Spain Holidays

Day 7 of Spain Holidays 2010 - September 4, Saturday – Madrid

8:00 Woke up early. Good breakfast at the hotel (included in price that we paid for the hotel stay!). Prepared some sandwiches to eat later (10:00).

10:40 Walk to Canal metro station. Metro Line 7 to Gregorio Maranyon (2 stops), then Line 10 to Begonya (6 stops). Quatro Torres (11:30)

11:50 Metro to Plaza de Castilla. Kio Towers

Museo de America, Mirador del Faro, Arco de la Victoria; Madrid

Kio Towers, Plaza de Castilla; Madrid

12:10 Metro Line 1 from Plaza de Castilla to Cuatro Caminos (5 stops) and from there Line 6 to Moncloa (4 stops) – Museo de America (13:05) – Mirador del Faro – Arco de la Victoria (13:20)

13:30 Metro Line 6 from Moncloa to Arguelles (1 stop), then Line 4 to San Bernardino, from there Line 2 to Opera (3 stops). Plaza de Isabel II (13:45) – Plaza Oriente (13:50)

Palacio Real, Madrid

14:00 Bought €8 tickets and entered Palacio Real.

15:20 Snack time and rest in the park between Palacio Real and Plaza de Oriente.

Metro Line 2 from Opera to Sol (1 stop) and then Line 1 to Atocha (3 stops). Short walk to Centro de Arte Reina Sofia.

15:50 Obtained FREE entry tickets to Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, spent two hours there - lots of fascinating exhibits!

Salvador Dali at Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, Madrid

17:50 Walked through Plaza del Emperador Carlos V by Ministerio de Agricultura to Atocha RENFE train station.

18:00 Metro Line 1 from Atocha RENFE to Gran Via (5 stops). Stroll along Gran Via aka «Spanish Broadway».

18:20 Telefonica skyscraper. Strolling and shopping on Gran Via between Telefonica and Plaza del Callao, e.g., Bershka, Ulanka, etc.

Gran Via ("Spanish Broadway"); Madrid

19:00 Light meal, coffee aand people watching at Starbucks (Plaza del Callao).

19:30 More shopping – between Plaza del Callao and Plaza de la Puerta del Sol, mostly at these two pedestrian streets – Calle de Preciados and Calle del Carmen. Strolling at Plaza de la Puerta del Sol.

21:50 Metro Line 2 to Canal from Sol (6 stops). Nice evening walk to the hotel.

Stan

RESOURCES:

Quatro Torres - the tallest skyscrapers in Madrid and Spain (Torre Espacio, Torre de Cristal, Torre Sacyr Vallehermoso and Torre Caja Madrid) - http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=391659
Kio Towers - aka The Puerta de Europa towers (Gate of Europe) - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gate_of_Europe
Museo de America - http://museodeamerica.mcu.es/
Mirador del Faro - also known as the Moncloa Faro or Faro de Madrid; futuristic tower built in 1992 as a communications center with an observatory tower located at 92 meters, but it was closed in 2005 - http://www.elfarodemoncloa.com/
Arco de la Victoria - http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arco_de_la_Victoria
Centro de Arte Reina Sofia - http://www.museoreinasofia.es/index_en.html
Atocha RENFE train station - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madrid_Atocha_railway_station
Metro de Madrid - http://www.metromadrid.es/en/index.html