OT: Madrid tips
by Jay , San Diego, Monday, September 30, 2019, 09:57 (1958 days ago)
edited by Jay, Wednesday, January 10, 2024, 10:18
Who's got 'em?
Heading there Saturday for a combo work/fun trip for a few days.
Sights, restaurants, off the beaten track stuff?
First time for me.
Tags:
travel
Wait! I remember - go to Toledo!
by MattG, Monday, September 30, 2019, 14:26 (1958 days ago) @ Jay
That absolutely ruled.
Even the part where you're still on the highway and you first see it - it's like a "castle on top of a hill, surrounded by walled city" kind of town, like you'd envision when reading a kids' storybook.
It's less than an hour drive from Madrid's city center.
And we - absolutely randomly - walked into an old kind of nondescript church and BANG there was El Greco's "Burial of the Count of Orgaz".
Super cool day trip.
Oh, yeah, definitely go to Toledo!
by nedhead , Monday, September 30, 2019, 15:12 (1958 days ago) @ MattG
Spent a week at a conference in Toledo, 10 of us rented out a villa on the hill outside of the town. It was amazing and beautiful!
Poor Madrid
by LT, Monday, September 30, 2019, 13:25 (1958 days ago) @ Jay
It’s hard not to be the boring one when you share a country with San Sebastián, Barcelona, and all those little jewelbox walled cities. And the Alhambra. But I really like Madrid! Both big museums are must-do; Guernica is very moving in person. Perhaps the scale? Timed tickets to the Pardo are extremely necessary.
Del Diego is a fabulous cocktail bar and I had a great meal at Ten Con Ten last year. San Gines is a classic churro place although increasingly touristy. San Miguel is no Boqueria but it’s a great place to get some tapas and I feel like you end up walking by it multiple times as you do tourist stuff (not sure where your hotel is) so always worth trying a new stall. Cafe Federal had the best coffee I had in Spain.
M&H is a cute kids clothing store approved by the duchess of Cambridge, which I assume interests no on in this board but me.
Have a great time!
Let me consult by travel almanac.
by San Pedro , Monday, September 30, 2019, 13:21 (1958 days ago) @ Jay
The 1992 edition of Let’s Blow thru Europe! recommends Club Andy Warhol. I can’t say I agree with that recommendation. But I DO heartily agree with its recommendation to stroll through the Retiro. A wonderful urban park, if that is your thing.
Barcelona is warmer than Madrid
by Jeff (BGS) , A starter home in suburban Tempe, Monday, September 30, 2019, 13:16 (1958 days ago) @ Jay
but, then, the people are so different, the Barcelonians and the Madridniks.
--
At night, the ice weasels come.
I was there a few years ago
by irishvol , Music City, USA, Monday, September 30, 2019, 12:13 (1958 days ago) @ Jay
I enjoyed Madrid quite a bit - more than I expected to. Culturally very different than Barcelona (if you've been there), but interesting in its own ways.
I'll echo the positive sentiments about the Prado. It really is a fantastic museum in a fun part of town. On the other hand, the Reina Sofia did not do as much for me. Parts were interesting, but on the whole, it was a bit too "modern" for my tastes.
Not far from the Prado, the El Retiro park is a a great place to stroll and get a bit of local vibe. An obvious comparison is Central Park - there's just a neat buzz around the place.
On that note, we tend to spend a lot of time in the local gathering places wherever we travel, just soaking in the local culture a bit. Walking the Gran Via. Sitting at cafes and bars around the Puerto del Sol and Plaza Mayor. The latter two in particular were great.
A friend strongly suggested that we find something - anything - to see at the Teatro Real, but it didn't fit in our schedule. They do offer tours - it's a beautiful building.
We visited the Plaza de Toros (bullfighting ring). As an outsider, I find the concept a bit repulsive. But I also recognize the significance within local culture, and the arena and museum do show a lot of history. I wouldn't go out of my way to see it, but it's there if that interests you.
The Royal Palace is interesting, but if you've seen other palaces in Europe, I'm not sure that it's worth your time to tour.
Lastly, Jamon Iberico. Delicious.
On jamon iberico
by Joe I , Monday, September 30, 2019, 14:44 (1958 days ago) @ irishvol
edited by Joe I, Monday, September 30, 2019, 14:50
Absolutely a must eat whenever you can, but make sure to get "Jamon Iberica de Bellota" instead of / as well as just plain jamon iberico. Why, you ask?
[tldr;
jamon iberica de bellota is ham from black footed pigs, exclusively raised on acorns. Make sure to savor the fat, and eat at room temperature.
jamon iberica is ham from black footed pigs, with limited acorn feed requirements. Still delicious, but not the same umami bomb.
]
Excerpts from my 2017 Spain Trip Report:
The primary impetus for our trip, other than Barcelona, was to hang with the pigs. Black Iberian pigs are the famous and delicious black footed pigs, used to produce the incomparable jamon iberico, and are raised in the Spanish dehesa, oak forests in South / West Spain. By law, the pigs are allocated ~ 4 acres of land each, and forage on several types of acorns during the winter months. The acorn diet imbues their meat with an umami unique around the world. The fat from these pigs indeed tastes like acorns, and contains over 55% of the healthy oleic acid (the same found in avocados).
In the morning, we embarked on our longest drive of the trip, a 4-hour jaunt which led us into the heart of pig country. Thus began our quest for all things jamon iberico, another highlight of our trip! After checking in at Molinas de Fuenteheridos, a lovely country house in the heart of Huelva province, we headed directly to Badajoz for our afternoon jamon tour with Cinco Jotas. While there are a fairly large number of jamon iberico producers, Cinco Jotas stands out as not only one of the very best, but also one of the very few USDA certified to import into the United States.
Cinco Jotas only produces jamon iberico de bellota, which are made from pure bred black Iberian pigs raised in the dehesa (oak forests). The Cinco Jotas tour, led by Marco, gave us a high-end, high-level overview of jamon iberico production, and was highlighted by our ham tasting and a visit to the dehesa to stroll among the pigs. The ham tasting was particularly informative, as we got to taste each of the four primary cuts of a leg (maza, contramaza, babilla, and punta). Each cut had a distinctive taste and fat content, so it was a treat to compare them all together. Our visit to the dehesa was particularly memorable, as it had just rained that morning and the pigs were so stuffed from eating fallen acorns that they were downright friendly. We got to see the pigs in their natural environment, learned a ton about the dehesa ecosystem, and gained a true appreciation for the care and raising of the black Iberian pigs. [Side note: We indeed had a full leg of Cinco Jotas jamon iberico de bellota sitting on our kitchen counter for a year, and enjoyed a few slices almost every day...]
Day 7 commenced with our second tour of jamon iberico processing facilities on this trip, and a stop in Guijuelo and the Julian Martin factory. Some of you may be thinking, “that’s a lot of ham focus for one trip.”, but for us this was perfect. Thankfully, we were able to schedule two different jamon tours that coincided with our stays in the region. The two tours (Cinco Jotas and Julian Martin) ended up being perfect complements to each other. While the Cinco Jotas tour focused on the sustainability and uniqueness of jamon iberico, our Julian Martin tour enabled us to see the inner workings of a jamon factory and watch all the steps involved. From a 3-day salt cure to a 3-year open air drying cycle, the making of a jamon iberico is a true labor of love, and the end result is special.
Our guide for this tour, Juan, provided so much information about the processing and packaging of many different ham products that Julian Martin produces, and was willing to answer all the questions our group had. This up-close tour of the facilities really helped inform our knowledge of how a ham is made. Lastly, Juan treated us to a very nice tasting of Julian Martin jamon products, local cheeses, and wines, and a seemingly endless plate of jamon iberico de bellota that he sliced on demand. At both Cinco Jotas and Julian Martin, we picked up several packages of jamon iberico de bellota for the remainder of our trip, so this remained a staple of our lunches during our stay in Spain.
Jamon Iberico
by Jack , Monday, September 30, 2019, 13:48 (1958 days ago) @ irishvol
edited by Jack, Monday, September 30, 2019, 13:55
Is reason on its own to visit Spain.
Truth be told, my favorite cuisine in Europe is from Spain (I don't say "Spanish", because my favorite subset of all is actually Basque). As good as the food in France and Italy is, and it truly is, if you put a gun to my head and told me to pick one, I'd choose Spain.
Do you know/speak to Joseph Blanco?
by Grantland, y'allywood, Monday, September 30, 2019, 10:59 (1958 days ago) @ Jay
He was in your class or maybe a year or two behind. He may have some ideas. Still has family is Spain.
actually tailgated with him before I saw you last Sat
by Jay , San Diego, Monday, September 30, 2019, 11:05 (1958 days ago) @ Grantland
- No text -
he may know some good madrid stuff.
by Grantland, y'allywood, Monday, September 30, 2019, 11:07 (1958 days ago) @ Jay
- No text -
The Prado, of course
by Jack , Monday, September 30, 2019, 10:51 (1958 days ago) @ Jay
edited by Jack, Monday, September 30, 2019, 11:02
One of the great art museums in the world, but also located on a beautiful leafy street to walk on, oddly enough named Calle del Prado. Beautiful building also, with a great sculpture of Velazquez at the entrance, brush and palette in hand.
My favorite things in the museum (it's been decades) were Velazquez's Las Meninas, just an amazing work, and the Goya rooms painted when the artist was going a little bit nuts near the end of his life.
I was there for work just one time, so had very limited time, but another thing to do is just go to the Plaza Mayor one evening to an outdoor cafe and quaff a few cervezas or other beverage of your choosing. And it's a great city to walk in. Walk at least part of the Gran Via, for example.
I've only ever been for work,
by nedhead , Monday, September 30, 2019, 10:09 (1958 days ago) @ Jay
and it kinda sucks for work. Awake by 7am to make a 9am start; be sure to eat breakfast because lunch is late. Then home around 6pm, a little hungry, and now what are you supposed to do? Wait until 9pm when everything opens, then have a nice meal, walk it off a bit so you don't go to sleep full, and, whoah, you have to wake up in 6 hours!
Works well for siesta schedules, but not so great otherwise.
Who goes to Madrid and has never seen anything? Multiple times? Yep, that's me. I'm all kinds of exciting!
I feel your pain
by Jack , Monday, September 30, 2019, 10:54 (1958 days ago) @ nedhead
That was my first trip to Barcelona, also for work. Saw absolutely nothing other than bits and pieces from a car window (Colleague: "There's the spires of Sagrada Familia." Me: "Where??" Colleague: "Oh, sorry, too late").
I didn't get to scratch that itch for another 27 years.
Haven't been in some time, but if you don't mind digging
by Joe I , Monday, September 30, 2019, 10:06 (1958 days ago) @ Jay
through some threads, I highly recommend checking out Flyertalk. Lots of recent, relevant info there: https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/search.php?searchid=50015638&query=madrid
Edit: With only a few days, you'll have more than enough to do in Madrid, including the Prado, but if you want to get away, Toledo and Segovia are fairly quick trips on the AVE trains. Love both cities.
Guernica
by MattG, Monday, September 30, 2019, 10:05 (1958 days ago) @ Jay
Obviously mandatory
After that, I’ve got very little. I was there like 20 years ago. There is a huge boulevard between the Prado and Reina Sofia that seemed important and cool.
Museo de Jamon for ham sandwiches? Man I’ve got nothin