My long weekend in Madrid - Day 3 (afternoon) - Strolling around the city up to Parque del Retiro - The 20th of February 2016

It was such a beautiful and warm day that we decided to head towards Parque del Retiro via the Alcala street, so as to try to see the temporary Kandinsky exhibition at the Centrocentro of Cibeles, which we ended up not being able to.

We stopped briefly at Museo Thyssen Bornemisza, where a Marc Chagal exhibition was presumably being held to soon realise that it no longer was on so we continued towards Museo del Prado where a temporary exhibition on Ingres was effectively being held  but we soon realised, as we had previously envisaged, that it was virtually impossible to get access to it without having to stand on interminable queues, so we decided to spend part of the afternoon on Parque del Retiro instead.

Several of the Paseos which go across the garden were undergoing works but once we moved close to the pond the peaceful atmosphere took over us as we watched the children playing around and the families enjoying the sunny afternoon.

We made our way out by the opposite direction walking along Paseo  de la Republica de Cuba this time until we reached the statue of  El Ángel Caído before exiting  by Plaza del Emperador  Carlos V.

 

 

My long weekend in Madrid - Day 3 (morning) - Convento de las Descalzas Reales - The 20th of February 2016

We left Maravillas's slightly later than we had initially expected because we got involved in a rather interesting morning conversation as we were having breakfast and seemingly forgot about the time.

Soon after having reached Sol we headed to the Convent of las Descalzas Reales though we were only able to book the guided visit for eleven o'clock. No photos could be taken, which is a pity really because the visit to this Convent was clearly the highlight of our stay in Madrid. 

 

 

It took just over one hour as we moved along the magnificent lower and upper cloister connected by an outstandingly beautiful staircase whose side walls are totally covered in mural paintings. Once in the upper cloister we visited the West and South wing chapels, the antechoir, the choir and the North and East wing chapels.

 

We then continued onto the second floor where I was flabbergasted by the tapestries woven in Brussels that cover the walls of the tapestry room. The Chapter House and the Hall of the Kings had  a strong impact on me as well.

 

Despite the fact that a number of rooms are close to the public and one cannot walk about freely it is really worth being visited.

Note: Photos of the Monastery withdrawn from the net

 

 

 

 

My long weekend in Madrid - Day 2 (afternoon and evening) - Strolling around the city up to Parque de la Montaña and the Temple of Debod - The 19th of February 2016

We decided to walk back to Sol via Santa Engracia street having briefly stopped at Chamberi square prior to having walked along Hortaleza where we stopped at various shops.

It was quite hot, which didn't help us in any way as it added to the fact that we were wearing fairly warm clothes already.

We then headed towards the Convent of las Descalzas Reales which can't be visited unless you join a guided visit. We were unfortunately told that all of those guided visits in both Spanish and English were complete, which meant we would have to go back the following day.

Amidst a few brief shopping stops and a slightly longer one to have something to eat all we seemed to want to do was  to continue walking. Because neither of us had ever heard of or visited the Debod Temple  we veered left and headed towards the Almudena Cathedral, the Royal Palace and the Sabatini Gardens, which didn't look too far from Parque de la Montaña where we intended to visit it.

As we walked along Bailén we could see Plaza de España on our right and Museo Cerralbo on our left though we  proceeded towards the gateways of Debod we could see in the distance.

The ancient Egyptian Temple was impressive to look at and more so with its reflexions on the water of the rectangular pond that stretches along its gateways. Its construction is said to have been initiated in the 2nd century BC though later extended during the reigns of Ptolemy VI, Ptolemy VIII and Ptolemy XII.

Because of the construction of the Aswan High Dam and the threat posed by its reservoir and following a UNESCO appeal to save the rich historical legacy as a sign of gratitude for the help provided by Spain in saving the Abu Simbel temples the Egyptian State donated the Temple of Debod to Spain.

Rebuilt in the Parque del Oeste, though reassembled in a slightly different order the outstanding gateways stand proudly whilst overlooking the city and the Royal Palace of Madrid on their left-hand side.

 

We strolled around for a while but it started getting a bit cool so we climbed down going towards Plaza de España to get on the metro and head back to Maravillas.

 

 

It had been a rather tiring day but we felt particularly happy as we sat around the table with Carmen and her mother, who once more had prepared us a very tasty dinner.