Valencia

We had a short stop on our way to Barcelona from Madrid which brought us to Valencia. With our short amount of time we decided to head right for the main district. The district was different though it was filled with buildings from the 1300-1400's but had new age restaurants and shops put in. It was very opposite of what we had been experiencing. The plaza we ended up near was Plaza de la Virgen, which was very unique it had 3 main entrances one which was Gothic style buildings, another which was Baroque style, and a Romanesque palace gate.

Something very popular in this region is bullfighting and we could not pass up a chance to check it out. We went to the Corrida de Toros but unfortunately we got there a day early and the next matador show was a day after we left. It was interesting to us both being athletes at the simplicity of the arena here it was a bowl that just went straight up no big arena or special structure just very simple.

The parks had some very unique trees we walked through the main park on our way back to the train and were amazed by the trees that grew in this area, they looked fake. Lastly we grabbed some food as usual, as a snack they offered us bread with cheese with a tomato spread kind of like jelly it was very different but enjoyable. Next stop Barcelona.

Madrid

Madrid city of the Jamón (ham in English) we called it, everywhere we went the thighs of pigs were hanging in every window, and in every restaurant they had a leg strapped down to the counter and they cut the meat right off the bone in front of you. We stayed right in the Plaza Santa Anna right in the heart of the city with our host Julio, His place was huge and we had our own room similar to a hotel room with a balcony that opened into the plaza.

We took an art walk down a main street that was divided by a large park that contained 3 fountains which led to the heart of Madrid’s Capital. The first fountain was the Fountain of Neptune the roman god of the sea it is surrounded by Madrid’s two most famous hotels The Palace and The Ritz. Next was the Fountain of Apollo which represents the roman god of arts and it is conveniently right in front of Madrid’s Stock Exchange. Lastly is the fountain of Cybele the roman god of fertility and agriculture, this statue was tremendous and accompanying her were two lions Hippomenes and Atalanta. She was surrounded by Palace of Cybele, the Palace of Linares, The Palace of Buenavista which is the army headquarters, and the Bank of Spain building.

Along the far west side of town are many vast parks and courtyards which surround the Palacio Real and the Catedral de la Almudena. Palacio Real was home to the Spanish monarchy from Carlos the Third to Alfonso the eighth. This is no longer the royal family’s home but continues to be their official residence. The Catedral de la Almudena was most famous for Pope John Paul the second consecrating it in 1993, but the history goes back much further when Alfonso the sixth re conquered Madrid it was said that within the walls was a virgin illuminated by two candles for all time.

Plaza Mayor the greatest plaza in Madrid, although it is not how it was in the 16^th century this plaza still has many vendors and restaurants that flank it and that are inside the plaza. In the 16^th century this plaza was a gigantic marketplace where vendors would bring out all their goods to sell and trade.

Our final stop in Madrid was seeing one of the greatest Spanish football teams of all time Real Madrid. We took the extensive tour that walked us around the entire stadium first up to a panorama view of the inside, then down onto the field and lastly into the backbone of the organization the press room the players areas the locker rooms and finally through their museum which was proudly decorated with tons of trophies. Spain is a complete 360 from France by 9 not a single person or restaurant was open in France and the streets had 100’s of people in them at 11 pm here. Next stop a day trip to Valencia