Madrid!

On Thursday we took the bus to Madrid. The trip is 8 hours from Barcelona and it was a very nice drive through the Spanish countryside. We arrived around 8:30pm and were met by Petrina, a fantastic lady who met my mother by chance in the states, but who has been living in Madrid for the past 40 years. She hosted us for the four lovely days we spent in Spain's capital city. She actually lives about 30 minutes outside, in a suburb called Majadahonda. Thursday night we had a delicious dinner of vegetarian lasagna that Petrina had prepared for us and packed it in, as it had been a long day. We had also lugged all of our luggage that we'd been living with for the past 8 months. We left it there at her apartment, to be collected at the end of the Camino de Santiago. Friday morning we drove out to San Lorenzo de El Escorial, a little town about 45 kilometers from Madrid. It is the site of the historic El Escorial, a royal palace of the King of Spain, commissioned by Felipe II in 1559 to be built and serve as a royal residence, monastery, museum and school. We toured the interior, both the residence and the museum, and then strolled about the impressive grounds where we had a small lunch.

That evening we popped into the city with Petrina and wandered around for bit, passing through the impressive Plaza Mayor. The temperature was mild and there were lots of people out and about, having tapas and strolling through the old city. It was a good way to get our bearings and for me to get reacquainted with the city after 10 years absence.


On Saturday, Kristian and I went solo into Madrid to spend the day in the city. In the morning we visited El Prado museum. It is a great museum and has the best collection of Spanish art, from Velazquez to Goya and El Greco. We saw Velazquez' Las Meninas and some creepy Goya's from his dark period. In the afternoon we made our way over to Retiro park where the Expodedor del Maratón de Madrid was being held. I had to pick up my bib number and timing chip. How exciting!

Next stop, Pasty Party! This was hosted by the marathon organizers and it was an absolute lío! The line was a couple of miles long, starting outside of the building. Imagine trying to feed more than 8,000 runners and a guest! Once we entered the building I was not encouraged. It was a long stark warehouse type room, and the line continued. When we finally got up to the front they were scooping ziti out of big vats and passing them out to the waiting masses. We sat one on top of the other at several long tables - and to get us excited about the race the entertainment was a bunch of people dressed as clowns marching around the room blowing the most ear-piercing whistles and smashing cymbals. At the same time, over the din, a man was yelling into a microphone, talking about the race and reminding us that there was free beer to drink up at the counter. It was horrendous. We scarfed down our food and got the heck out of there!

Outside, we rifled through the bag that was handed out to me with my bib number. We all got a Madrid Marathon athletic shirt, which was great. There was also a couple running magazines, some sample energy supplements and other running related propaganda. Makes sense. But each bag also contained a really heavy air pump - for filling up balls, tires, air-mattresses, etc. Huh?

We spent the rest of the afternoon sitting in a cafe in the Plaza Santa Ana, just outside the Puerta del Sol. It was a beautiful day, and after escaping the insistent Asian masseuse, who literally tried to force me into her massage chair and required a little help from Kristian to free myself, we passed a few hours peacefully taking in the ambiance of Madrid. Then it was home and early to bed. I had a marathon to run the next day!