Yearly Archives: 2012

The Best Things in Madrid are Free

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Well, at least some of the best things are free!  Two of my favorite sites in Madrid were the Prado museum and Retiro Park.  The art featured at the Prado was fun to learn about and beautiful to admire and Retiro Park was a much-needed break from the bustling streets of Madrid.  Before going into detail, I do want to mention that the Prado is not always free, only during certain times.  So, plan well and you can save quite a bit of money!

We stayed at the Westin Palace in Madrid, which was conveniently located a few minutes from the Prado.  This was perfect because the Prado was on the top of our list for places to visit while in Madrid, and since I was under the weather at the end of our trip, traveling too far was not appealing.  We made our way over to the entrance around 17:00 on our first day only to find that the cost was an exorbitant 12 euros per person (22 with the official guide!).  Willing to pay, we almost continued on.  However, we then saw a sign saying that the Prado entrance would be free starting at 18:00! [For more information on pricing and when the museum is free, check the Prices page on the Prado website.  The short answer: Monday through Saturday, 18:00-20:00 (closing) and Sundays, 17:00-19:00 (closing)].

The official guides are not available during the free entry hours, but the information desk has brochures in several languages that map out the popular paintings throughout the museum.  In addition, the Prado website has information about 15 masterpieces found at the museum.  We used our Rick Steves’ Spain guidebook to help us focus on particular paintings and learn additional information about each one, but we did find that most paintings had some sort of description in Spanish and English.  

Since the line didn’t take long to get through and the crowds were manageable during the free time, the only real downside is that the time is limited to the last two hours that the museum is open each day.  We were able to see plenty in those two hours, but there is so much to see in the Prado, so for many, a full (or at least longer) day might be more practical than waiting for the free time to start.

Close to the Prado, Retiro Park (Parque del Buen Retiro) sits on over 300 acres of land…in the middle of Madrid!  It’s hard to believe that the beautiful and peaceful gardens are located in the middle of such a lively city.  Throughout the park there are trees to provide shade and, in several instances, we noticed people laying around, either sleeping or reading a book.  If relaxing in the park fits your agenda, think about bringing a towel or blanket to really enjoy the park like a local.  

Retiro Park was nice and relaxing, but also lively with tourists and locals alike – especially around the lake.  We visited on a Saturday afternoon, so the area around the lake was packed with families and couples.  We sat on the ledge by the lake (seen in the picture to the right) and watched as people purchased food and souvenirs or just hurried by, chatting away.  We enjoyed watching the people having fun on the lake, rowing in the rented boats.  I was considering renting one, but it was very hot out (around 90° or so) and the lake was completely unprotected from the blazing sun.  So, we sat instead, shaded by the trees surrounding the lake and enjoyed our time people-watching.    

With so many expensive attractions in large cities, it’s always nice when there is a little something for free.  In addition to the free hours at the Prado and the always-free Retiro Park, the Reina Sofía (a great modern art museum in Madrid) offers free hours and Plaza Mayor, always bustling, is free (and not too expensive for a sit-down meal and drink).  

However your time is spent in Madrid, do not forget to enjoy some of the greatest sites the city has to offer – for free!

City Overview: Madrid, Spain

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City. Madrid, Spain

When? Friday, September 14 – Sunday, September 16 (2 nights).  The 2 nights were a little rushed.  We visited all of our top priority sites (Prado, Palace, etc.), but another night would have allowed us to consider a day trip to Toledo.

Where? We stayed at the Westin Palace Madrid in a Junior Suite.  The hotel has an excellent location, directly opposite the Prado and a short walk from Plaza de Santa Ana, which is one of Madrid’s liveliest nightlife scenes.  We only paid $90 + 4800 SPG points per night.  The same room usually costs €399.  Without our Starwood points, we likely would not have found the hotel to be a good value.

Transportation. Central Madrid is very walkable, although there are busses and an underground subway to get around.  The only time we hired a cab was for travelling from the train station to the hotel and from the hotel to the airport.

Food. Madrid had an excellent tapas scene, especially around Plaza de Santa Ana.  We had no problem finding a variety of options to piece together a tapas crawl.  In addition to ordering the patatas bravas that are available everywhere, we also tried orejas (pig ears – pictured below), visited a pintxos bar, and sampled champiñones (sauteed mushrooms).  We had one lunch on Plaza Mayor, which has a unique ambiance, but unremarkable food.  Unfortunately, Kristin wasn’t feeling well during our stay in Madrid, so we weren’t able to pursue the cuisine options as aggressively as we’d hoped.  Our impression was that Madrid had more to offer than any of the other Spanish cities we visited on our trip, perhaps only rivaled by Sevilla.

Day Trips. None.  We would have likely visited Toledo if we had more time though.

Attractions. The highlight for us was the Prado.  We aren’t art lovers, but we found our visit to the Prado very enjoyable.  The Prado is our new favorite art museum in Europe, far surpassing the Louvre and the Uffizi.  Also, it is nice that the Prado is free in the evenings, and we found the crowds to be very bearable.  We also enjoyed our visit to the Madrid Palace.  All of the important rooms are open to the public at the Madrid Palace, and visitors really gain an appreciation for the grandeur of Spanish royalty.  We also visited the Reina Sofia (modern art museum), Plaza Mayor, Puerta del Sol, and Retiro Park.

Language Barrier. Almost everyone spoke English.  We had some minor communication difficulties at a pharmacy and one of the less busy tapas bars, but overall the language barrier was very manageable.

Cost. The cost of food seemed comprable to other places in Spain.  As could be expected, our meal on the Plaza Mayor was probably overpriced considering the quality of the food.

Advice.  Dedicate at least one night to a tapas crawl.  Wonder along some of the smaller streets around Plaza de Santa Ana, to avoid some of the more crowded and touristy options.  Although the Prado and the Madrid Palace are worth a visit, the cuisine scene is what really impressed us.

Closing comments.  Madrid is often a focus of many travel itineraries in Spain.  Appropriately so, considering its status as the nation’s capital.  However, it is a relatively young city and lacks some of the history and tradition found in other European cities.  We would prioritize a stop in Andalucía above Madrid if time is limited, but still believe Madrid is worth at least two nights if time permits.

 

A Few Hours in Brussels

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We finally purchased our Eurostar tickets for a trip to Brussels! I wish we had done it sooner because the prices went up from the low of £69 round trip (per person) and we ended up paying £89. However, it was tough to commit to a day. Anyway, by the time we purchased them on Monday, the prices were even higher for our original itinerary which had us leaving london at 9am (arriving in Brussels at 12pm) and coming back from Brussels at 6pm and arriving in London at 7pm. So now, instead, we will be leaving london at 11am and arriving at 2pm, and then leaving from Brussels at 7pm and arriving back in London at 8pm. This gives us 5 hours to eat, explore, and people-watch.

Part of the reason it took us a while to commit is because we considered venturing further into Belgium and spending the day in Bruges.  The city looks enchanting, with canals winding through the neighborhoods (see picture below, taken from wikipedia).  However, the extra travel time was a bit too much, so Bruges will wait for another trip.  

So, we now have tickets to Brussels and nothing much planned.  Much of our time will be spent around the Grand Palace (below, picture taken from wikipedia), which is the main square in Brussels.

I’m excited to try the famous Belgian mussels, chocolate, and beer!  Ryan has been researching the beer and Trappist beer kept coming up as the star of the show.  There are only 8 Trappist abbeys that brew the beer and 6 are in Belgium.  Brussels is definitely a great place to try it!  I don’t know much about it, but I’m always open to trying a new beer.  So this is how we’ll be spending the majority of our 4th day in London – enjoying food and beer, just across the Channel.

London Hotel Pre-Trip Worries

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We are able to make this trip to London, which is our second trip to Europe this year, because we are using Starpoints for our entire hotel stay (hotel = completely free).  From time to time I look at hotels on SPG and dream about traveling.  I happened to look at the London hotels and noticed that one, the Park Lane Hotel, was only 12k Starpoints per night, which seemed like a steal!  Ryan took a look and confirmed the great location, and we began to look into the trip a little more to see if we could actually afford it.  

Since our hotel was chosen for us based on affordability, I skipped the part of the planning process where I read reviews.  Well, after returning from Portugal and Spain, where we stayed at two Starwood properties, I decided to start looking up some information about the Park Lane.  I started on flyertalk, which I love to read because everyone there travels like crazy and is honest about the hotels they stay in and the airlines they fly.  Of course, I can’t usually relate because most are flying business or first class and have hundreds of thousands of hotel points, but it’s still fun to read.

In this case, I found myself horrified by the negative reviews of the hotel.  In some cases, travelers actually changed hotels mid-stay (and often moved to the much-nicer Le Méridien Piccadilly).  The reviews caution future travelers against staying at the Park Lane Hotel with it’s dated and noisy rooms, but mention that an upgrade to an Executive Room (the ones that were actually renovated recently) can be worth the low cost of the hotel.  Also, there are some reviews that were positive; it’s just that the negative reviews overpowered the positive ones.

So here I am, imagining that the room will look something like this (pictures taken from the SPG website):

But after looking through the traveler photos on Trip Advisor, I’m worried we might get stuck with one of the small, dated, noisy rooms, with an old hair dryer, a makeshift A/C unit (luckily we’ll be there in November!), paint peeling off of the walls, and dirt left in the shower.  

At this point, we are not changing our hotel.  Some of the positive reviews mentioned upgrades at the Park Lane – either because they have status with SPG and received the upgrade for free upon arrival or they were sent a deal before the stay where they could secure an upgrade by paying a certain amount.  We are SPG Gold, but so far that has meant little to us in Europe (no upgrade in Barcelona or Madrid), so I am not too confident that an upgrade will happen in London.  And since we’re SPG Gold, I don’t want to pay for an upgrade when, if available, we should be offered one for free.  Even if an upgrade is only £30 per night, it adds up to £210, which is over $300.  And we’re staying here for free.  That’s the whole point – it’s 100% free, no taxes, fees, or anything. 

With about a week and a half until we get to London, the best I can hope for is that our room will be fine.  We plan to spend most of our time away from the hotel, so a less-than-perfect room will definitely be acceptable.  That being said, we will be staying at the Park Lane Hotel for 7 nights, so I expect a clean and comfortable room, with a working hair dryer!  I can’t see myself demanding a new room, but I also don’t want to give in and settle for a room we are not comfortable in.  

There’s not much to do now but wait and see what the hotel and room are like when we arrive.  I’m hoping for the best!

 

Alhambra by Day

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As much as I loved our night visit to the Alhambra, I’m glad we were able to go back and experience the Palacios Nazaries during the day as well.  

As I mentioned in my planning post, we purchased tickets for the morning visit to the Alhambra, with an 8:30 entrance to the Palacios Nazaries.  It was early, but definitely worth it to beat the heat and the crowds.  I would highly recommend an early morning visit (no later than 9:30 would be my preference).  Even with the early entrance, there were a couple of tour groups, and it’s hard to enjoy the beautiful Moorish details and the relaxing courtyards with large groups of talking tourists. 

Since the 8:30 entrance time is the first available spot, it’s your best bet for enjoying the Palacios Nazaries without the extra noise and people.  We arrived about 15 minutes early, and there were about 15-20 people in line ahead of us.  However, unlike other time slots, the 8:30 slot allows no possibility of hundreds of tourists already roaming around the palace, clogging up the passageways and courtyards.  We were amongst the first people in for the day.  And, better yet, since we had already seen the palace at night, we skipped the very first room (which can get congested) and essentially had the entire place to ourselves (we did end up going back to the first room to take a look at the detailed walls in the daylight, but it was so extremely crowded that we only stayed for a few minutes).  The quiet and empty palace gave us room to move about each area to see the details and talk to each other without yelling. 

A closer look at the Moorish details at the Palacios Nazaries

As far as a guide for the daytime visit, we decided to try out the audio guide (6 euros) since we had already read the majority of Rick Steves’ site tour.  I’m glad we rented the audio guide because it gave some extra information (a lot of it was the same, though), and would recommend it if you don’t have something else to guide you through the palace.  The Palacios Nazaries will still be beautiful and amazing without a guide, but learning the use of each room or a story about something that happened in a courtyard really brings the palace to life and helps you appreciate it so much more.

Our daytime visit of the Palacios Nazaries lasted about an hour and a half, but had we not been on the night visit, we would have been there for at least two hours to take everything in.  While the moonlight and yellowed lights gave a mysterious and magical feel to the palace at night, the Moorish details on the walls and ceilings could be seen much better with the daylight.  The visit ended through a garden courtyard, which was closed during the night visit, and we were ready for the next stop on our Alhambra tour.

We were very excited to see the Generalife Gardens and the Alcazaba, since neither were open during the night visit.  The route through the Palacios Nazaries led us away from the entrance and toward the gardens, so we continued that way and enjoyed the beautiful flowers and trees along the path.  It took about 15-20 minutes to get there, but it was a flat walk, and at 10:00, it wasn’t too hot yet.  There are a few spots along the way which boasted great views of Granada, so we took a few breaks (as shown in the picture above).

The summer house of Charles V is what you pay for with the “Generalife Gardens” – the ticket-collector stands right outside the entrance to the house.  However, the most impressive part of the gardens is just before the house – mazes of hedges, beautiful flowers, romantic paths underneath canopies of greenery, and trickling water features.  While still older than almost any place I visit on a regular basis, the gardens right before the house were not built until the 20th century.  I couldn’t help but feel a bit disappointed by how “new” it was, but we enjoyed the area nonetheless.  The expansive gardens allowed us to wander around without bumping into too many other tourist groups.  We spent very little time in the actual house.  The courtyard was pretty, but felt small and confined after visiting the Palacios Nazaries.  The house itself was nothing special – no elaborate decorations and only three rooms.

After we had enough of the Generalife Gardens, we made the 15-20 minute trek back to the Alcazaba, which is just a bit further past the entrance of the Palacios Nazaries.  Overall we were disappointed by the Alcazaba, but mostly because we were expecting more of an old fort, open for exploring (think Rocca Maggiore, in Asissi, Italy).  Instead, it was an old fort with a one way route guiding toursits on a predetermined path, with no room for veering.  We were able to get some great views of the city, but it would have been much more fun to roam through the ruins.  The entrance (and exit) is right near the entrance to the Palacios Nazaries, so it is worth a visit if you come before your entrance time (assuming it’s not the 8:30 entrance) or you have time afterwards.  It doesn’t take long to go through the fort, and there are several pieces of information on the audio guide. 

And finally, we spent very little time at Charles V’s Palace.  We didn’t have the energy (nor the interest, really) to go into the museum, so we walked around the palace ground and upper floors and then made our way out of the Alhambra, the same way we had entered earlier that morning.

My final tips for the Alhambra: 

  • Choose a morning start time for the Palacios Nazaries, the earlier the better (to avoid crowds and the afternoon heat)
  • Use an audio guide (purchased at the Alhambra) or a different guide to learn more about the Alhambra
  • Take your time and don’t feel bad about going backwards if you want to wait for the crowds or tour groups to move
  • Enjoy!