Instead of going East directly, my flight actually had to stop at Philadelphia before crossing the Atlantic Ocean
The luggage claim at Madrid Barajas airport for flight from Philadelphia. Notice how the two "Ph"s of Philadelphia are spelled in Spanish
Like most European cities and Hong Kong, the public transportation system in Madrid is much more reliable and accessible than its counterpart in U.S. It only takes about 40 minute’s metro (subway) ride from AeorPuerto station at the Airport to my hotel
Notice that unlike London or Hong Kong, the doors of the subway trains in Spain (and Paris too) don’t open automatically. Rather each door has an individual button that you need to push before the door will open. That is something I often forget and almost miss my stops.
The closest Metro station to my hotel is Banco De España (Bank of Spain) and you can guess that it is right in the middle of their financial center.
The neighborhood of the hotel is currently under construction so it was a bit chaotic. Inside the hotel room it is nicely furnished but there is really not much of a view to boast
On paper I was staying in Madrid for two days, in truth it was four half days combined together. If you take away the time to commute to and from the aiport, the hotel check-in, the actual visiting time is pitiful. After settling and taking a shower in the hotel, my first stop is El Palacio Real de Madrid
El Palacio Real de Madrid is the official residence of the King of Spain but that remains official only because the King and Queen actually stay in a more modest estate, El Palacio de la Zarzuela. Today the palace is mainly open to tourists if it isn't reserved for State ceremony, which is not necessary announced ahead of time. So you will need to try your luck if you plan to visit there. My luck had been good and bad. Good is that it was open to visitors; Bad is that upon arrival I found out I could've got in for free with my Portuguese passport had I come one day earlier for the Palace is free admission for any EU passport holders every Wednesday!
According to Wikipedia El Palacio Real de Madrid is the biggest palace in Europe but personally I found it dwarfed by Château de Versailles in France, probably because the palace is only partially open to public. Unlike Château de Versailles, the internal of El Palacio Real de Madrid (and most tourist attractions in Spain) does not allow being photographed, except Plaza de Armas
It was in Plaza de Armas that I bumped into three Hong Kong guys who are currently working as an intern in Ireland. They found me look familiar and so struck a conversation with me:
We even swapped email addresses but sadly I have left it in my hotel when I left for Boston. 八神 if you happen to read this please drop me a message.
The only other place I visited in Madrid is El Museo Nacional del Prado, one of the three major museums in Madrid.
Due to my sense of orientation, or the lack of it, a ten minutes walk from my hotel had wasted me almost forty minutes in order to locate the museum, if only I started in the right direction. It will be way too overwhelming to visit all the exhibits in El Museo Nacional del Prado but fortunately the museum provides visitor a quick guide to their masterpiece collection in their floor plan:
El Museo Nacional del Prado is famous for its Goya and Velázquez collection.
None more famous than Las Meninas by Velázquez but unfortunately no photograph allowed so a picture snatched from the net is all I can do
After a swift two hours browse of El Museo Nacional del Prado I quickly left for Atocha station to catch my train to Barcelona
There are two railway train stations in Madrid, Atocha and Seville. The latter is supposedly more breathtaking and worthy to visit but I will have to save it for next time. It took about two hours and forty five minute to reach Barcelona. The land between Madrid and Barcelona is not particularly scenic but movie is available. Below you can see "Ice Age: The Meltdown" was being showed during my ride
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