Iwan2Go went...to Madrid
Aug 16th, 2019, 07:30 AM
#21
Join Date: Jun 2008
Posts: 29,610
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Wonderful, Iwan2go! And welcome to the Sorolla fan club. He and John Singer Sargent had many life and art parallels (and they even looked alike). I believe the beautiful bather you posted is Mrs. Sorollla.
Here's my 2014 TR--it was great to read about the places you saw that I missed! Madrid and London Madrid is now on my "Return" list thanks to you.
Here's my 2014 TR--it was great to read about the places you saw that I missed! Madrid and London Madrid is now on my "Return" list thanks to you.
Aug 16th, 2019, 12:32 PM
#23
Join Date: Jan 2007
Posts: 1,002
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Have a look to this map: drinks, eats and bites of [local] history
https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?h...129144266&z=17
https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?h...129144266&z=17
Aug 16th, 2019, 02:01 PM
#24
“Here's my 2014 TR--it was great to read about the places you saw that I missed! Madrid and London Madrid is now on my "Return" list”
enjoyed your report, too. Thanks for sharing the link.
enjoyed your report, too. Thanks for sharing the link.
Aug 17th, 2019, 02:36 AM
#25
Great report on what to do in Madrid for 4 or 5 days.
The whole Roman sword thing and Hannibal is kinda interesting for the Engineers amongst us.
Romans had a type of steel even back in the 350BC period but it was more a wroughting together of 2 or more different levels of carbon steel/iron with the usual problems of poor adherence between the two surfaces. But more to the point their sword at the time was for thrusting. Hannibal (like a lot of the Carthage team), had superior technology to that used by the Romans, eg the Toledo swords (not only had better bonding of the steels) but were better at slashing and thrusting. The Romans were never shy at stealing other people's technology (see also Triremes) and pinched the design to give them the famous Gladius (but with weaker bonding). The upside was that on the battlefield the two swords were more or less matched and the Roman swords were cheaper to make, on the downside they didn't last long (in a society where swords were handed down father to son).
Toledo steel hit the buffers in about the 1700AD so a basic technology of 2000 years not bad for a small town on a hill.
The whole Roman sword thing and Hannibal is kinda interesting for the Engineers amongst us.
Romans had a type of steel even back in the 350BC period but it was more a wroughting together of 2 or more different levels of carbon steel/iron with the usual problems of poor adherence between the two surfaces. But more to the point their sword at the time was for thrusting. Hannibal (like a lot of the Carthage team), had superior technology to that used by the Romans, eg the Toledo swords (not only had better bonding of the steels) but were better at slashing and thrusting. The Romans were never shy at stealing other people's technology (see also Triremes) and pinched the design to give them the famous Gladius (but with weaker bonding). The upside was that on the battlefield the two swords were more or less matched and the Roman swords were cheaper to make, on the downside they didn't last long (in a society where swords were handed down father to son).
Toledo steel hit the buffers in about the 1700AD so a basic technology of 2000 years not bad for a small town on a hill.
Aug 17th, 2019, 06:35 AM
#26
Join Date: Mar 2014
Posts: 4,409
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I really enjoyed your report and photos. I like Madrid a lot. We loved the Prado, the Reina Sofia, and the Royal Palace, and El Retiro Park. We didn't have time to see the Thyssen. I didn't know about the Sorolla Museum when we were there, but would to see it after seeing your photos. Unfortunately, my husband is lukewarm about Madrid, so I don';t know if we will return. It seems like a lot of people on this forum don't like Madrid, but I think it's wonderful and would love to return some day.
Aug 17th, 2019, 07:44 AM
#27
Join Date: Aug 2007
Posts: 15,770
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
KW ,
when we visited Madrid the first time we were not sure if we would return.
Fortunately we did ,discovered different parts of the city and made day trips ,not only to Toledo,
but also Segovia, Chinchon , Escorial, Aranjues, Alcala de Henares..
I even made a day trips to Zaragoza and Valencia ( not my first visit to V, a friend wanted to go ) -
both about 1:45 min. from Madrid.
Beautiful city of Salamanca is also reachable by train in the same time. I stayed in Salamanca for 3 nights, but if one wanted to , it can be visited in a day.
We have been returning to Spain every year for more than ten years.
I am in minority here, but Madrid is one of my favourite cities.
I was there in the first week of May, planning to return with MH in October.
when we visited Madrid the first time we were not sure if we would return.
Fortunately we did ,discovered different parts of the city and made day trips ,not only to Toledo,
but also Segovia, Chinchon , Escorial, Aranjues, Alcala de Henares..
I even made a day trips to Zaragoza and Valencia ( not my first visit to V, a friend wanted to go ) -
both about 1:45 min. from Madrid.
Beautiful city of Salamanca is also reachable by train in the same time. I stayed in Salamanca for 3 nights, but if one wanted to , it can be visited in a day.
We have been returning to Spain every year for more than ten years.
I am in minority here, but Madrid is one of my favourite cities.
I was there in the first week of May, planning to return with MH in October.
Aug 17th, 2019, 01:52 PM
#28
Original Poster
Join Date: Mar 2005
Posts: 1,270
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Wow Bilbo, I did not know that. All I remembered about Hannibal (from grammar school) was that he’d crossed the Alps with elephants. I read a little more about Toledo Steel, and one website said that the duration of the forging had to be at an exact interval.
Quote: “ In old ages, the blacksmiths used to recite psalms and prayers keeping always the same rhythm, in order to calculate the time that the blade would remain inside the furnace. This timing had to be respected to avoid any deviance: a longer time would melt the steel too much and on the contrary, a shorter one wouldn’t let the metal reach its melting-point.”
History of Swords from Toledo
Quote: “ In old ages, the blacksmiths used to recite psalms and prayers keeping always the same rhythm, in order to calculate the time that the blade would remain inside the furnace. This timing had to be respected to avoid any deviance: a longer time would melt the steel too much and on the contrary, a shorter one wouldn’t let the metal reach its melting-point.”
History of Swords from Toledo
Aug 17th, 2019, 04:13 PM
#29
Original Poster
Join Date: Mar 2005
Posts: 1,270
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Day Six: Paris!
We had a 9:30 am flight, arriving at Paris CDG at 11:30. We were booked overnight only, so we could catch the morning Air France flight (thereby missing LA afternoon traffic). We chose our hotel based on its cost and location very close to the Luxembough RER station, and I booked a 1:30 lunch at Semilla in the 6th. The last time we’d connected from Spain I’d booked there, but we missed it because Vueling cancelled our flight (BCN-CDG). Once again, didn’t make it.
The Air France booking agent in Madrid was so helpful – let’s make things simple, and give you one boarding pass for the two flights (though I reminded her several times that we were staying overnight in Paris). She must have been new. So….we waited at baggage claim until all the other passengers had left, and no luggage. Thank goodness there was a help desk right there. The representative told us, your luggage is in the system and being held until your flight. Tomorrow.
Oh. Well, we really need it now please. She put the request into the system, and 45 minutes later we received two of our three pieces. Went back, waited another 30 minutes, got the last piece. Ditched the idea of the RER and got a cab and called Semilla with apologies. So - FYI - if you have one night somewhere don’t let them book it through on one boarding pass.
We stayed at the Hotel Observatoire on Blvd. St. Michel across from the Luxembourg gardens. It is lovely, desk staff very friendly and responsive to my request for a room with a bathtub, even upgrading our son so he could be close to us. We did not have time to have their (included) breakfast in the neighboring restaurant but it looked good. As we were only overnight, it worked well (and was only 179E/night). Caution, though: there was VERY little storage in the Classic room, so if we booked again I would upgrade to a larger room. https://www.observatoirehotel.com/en/
By now it was midafternoon and we decided to walk over to the Marais for lunch at L’As Fellafel. We walked past the wounded Notre Dame, over the Pont Louis Phillippe (saw a great jewelry store I am hitting up next time, Laurina Balteanu…), and got a seat inside the tiny restaurant. Delicious, not expensive, and I used about 10 napkins.
Notre Dame after the fire
After that, we split up. Our son went to the Musee Malliol, which he said was amazing, and we walked over to the Louvre. Our SIL loves it when we bring back Laduree macarons, I wanted to hit Maison du Chocolat for some insulated bags, and both places are inside the Carousel du Louvre. Unfortunately, this was a Tuesday, so the museum and its attendant shopping were closed. Bummer. We walked across the river and had a bite upstairs at Laduree on rue Bonaparte (meaning I had tea and some macarons and my husband had actual food), and I got the macarons to take home. We met our son back at the hotel, where my husband decided to stay for the evening and the two of us decided NOT. We are in Paris! We are going to get cheese and wine and crepes and walk our feet off!
Which we did! Luxembourg Gardens – past Invalides – rue St Dominique for a lovely cheese plate and glass of wine, with a night view of the Eiffel Tower – over the glorious Pont Alexandre III – Metro to Chatelet – walk for him to have a crepe near St. Michel – back to hotel. 11:00 now and I got 29,000 steps and twelve miles that day! SCORE.
Statue of Winston Churchill near the Petit Palais
And that was the end of our wonderful trip.
I find that one of the things I enjoy most about writing a trip report is that I am re-living it. All of the sights and sounds come back – the food, the light, the art and architecture, the people we met, the experiences we shared. I am so grateful that we are able to travel, and thankful to all of you who helped make it a wonderful trip.
We had a 9:30 am flight, arriving at Paris CDG at 11:30. We were booked overnight only, so we could catch the morning Air France flight (thereby missing LA afternoon traffic). We chose our hotel based on its cost and location very close to the Luxembough RER station, and I booked a 1:30 lunch at Semilla in the 6th. The last time we’d connected from Spain I’d booked there, but we missed it because Vueling cancelled our flight (BCN-CDG). Once again, didn’t make it.
The Air France booking agent in Madrid was so helpful – let’s make things simple, and give you one boarding pass for the two flights (though I reminded her several times that we were staying overnight in Paris). She must have been new. So….we waited at baggage claim until all the other passengers had left, and no luggage. Thank goodness there was a help desk right there. The representative told us, your luggage is in the system and being held until your flight. Tomorrow.
Oh. Well, we really need it now please. She put the request into the system, and 45 minutes later we received two of our three pieces. Went back, waited another 30 minutes, got the last piece. Ditched the idea of the RER and got a cab and called Semilla with apologies. So - FYI - if you have one night somewhere don’t let them book it through on one boarding pass.
We stayed at the Hotel Observatoire on Blvd. St. Michel across from the Luxembourg gardens. It is lovely, desk staff very friendly and responsive to my request for a room with a bathtub, even upgrading our son so he could be close to us. We did not have time to have their (included) breakfast in the neighboring restaurant but it looked good. As we were only overnight, it worked well (and was only 179E/night). Caution, though: there was VERY little storage in the Classic room, so if we booked again I would upgrade to a larger room. https://www.observatoirehotel.com/en/
By now it was midafternoon and we decided to walk over to the Marais for lunch at L’As Fellafel. We walked past the wounded Notre Dame, over the Pont Louis Phillippe (saw a great jewelry store I am hitting up next time, Laurina Balteanu…), and got a seat inside the tiny restaurant. Delicious, not expensive, and I used about 10 napkins.
Notre Dame after the fire
After that, we split up. Our son went to the Musee Malliol, which he said was amazing, and we walked over to the Louvre. Our SIL loves it when we bring back Laduree macarons, I wanted to hit Maison du Chocolat for some insulated bags, and both places are inside the Carousel du Louvre. Unfortunately, this was a Tuesday, so the museum and its attendant shopping were closed. Bummer. We walked across the river and had a bite upstairs at Laduree on rue Bonaparte (meaning I had tea and some macarons and my husband had actual food), and I got the macarons to take home. We met our son back at the hotel, where my husband decided to stay for the evening and the two of us decided NOT. We are in Paris! We are going to get cheese and wine and crepes and walk our feet off!
Which we did! Luxembourg Gardens – past Invalides – rue St Dominique for a lovely cheese plate and glass of wine, with a night view of the Eiffel Tower – over the glorious Pont Alexandre III – Metro to Chatelet – walk for him to have a crepe near St. Michel – back to hotel. 11:00 now and I got 29,000 steps and twelve miles that day! SCORE.
Statue of Winston Churchill near the Petit Palais
And that was the end of our wonderful trip.
I find that one of the things I enjoy most about writing a trip report is that I am re-living it. All of the sights and sounds come back – the food, the light, the art and architecture, the people we met, the experiences we shared. I am so grateful that we are able to travel, and thankful to all of you who helped make it a wonderful trip.
Aug 17th, 2019, 04:18 PM
#30
Original Poster
Join Date: Mar 2005
Posts: 1,270
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
TDudette, thanks for the link to your TR, I loved it!
And Revulgo, what a fabulous map - I love the way you can click and the sidebar gives the information. I will bookmark it.
Danon, my SIL chaperoned a group of students in Salamanca and said it was charming - I am putting it on the list for a future trip.
And Revulgo, what a fabulous map - I love the way you can click and the sidebar gives the information. I will bookmark it.
Danon, my SIL chaperoned a group of students in Salamanca and said it was charming - I am putting it on the list for a future trip.
