The bad and the good Madrid

The bad

There was probably the inside voice, which wanted to warn us about the black shadow in Madrid. Thats why we didnt want to leave Barcelona that much. 

There are 13 metro lines in Madrid and we had to change 3 to reach our flat from airport. The last one was the fatal. While we two little lost girls with big eyes where starring at the stop signs not to miss our one, one very bad men invisible took my walley with actually everything I had (cash, credit cards, insurance and etc.). I hope he had lots of fun! And there are thousands that lucky people like me. Police in this situation can do nothing, only register the incident. But anyway, despite all that nasty accident, we still wanted keep thinking positively, because there was only the beginning of our holiday! 

Next morning unfortunatelly we faced the same situation in the metro, just this time we successfully cought the long-hander and avoided bad effects. And then we honestly raised the question Why Madrid doesnt love us? But without finding the clear answer we just tried to make everything bright and shinny by ourselves. So we started to explore the city and enjoy the time. 

The good

We started our exploration without the map, just randomly passing the city starting from the very center. And thats how we found the big Royal park with the refreshing fountain, and the Royal palace a bit further. And it was honestly breathtaking! Magnificent! And of course with the music again... Magic sounds of violin and melodies by Mozart. So we took a seet on the stairs of the church in front and tried to capture the moment. This time without the camera but with the eyes and years. The camera was totally powerless then. 

Every Sunday there is Corida in Plaza de toros Las ventas and we didnt want to miss that show while we are in Madrid. Interesting thing is that Corida is not popular among locals, but mostly just among the tourists. There are plenty of Madridians who have never seen Corida and even are not curious to see it. Personally I was only interested to look at the clothes of matadors, because it really looks nice, original and made with lots of honest hand work and patience. But talking about the show - I really can not understand the tradition to kill 5 bulls every Sunday during almost all the year. Why? For what reason? Where is the point? How tradition could be so strong and influential? And finally where all this dead meat goes after? Surprisingly, even Spanish people dont know the real answers. So after matador killed the third bull, we left the plaza without any huge astoneshment. Only with lots of questions in our minds. 

Else, Madrid has really amazing architecture! Every house has different types of decor, diferent forms of windows and general imagery. Thats why you mostly walk with your head up and mouth opened. Madrid is beautiful and really big! Especially big after comparing it with my home-city. So after few days in Madrid I was sure that this city is too big for me. I really missed the sea and in my dreams time to time I was still getting back to Barcelona. 

In this big city we stayed at the place of two very friendly and hospitable Guadalajarian brothers, who we found on Couchsurfing. Every Monday there is Couchsurfing meet in the beautiful park near Plaza de Spagnia where it is possible to admire the Guadarrama mountains and the most outstanding sunset. So that was really nice and cozy evening with about 30 people from all around the world! With different stories, differents experiences but the same way of travelling! And of course with sweet and never ending Sangria! 

Last day in Madrid we had a nice walk along the main street Gran Via and then we visited Plaza de Cibeles and the tower with amazing panoramic city view. Then we had a lunch and chilly walk in Parque del Retiro which was really refreshing during extremely hot day! We also tried to visit Museo del Prado with an exhibition of Rafaeli, but unfortunatelly it was already closed. So finally after sending romantic postcards for our friends and homies, we got back home, where our Guadalajarian brothers with other friends were waiting for us with traditional Mexican dinner! We were really impressed and touched! Thus, we all had a long night in the terace with good food, light drinks and nice talks. 

And then we started thinking, that probably Madrid started to love us. So I guess it is really true, that when you love life, life loves you back. 

Hope to come back soon with beautiful post from sunny Mallorca. 

Wishes and kisses!