. But they did have a formal garden with a great view of west Madrid, which we enjoyed . . . for a few moments, as there was no shade and the sun was high in the sky and scorching hot at this point. It was time to cut to the chase and head towards the pièce de résistance of the day - the Royal Palace.

Catedral de la Almudena

But first, one more try at a cathedral. This time the seat of the diocese, Catedral de la Almudena, which adjoins the Royal Palace to the South. To get there we pushed the strollers down a long winding hill (photo below taken on our way down this hill), across a street and up another long hill.

From Day 4: Madrid

By the time we got there we were tired and hot, so the dark coolness of the cathedral was a welcome relief. There was a lot to take in, but Louisa fixated immediately on a stained glass window opposite the entrance. Pointing to it, she excitedly exclaimed to Jenna, "Look mom, it's like Veggie Tales Easter Carol!", apparently her only previous exposure to such churchly beauty.

From Day 4: Madrid

At a certain point in, Jenna's spidey sense kicked in and she sensed Susanna was due to puke again. Sure enough, as soon as we got outside she relieved herself. This was to be the last episode, however, as she then fell asleep in the stroller and remained asleep for the rest of the day.

El Palacio Real

Entrance to El Palacio Real requires tickets. Our philosophy for this trip is that if there is something we wanted to do, we were going to do it regardless of the cost. There's little point in paying so much to fly over to Europe and not see things just to avoid paying a little more. So, after pausing briefly to take a few photos outside the gate, we sprung for tickets and went in.

From Day 4: Madrid

The palace is quite large, the largest in Western Europe, according to Wikipedia, with over 2,800 rooms. The King actually doesn't live in this palace any more - too public, I guess - but it is apparently still used for state functions. In between functions, peons such as ourselves can explore its extravagance.

After wading through the gift shop and dropping a backpack and other sundries into a locker, we headed out in to the plaza, then into a wing that held the old apothecary, filled with porcelain jars of exotic herbs. By this time, I think both Susanna and Louisa were asleep, so rather than push our double-wide stroller up the stairs and through the tight corridors, Jenna and I took turns checking out the drug stash.

After that we headed across the plaza to the main palace. Here, again, there was no provision for strollers and the docents asked us to park our monstrosity near the entrance and proceed on foot. This necessitated schlepping the comatose Susanna (and possibly Louisa), which we did, up the grand staircase and through the countless rooms adorned in different stiles. This part of the tour was especially satisfying to Jenna. I think she said something to the effect of "this is how I imagined a palace would be". Fair enough. Personally, after about 20 over-the-top room, I reached saturation and started to get bored.

The next stop was more interesting, as it held the armory of Carlos the something-or-other, including weapons and armor for himself and his horse. Carlos had many suits of armor, and several of the dressy variety were really quite impressive. King Carlos wasn't a very tall man, though; not more than 5 1/2 feet tall to my reckoning. Interestingly, though, his armor sported a disproportionately large protuberances to protect the family jewels.

On the way out we stocked up on Spanish childrens' books, including an illustrated Don Quixote and one on El Cid.

Food and then home

We tried using our TomTom GPS to locate a good restaurant on the way home from the Palacio, but ended up just cruising the Calle Mayor until we found a place that seemed to offer standard Spanish fare. We sat up front and braved a couple of smokers, asked if there was a non-smoking section, were told it was in the back but was just as smoky as the front, and decided to at least sit near the open window where there was a little better chance of our lungs surviving the night. Luckily, after a few drinks the smokers left and we were able to enjoy our dinner in relative freshness. Susanna slept on.

For our main dish, we ordered Paella, Sevillana style, I believe. We weren't able to try it the night before because we arrived so late and it takes about a half hour to cook. Jenna really liked the paella and has taken to preparing it at home. In fact, we just had it tonight with the missionaries.

We also ordered la ensalad mixta, or mixed salad. Mixed salad in Spain has lots of tuna in it. And white pickled asparagus. And eggs. Tasty, but lacking in the greens department.