We started off the day by going to the Mercado de San Miguel which was quite a sight. It's a covered market with all sorts of vendors selling tapas, alcohol, coffee and dessert. The variety of tapas is overwhelming and everything is done fresh since the Mercado is packed and the food is eaten almost as soon as it's made. Mike and I walked around a little to get the lay of the land, and then tried a little bit of everything with some sangria and coffee to polish it off. I tried to save room for dessert, but that did not happen when all was said and done.
Having satisfied our hunger we walked around the old city and ended up in the Parque de Buen Retiro - which means the Park of Pleasant Retreat - and they are not lying. The park is 350 acres and the largest park in central Madrid.We saw couples and groups of friends reading and having picnics in the shade of great old trees to beat the heat. There are paths for walking, biking and rollerblading as well as a cross between a lake and a pond where people rent boats and row around. We strolled through most of the park having the most pleasant of days.
The park houses a couple of smaller buildings - like the Palacio de Crystal which housed a weird art exhibition that I couldn't really understand. There are also a lot of street performers playing guitar and accordion. Mike - who apparently really likes accordion even took some videos of the musicians. We ended up walking into the Gardens of Buen Retiro and saw wild peacocks in their mating dance. I felt bad for a male peacock that was peacock-blocked by tourists feeding the females. Mike and I even saw the mating dance - but alas, the male will have to try again at a different time.
On our way out of the park we also walked into another Palace - Palacio de Valezquez which had a modern art exhibition that made me think of Burning Man. I will try to put up some pictures and videos a little later. We also walked bast an old no longer used zoo that was a little depressing. Apparently this is really is a one stop shop kind of a park. We dined in the Plaza de Santa Ana and went to bed relatively early - by our usual travelling standards.
Our final day in Madrid we had lunch at the oldest restaurant in the world (seriously) - Sobrino de Botin. I recommend doing this - even though it's a very touristy thing to do. I agree with other reviews that it's not a tourist trap and the food is of very good quality. Mike ordered suckling pig and I had Clams Botin. We also split the dessert - Tarta Botin which was delicious and very rich. I also recommend the sangria - it was the first time throughout my whole visit in Spain and Portugal that I didn't think there was too much sugar added. I liked the sangria so much that I ended up getting a little drunk and going back to the hotel to relax and sober up a little.
Once I sobered up we walked the the Palacio Real - and walked in the Gardens a little and then went on to Parque de Oste to look at the Temple of Debod:
The Temple of Debod[2] (Spanish: Templo de Debod) is an ancient Egyptian temple which was rebuilt in Madrid, Spain.
The temple was built originally 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) south of Aswan[3] in southern Egypt very close to the first cataract of the Nileand to the great religious center dedicated to the goddess Isis, in Philae. In the early 2nd century BC, Adikhalamani (Tabriqo), the Kushite king of Meroë, started its construction by building a small single room chapel dedicated to the god Amun.[3] It was built and decorated on a similar design to the later Meroitic chapel on which the Temple of Dakka is based.[3] Later, during the reigns ofPtolemy VI, Ptolemy VIII and Ptolemy XII of the Ptolemaic dynasty, it was extended on all four sides to form a small temple, 12 by 15 metres (39 ft × 49 ft), which was dedicated to Isis of Philae. The Roman emperors Augustus and Tiberius completed its decorations.[4]
From the quay there is a long processional way leading to the stone-built enclosure wall, through three stone pylon gateways and finally to the temple itself.[3] The pronaos, which had four columns with composite capitals collapsed in 1868, and is now lost.[3]Behind it lay the original sanctuary of Amun, the offering table room and a later sanctuary with several side-rooms and stairs to the roof.[3]
In 1960, due to the construction of the Great Dam of Aswan and the consequent threat posed to several monuments and archeological sites, UNESCO made an international call to save this rich historical legacy. As a sign of gratitude for the help provided by Spain in saving the temples of Abu Simbel, the Egyptian state donated the temple of Debod to Spain in 1968.
The temple was rebuilt in one of Madrid's parks, the Parque del Oeste, near the Royal Palace of Madrid, and opened to the public in 1972.[5] The reassembled gateways appear to have been placed in a different order than when originally erected. Compared to a photo of the original site, the gateway topped by a serpent flanked sun appears not to have been the closest gateway to the temple proper.[6] It constitutes one of the few works of ancient Egyptian architecture which can be seen outside Egypt and the only one of its kind in Spain.
The park was not nearly as pleasant as the Buen Retire Park, but we still did a little laying and reading and people-watching. There was a big group doing capoeira that Mike took a video of as well. The rain and cooler weather prevented us from staying too long so we walked back to the old city and had our last Spain dinner - which was very pleasant. After dinner we strolled through the city saying good-bye. We walked the Gran Via and the calle de Alcalla admiring the building and discussing how beautiful and under-appreciated the city of Madrid is. It was a bittersweet evening, but a fitting one as the last day of our honeymoon. In the morning we flew back to our lives and started the process of working to travel all over again :)
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