Madrid to Seville
December 13 – More Madrid and off to Seville
We slept in a bit till 10am, started packing a bit and then grabbed breakfast from Vips on recommendation from the front desk. Vips is actually half convenience store, half restaurant. The breakfast was still good and just what I was looking for to start my day. We returned back to the hotel to finish packing and check-out and then headed back into town.
As we stepped outside, we realized it was raining (with some snow that instantly melted). We turned right back around and ask the front desk what was recommended to do indoors. The lady recommended going to Placio Real de Madrid. This is the huge structure we walked by yesterday adjacent to the Plaza de Oriente, but decided not to go in. Today we ventured in along with eveyrone else…there was a 20 minute line, standing in the rain. Once we got inside, it was worth it and I thought it was quite remarkable. Unfortunately for you, and my brain as it continues to deteriate, I was unable to take pictures inside any of the rooms. I have tried to describe them briefly below.
The first section we stopped in was the Pharmacy. This section consisted of 4 or 5 rooms filled with bottles from wall to wall that once held potions and medicines. I’m going to say this a lot in the next few paragraphs, but I really wish I could have taken a picture to justify my description.
After the Pharmacy, we headed over to the main section. As we entered, we were awe struck. Every single room’s ceiling was covered with paintings, murals, sculptures, etc. It was spectacular. One of the rooms contained a dinning table big enough to seat 35+ people at the table and the room itself was twice the size of the table.
Next, they had a gallery of art on display from the past several decades that depicted the changes in transformation that art went through during those years.
Finally, we entered the Armory. This section was two floors filled with every piece of armor you could imagine, including armor for horses, men and kids. It’s amazing and weird to think that a few hundred years ago, people fought wars face to face wearing this stuff.
After about 2+ hours, we finally left and wandered into another tapas place for a beer and a quick snack. Afterwards, I was still hungry, so we wandered around in the pouring rain for another place to grab a meal. We first stopped at the Museo de Jarmon again to grab ourselves an awesome chocolate croissant and then found ourselves back at our hotel eating them. After, we finally ended up in a cafe where I had a hamburger and fries.
It was about 5:30pm at this point and we had a 7:30pm train to catch, so we only had about an hour to spare before we had to head over to the train station. We decided we were sick of the rain and spent it at an internet cafe catching up on email and such.
At 6:30pm, we were on our way to the train station via the Metro system again. I forgot to mention in my earlier post, but the metro system in Madrid is absolutely amazing and very similar to the New York subway system. You pay 1 EURO and can take the train to pretty much anywhere in the city. There are probably 10 or so different lines running this way and that. Anywho, we made our way to the train station with two transfers. The train ride from Madrid to Seville was only 2.5 hours long with one stop. I managed to sleep most of the way down.
When we arrived in Seville, it was only a matter of catching the bus to the center of town and finding our Hostel, Oasis Backpackers Hostel. We arrived safely and easily and immediately setout to find a bar to watch the Barcelona v. Madrid soccer (futbol) match. We successfully found a place and watched the final 30 or so minutes. I’m not sure what happened during the first half of the game, but the half we watched was awesome! First, we saw the Madrid goalie stop a penalty kick and then shortly after Barcelona score two goals, ending the game 2-0. From the bar, we walked back to the hostel where we had a few drinks before going to bed. At the hostel bar, I ended up chatting with a friendly Austrian guy for quite awhile who was full of stories and tips for our short stay in Seville. Eventually he went off to smoke and Jeff and I finished off our last drinks and headed for bed at about 2:45am.
I must say, I’m quite impressed with the Oasis Hostel. The staff is extremely friendly, the place is clean, and the rooms appear to be pretty secure. We are only here for one day and two nights, so we’ll see what tomorrow holds for us.
Till next time…
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