Free for all - Madrid Travelogue

Welcome back to another episode of A'lil Hoohaa's monthly photo blogging challenge. 

Our prompt for the month of February was "Free for all", which can be interpreted in many different ways. I'm going to use it to show you around in Madrid, where I spent a few days with my son Colin. It's not going to cost you anything because these are all sights you get to enjoy without needing tickets, guides or reservations.

Madrid became Spain’s capital in 1561 when King Philip II moved the court from Toledo. He chose Madrid because it was centrally located and had enough space for expansion, unlike older, denser cities. This decision led to its broad streets, grand squares, and open architecture, making it one of Europe’s most generously designed capitals.

This beautiful building, originally a 16th-century monastery, was later repurposed after the 19th-century confiscation of church properties, and has housed the Spanish Senate since 1835, blending historic architecture with modern governance. The Senado de España is the chamber of territorial representation of the Spanish parliament, somewhat comparable to the U.S. Senate, as both serve as upper houses in a bicameral system.

The Mercado de San Miguel, was an open-air food market in the Middle Ages. The curren iron-and-glass structure was built in 1916 as a covered market to modernize food trading. Over time, traditional market stalls declined, and it was transformed into the gourmet food market it is today, focusing on tapas, wine, and Spanish delicacies while preserving its historic charm.

So while the food obviously isn't free for all, "just looking" won't cost you a dime!

As I mentioned at the beginning, Madrid was designed very generously, i.e. there are up to four lanes in both directions through the city's main arteries. (I'm pointing this out because In Switzerland, even the major highways rarely have more than two or three lanes in each direction.)

At the same time, public transport is well developed in Madrid, and you can get to all the usual places by metro and bus. 

What looks like a tropical garden is in fact sort of the waiting room of Atocha, Madrid's main train station. The sprawling garden containing some 7,000 plants, was one of my favorite things to discover!

Because the climate is regulated there, nature is not dependent on the seasons, like the parks in the city. We were a little disappointed by the outdoor green areas, but that was due to the month of February. Nothing was in bloom yet, and on the contrary, the time before the tourist season is used to renovate and carry out maintenance work literally everywhere: from the Palacio Real to Retiro Park. 

The city is also pleasantly walkable. Over the course of three days, I accumulated over 50,000 steps!

The “sidewalks” on Gran Vía, for example, are almost the size of the ones at Times Square. The vibes are similar, too. While there are of course numerous Spanish tapas restaurants, I noticed a certain dominance of American retail and restaurant brands. Of course, we were not unhappy to enjoy a burger at Five Guys and a donut at a tiny Tim Hortons (neither of which are available in Switzerland).

The Edificio Metrópolis was the former headquarters of a Spanish insurance company at the intersection of Calle de Alcalá and Gran Vía.

If you're like me you're trying to think why this looks and sounds so darn familiar? It's because Metropolis was the fictional city that was the main setting for a TV series Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman. The building also reminds me of the "Daily Planet" the newspaper they worked for. I tried to find out why there is sort of a replica in Madrid, but I couldn't. Like many other buildings, it was under construction, so one day we may return to find it was turned into a fancy hotel?

The Temple of Debod is an ancient Egyptian-Unubian temple that was rebuilt in Madrid. It originally stood 15 km south of Philae on the banks of the Nile. The construction of the Aswan Dam in 1960 put a number of archaeological monuments in the Nile region at risk of being flooded. UNESCO therefore issued an appeal to save the unique cultural heritage of southern Egypt. In recognition of Spain's help in saving the Temple of Abu Simbel, the Egyptian government donated the Temple of Debod to Spain .

What would this post be without a bonus picture? It sort of fits the free for all theme, too. 

We stayed at Vincci The Mint. Despite being on the bustling Gran Vía, the room was quiet, due to excellent sound insulation and heavy, dark curtains. The highlight was definitely the breakfast: In true Spanish fashion it was served until 2 PM, and it wasn't a typical buffet but an à la carte menu.  Since I was traveling with a teenager who values sleeping in, our breakfast and lunch blended together, and we happily ordered omelets, pancakes, fruit salad and grilled veggies. 

At first, I was skeptical about the menu containing prices, worried about a surprise bill, but thankfully, there were no extra charges. Remember, free for all ;-)

The short trip was a full success, not least thanks to three out of four wonderfully sunny and mild days. It rained cats and dogs on the day of departure.  Yeah well!

I hope you enjoyed exploring Madrid's free for all locations with me!

Now please check out my fellow bloggers' contributions to this month's topic.