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Learn From My Mistakes…

“Real Madrid!”

by Patrick Egan

Sipping sangria on a warm summer night outside Plaza Mayor in Madrid is a great way to end a day of sightseeing. As you stir the wine and fruit concoction and listen to the soft clunk of the wooden spoon against the glass pitcher, you can continue the day's adventure watching tourists and locals parade up and down the cobblestone streets. If you're lucky enough, you might even get a chance to sip the special sangria blend made by Tony Sangria who works at the bar next to the Chocolateria one block west of Plaza Mayor. He made me promise not to divulge his secret ingredient, but search him out and discover the secret on your own — it will be worth it. And if you can't find him, that's okay because there ain't no bad sangria in Madrid as far as I am concerned!

Whether you want to hike mountains, relax on a Mediterranean beach, or visit museums, you will find many thrills in Spain. My daughters and I started our budget visit to this delightful country in Madrid. There are plenty of hostels, hostals, pensiones, and hotels to fit most any budget. Lonely Planet's Guide to Spain (see Amazon.com for the series of Lonely Planet guides to dozens of countries; these guide books are so helpful that they have become my bible to several continents) will help you book a place either before you arrive or after you get there.

I booked a hostel online by emailing them directly to avoid the service charge that the booking agencies demand. Lonely Planet prints all websites when they have them. Go to the website, check out the look of the place, and then book it by email. The hostel or hotel will email back a confirmation. I've done this sometimes months in advance and then right before the trip, I re-confirm (attaching the original confirmation) just to let the hostel know that I am actually coming and to make sure there is room for me. No money has been exchanged until I arrive and see the place in person. And if Lonely Planet doesn't have anything to suit your tastes — Google! You'll find something.

A word of advice — air conditioning is rare in Europe unless you are in a decent hotel. That is to be expected. We were surprised, though, when even fans were non-existent in the hostels. Next time I go, I'll bring a tiny portable hand fan. After a cold shower, that's all I need to help me sleep on a hot, summer night.

When you fly into Madrid, don't fret about the taxis or the buses — take the subway! Their extensive subway can take you to nearly every part of the city, certainly to any part the newcomer/tourist is apt to go. The subway is clean, safe, fast, and inexpensive. The airport Tourist Information booth will give you an excellent map that shows the stops and transfers; of course, the polite and friendly Spaniards onboard will help. Without a hitch we were exiting at "Opera" (Plaza Isabella) just a block from our hostel. As I said, if you don't have a reservation, this area is filled with places to stay in every price range, so walk around, knock on a few doors, and before you know it, you'll find a bed for the night or even for the week.

After checking in, we started our rigorous tourist activity with a double-decker bus tour of the major sites. This is a good way to get a feel for the city, see some sites, and learn your way around. Go to Puerto del Sol, the center of the city (a five-minute walk from Opera), and purchase the tickets where the buses line up. A word of advice — buy the tickets in the nearby shops so that you can get one ticket for all the tours. We bought our tickets on the bus that only allowed us to use the tickets for that route and that route alone. (Learn from my mistakes!)

The tour bus will stop at a couple sites. You can get off and get back on a later bus doing the same route. Our first stop was the magnificent museum, the Paseo del Prado (open 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., Sunday 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., Mondays closed), one of the most important art collections in the world. There are special rooms for masters like Goya, Velazquez, El Greco, Zurbarán, Murillo and Tizian. Mostly likely you will have to enjoy them with hundreds of people breathing down your neck unless you arrive at 9 a.m. when they open!

During your bus tour, you will mostly likely pass the National Museum Reina Sofia (open 10 a.m. to 9 p.m., Tuesday closed). Seeing Picasso's "Guernica" is worth the visit. I may have bored my daughters with political commentary as we studied his masterpiece, but it was hard not to put the work into an historic context. The bus tour will end back at Puerto del Sol.

Sol will draw you back again late at night. Much of Madrid takes a nap during the heat of the day, especially in summer. Then Sol explodes with activity around 10 p.m. and doesn't quiet down until after 2 a.m. Thousands of people, tourists and locals, will "street shop," where the vendors lay out their wares on the sidewalks. Restaurants and bakeries will be open for late dinners and snacks. Musicians will be playing. And the police may very well be rousting many of the vendors and performers but it's almost like a performance on everyone's part. We played our part and watched like good audience members. After a hot afternoon, the cool evening saunter amongst the colorful people in Sol was fun and was always followed with a late night pitcher of sangria.

Only a ten-minute walk from Puerto del Sol is Plaza Mayor. Day or night, you will find Plaza Mayor, a stone paved area the size of a football field that is surrounded by a four-story building built centuries ago, an exciting place to visit. During the day, you will get helpful information at the Tourist Office. Also, the shops will inspire spending — let that be a warning to those on a budget. There are inexpensive souvenirs to quality gifts to be viewed and maybe even purchased. I couldn't resist the replicas of Medieval daggers. I bought three of them and figured I'd somehow slip through U.S. Customs and NYC airport security. I did, but what a hassle! (Little did I know, I could get the same daggers online back in the States. Learn from my mistakes!)

At night, the plaza is a great place for dinner. It is almost always teeming with activity. At one end will be flamenco dancers performing for diners and onlookers. At the other end, you may very well be captivated by street theater in the form of comedia del arte. And of course, if you want to be alone with a loved one, there are quiet little restaurants for romantic dining by candlelight. One thing is almost certain: you will not be bored while visiting Plaza Mayor. If anything, the architecture alone is worth the time to see it.

During the hot afternoons, if you cannot rest, I have two sites for you to visit. One is the 4th century Temple of Debod, a twenty-minute walk from Opera. It's the coldest place in Madrid! The air conditioning is near freezing. It is also a spectacular site with lots of history to absorb. That's for the intellectuals. For the rest of you, take a twenty-minute subway ride to a local swimming pool. You won't find many tourists; just make sure you are not offended by young women going topless. (I forced myself to deal with it.) But seriously, the pool was a good place to cool down. The water was perfect. And it gave me a chance to see how the Spanish people really live.

Take a couple day trips. We missed the bus to Toledo so we had to improvise, and it turned out being a highlight of the trip. Since we wanted to get out of the city for the day, we grabbed the first train and decided to have an adventure. We figured wherever it took us, it would be something new and different. We were right. We happened upon a train going to Monasterio de El Escorial.

The monastery is huge and fascinating but the crowning moment is when the guide takes you deep underground to the Pantheon of the Kings ("Panteon de Reyes"). Here, in a circular room covered in marble, lies coffin upon coffin upon coffin of Spanish kings. They are interned in bronze caskets covered with gold. The walls are even gilded and the room shimmers with a golden hue. My daughters and I still talk about that room, and it all happened because we grabbed a train going anywhere and got off where it stopped. Message here — be a little adventurous. Let the unknown (within reason) surprise and delight you.

As for nearby Toledo, it is a must see. But it is also only a day trip. Go there, see it, and don't stay the night, unless you want quiet, quiet, quiet. The historic city where we stayed was architecturally interesting but dark and boring at night. If you want nightlife, scramble back to Madrid. But by all means, see Toledo.

Well, after a few days, we were scheduled for Barcelona — which I will write about next time. We were going to take the bus and see the countryside, but the night before leaving Madrid we decided to grab a plane (jet, really). There was no need for advance reservations to get a seat at a decent price. Internal flights are cheap and plentiful. But if I had to do it over again, I might take the bus. When you count up the hours of getting to the airport in advance and waiting for luggage afterwards, you don't save more than a couple hours by air. And in the bus, we would have gotten a chance to see the countryside and rest a bit. Just something to consider when you leave Madrid and head for Barcelona. Happy traveling! And learn from my mistakes!

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— Patrick Egan

A Los Angeles resident, Patrick Egan has written for television, film, and stage. His latest work was as co-writer on Worldwide Pictures' "The Climb," which won several family film awards. He also teaches English at a local community college, which gives him the time to travel during summer vacation. Presently, he is working on his first novel. Contact Pat Egan at learnfrommymistakes2@hotmail.com.

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