Zamora - Tordesillas v.v.: 134 km

Wednesday 4 June 2003

Today we visit Tordesillas. This town has earned an important place in Spanish history for two reasons. In  1494 the   Tordesillas treaty between Portugal and Spain was signed here, in which both countries, under mediation by the pope, divided the New World between themselves. There is a special museum devoted to the treaty. Here we see a number of old maps, that served as a base for negotiation. It is funny to see that Columbus thought that Cuba, which he discovered, was on the East Coast of China. 
The other claim to fame of the town is the fact that Queen Juana I of Castille, also named "La Loca" (the Mad) was locked up here for 46 years. She was unable to cope with the dead of her husband Philip I of Burgundy. After his death she started touring the monasteries of Spain with the dead body in a casket, checking now and then to see how the corpse was doing. When she arrived at the Santa Clara convent in Tordesillas she was declared insane, first by her father Fernando of Aragon, later by her son Charles V,   so that they could take possession of the Castille throne. The convent of Santa Clara is a beauty. Moorish patios, and a gold bladed ceiling in the church. It is called - with some exaggeration - the Alhambra of Castille. On our way back we make a stop in Toro, but that proves to be a little disappointing. Back in Zamora are siesta is again disturbed by the noise from the builders working in the kitchen. After a complaint we get a new larger room away from the noise and with a view of the pool.  
At night we have dinner at the posh El Rincon de San Antonio. Delicious food and a perfectionist owner.  
Today was fairly warm and sunny. Temperatures reached 29°C/85°F 

Zamora - Madrid: 247 km

Thursday 5 June 2003

We head for Madrid. The journey over the motorways goes smoothly and without a hitch we arrive at our pension around noon. The Chueca district is a bit of maze and impossible to park in. After we have unloaded our luggage we head straight for the AVIS agency to hand in the car. In Madrid it is very warm: 32°C/90°F. After a simple lunch we take a break for siesta. 
Rested we go for some shopping in the large department store  El Corte Inglés and a drink on the  Plaza de Chueca, the epicenter of the Madrid gay scene. 
We take the metro and a taxi to the Ermite de San Antonio de Florida. An inconspicuous little chapel, but with a surprise inside in the shape of splendid frescoes by  Goya. The famous painter has been buried here as well.
At night we have a drink in the trendy café's Mama Ines en Baires, after which we retire.

Friday 6 June 2003

After a breakfast in a neighbourhood bar we take the metro to the Royal Palace. This is not the residence of the Royal Family. They live in a more modest dwelling out of town. This palace is only used on state occasions.  . We guide ourselves through the state rooms of the palace that the Bourbon dynasty commissioned in the 18th century. The Throne Room is impressive with lovely painted ceilings. Also the other quarters are well worth the visit. In the palace we also visit the Royal Apothecary a quaint pill maker's paradise, full of pots and and instruments.  Also worth a visit and included in the same ticket is the Royal Armory, where dozens of harnesses are on display; one of them belonged to Charles V. The harnesses are all complete with spare parts and adjustment tools. We have a drink nearby in a café. Our next target it is museum Thyssen-Bornemisza. This enormous art collection of the barons Thyssen was acquired by the Spanish state in 1993 at a bargain price of 350 million dollar. That Spain came out victoriously it had Tita, the late barons widow and former Miss Spain to thank for.  A kitsch portrait of her and her lap dog is on display in the main entrance hall. The salmon pink decorations of the museum are her choice as well. The collection holds about 700 paintings about half of which is on display. The collection is varied and goes from Italian primitives through Dutch and Flemish masters to American realists, Impressionists, Surrealists, Cubists, Modernists to Pop Art. All great painters are represented with important pieces. After a few hours we are "full" and it is time for us to leave.  
We have lunch in el Armario ("The Closet") in the Chueca district and take a siesta. After the siesta we have a drink on the Chueca square and dinner in the trendy and pleasant  "Rincon de Pelayo". We are still very tired of all the sight seeing and we are of to bed early.  
It was a hot day: 30-35°C/86-95°F.

Saturday 7 June 2003

After breakfast we start a city walk through Madrid. We start at the Plaza de Cibeles and walk via de Arco de Alcala to the  Retiro park. It is hot early in the day and there are very few people taking to the water in a rowing boat on the parks central lake. We walk around the park and leave it in the direction of the Prado. We have visited that museum on our last trip here so we walk on past the parliament buildings to the Puerta del Sol square, Madrid geographical centre.  We do some shopping in El Corte Ingles and walk on to the Plaza Mayor. Here we have some lunch. The Plaza itself is occupied by a giant tent for a post stamp exhibition. Pity. We carry on past the Royal Palace that we visited yesterday and arrive at the Plaza España. The green square is surrounded by high rise buildings and the centre is occupied by a monument for Cervantes, the author of Don Quijote. The writer is high above his heroes Quijote and Sancho Panza. The final stop on our tour is the Templo de Debod, a bit further on. An Egyptian temple, given to Spain as a thank you gift for the technical support Spain has given in the construction of the Aswan dam.  The dam caused the original site of the temple to get flooded. The temple was taken apart stone by stone and rebuilt here in Madrid. It is now used for concerts. We take the metro back to Chueca and enjoy a well earned siesta. 
After siesta we discover that there is some kind of neighbourhood festival going on. We have to move to another square, but that is much less appealing. Tapas are hard to find in the Chueca trendy café's and bars so we have to take refuge in our simple breakfast bar on the Calle Hortaleza. 

At night we have dinner in the Girasoles restaurant on c/Hortaleza. Trendy restaurant with good looking waiters. We are a bit early and the place is virtually empty. By the time we have downed our dessert the rest of the guests turn up. Later that night we explore the areas gay scene. We visit Baires, LL bar en Bonamara. Than we call it a night. .
Again a fairly hot day: 30-35°C/86-95°F.

Sunday 8 June 2003

Sunday morning  at 9.30am the Chueca is completely deserted. Only the garbage collectors and a few night owls are on the streets. With some difficulty we find a café serving a few croissants. Then we are off to the Rastro (metro La Latina), where we go to Madrid's Sunday flea market. It is very crowded. The main street where the market is held is mostly occupied by regular market stalls and tourist traps. The real stuff is found in the side streets and alleys. And is the real fun. After roaming the streets we have some coffee and get back to the Chueca to get our suit cases. We eat some bread rolls (bocadillos) in a café, before we take the metro to the airport. Our Iberia flight leaves at 4.30pm and with some delay we arrive at Amsterdam Airport around 6.45pm. It is very busy at Amsterdam and we have to wait more than 30 minutes for our luggage. We then take the train and a taxi home. We are home around nine and our holiday has  come to an end.