Did you see the Patinir painting that's in the same room as the Bruegel and the Bosches? Also, did you take notes on which Bosches were actually on view this time?

Wonderful trip report!!! Thank you so much for posting it. I'm one of those people who are head over heels in LOVE with Spain, and am enjoying reading about your experiences.

I have been reading your report with interest - it takes time and effort to write in such detail..

What often comes across is how rushed, tired, even angry you seem at times.
I guess,seven cities (or towns) in 12 days will do it.
Most of us are just tourists without a luxury of time ( and money); on the other hand ,some people are happy to check off " must see or do" and move on.

Spending longer time in large cities like Madrid and Barcelona, can give
one an opportunity to perhaps visit some lovely residential areas , eat in restaurants where menus are not in English ,and relax away from hordes of tourists ( unavoidable in famous museums, churches etc).
In the second scenario one might come away with rather different
impressions of a city, or even a country.

<b>Day 11

Day trip to Segovia</b>

As I have mentioned on another thread, the new AVE service from Madrid to Segovia cuts down the travel time from 2 hours to just 30 minutes.

I took the 8:30am train leaving from Madrid Chamartin. I almost missed my train...

First, I didn't realize it is 12 stops on the Metro from Sol (I knew it is a bit far but not that far.)

Second, when I arrived at Chamartin, I couldn't find the entrance to the station! There is a short-cut from the Metro into the railway station, but it's guarded by turnstiles. The people who can get through has some sort of ticket to feed the turnstile. I asked a worker there and she directed me to exit the Metro station and go up the escalator. There are no signs whatsoever on the escalators.

After going through a few wrong ways, I finally arrived at the main hall. I basically ran to my train platform and barely got on the train before it left.

A good part of the train trip is spent inside a long tunnel. I later found out that this 28km-long <b>Guadarrama Tunnel</b> is the 4th longest tunnel in the world.

The train arrives at the new Segovia AVE station. I didn't know that until I arrived, so all the research I had done previously (via guidebooks) were incorrect because those guidebooks refer to the old station.

This new station, formally named Segovia-Guiomar, is 4km outside of the city and in the middle of nowhere. Surrounded by open fields and cow pastures, it is served by a single bus line, #11. There is a taxi stand and parking facilites. There is a Segovia tourist office at the station. One gets a nice view of the Sierra de Guadarrama mtns from the station.

Less than 10 people on my train got off at Segovia on this Monday morning.

Bus #11 runs every 15 minutes, makes 3 stops with the last stop being <b>Plaza de la Artilleria</b>, right at the Aqueduct. The journey takes 20 minutes. When there are no train departures or arrivals, the bus runs less frequent. There are schedules posted at the bus stops and onboard the bus.

I arrived at the <b>Aqueduct</b>. The sight is impressive! It was built 2000 years ago by the Romans without use of mortar. It is in such great condition that it looks as good as new!

Since I hadn't had breakfast yet, I wandered down Av de Fernandez Ladreda and found a coffee shop. I took my time to enjoy my coffee, chocolate croissant, and a glass of fresh-squeezed orange juice.

By the time I returned to the Aqueduct, the tourist office there is open (opens at 10). I got a map and headed uphill towards Plaza Mayor. The map from the office is very good, with listings of all interesting/historic buildings plus a short blurb about each one. I slowly made my way to the <b>Cathedral</b>.

Again, I didn't find the interior of the Cathedral that memorable. After my visit, I wandered to the <b>Alcazar</b>. The Alcazar offers an audioguide for extra, but I just picked up a free brochure instead. The original Alcazar was burnt down in the 1800s, so the current one is not even 200 years old. The rooms inside aren't too interesting. The last section of the visit is the Military museum. Most illustrations were in Spanish only. The best part of the visit is climbing up the <b>Tower</b> for an incredible view. It is an addtional &euro;2, and I believe one can choose to climb the tower alone without buying a ticket for the Alcazar. The climb up to the tower is rather tenuous. It has a total of 150 very steep steps.

The view was great. One can see the cathedral, the 2 rivers on either side, churches and buildings on the other side of the rivers, including <b>Iglesia de la Vera Cruz</b>. It is a 12-sided church built in the 12th century by the Knights Templar.

I contemplated for quite some time as to where to have lunch. I originally was set on Jose Maria, which gets great reviews here. However, when I looked at the menu I thought it was quite pricey (&euro;22 for the entree <i>cochinillo</i> - Segovia's famous suckling pig). There are plenty of other restaurants offering a &euro;22 3-course menu with <i>cochinillo</i>.

I decided to head back down to the Aqueduct to check out <b>Mes&oacute;n de C&aacute;ndido</b>, another restaurant famous for <i>cochinillo</i>. Here, their <i>cochinillo</i> is slightly cheaper though they also do not offer a menu del dia. I headed in for lunch.

It was already 2pm by now, yet the restaurant was again empty. I started with <i>setas</i> (mushrooms) Segovian style. It is mushrooms cooked in a rather heavy cream sauce. For entree of course I ordered the <i>cochinillo</i>. It was <b>incredible</b>! The skin is thin and crispy, yet the meat is ever so tender and juicy. It was SO GOOD.

For dessert, I ordered <i>tarta ponche</i> which I believe is also a Segovian specialty.

As my train for Madrid doesn't leave until 6:46pm, I had a very leisurely lunch. The restaurant got busier around 3pm or so. My bill was &euro;44.

<b>Mes&oacute;n de C&aacute;ndido</b>
Plaza Azoguejo 5
http://www.mesondecandido.es/

There were very few tourists in Segovia that day (a huge contrast to my day trip to Toledo). I did not even see one single tour group during the whole day. I am not sure if Segovia is just not popular, or if it's because I visited on a Monday.

The whole town was on siesta when I left the restaurant. There was not one single soul to be seen. It was quite eerie. All the shops were dark and the streets were empty. It was as if the whole town had fallen into a deep slumber. It was refreshing to wander around without a million tourists surrounding me.

I found a few souvenir shops open during siesta, and bought a ceramic bowl from Artesania Balbino right on Plaza Mayor.

I had thought about walking all the way down to the river. When I was at the Alcazar, I saw there is a pedestrian/cycling path along Rio Clamores on the SW side. However, I wasn't sure how safe it would be for me to venture there, as it seems to be somewhat isolated. In the end, I didn't go.

By 5pm or so, the town woke up from its slumber and locals fill the streets again. I made my way back to the Aqueduct and climbed up the stairs along each side for more views.

Finally, I took the 6pm Bus #11 back to the AVE station. Everything ran on time and I was back at Chamartin around 7:20pm.

I was still completely full from my late lunch, I skipped dinner. Instead, I returned to La Mallorquina on my way back to my hotel. This time, I bought a slice of cake which looks like Swiss Roll. The lady gestured to me if I wanted it &quot;to go.&quot; Yes!!! I don't want to try eating it on the street again.

She wrapped it nicely for me, and I stopped by a 24-hr convenient store for some juice, and went back to my hotel room.

That piece of &quot;Swiss Roll&quot; turned out to have chocolate ice-cream in the center, instead of cream which was what I assumed. Good thing I ate it right away.

111op - Thanks for reminding me about the Holbein in Britain. I guess you're right, the Henry VIII portrait was at that show. I don't remember seeing it because I went to the Tate jet-lagged and the whole thing was a blur.

The Moneo addition was housing another exhibit which I didn't even go to. The shop (very small, IMO) and the cafe is also in the new bldg. Overall it's very bright and airy, but I don't think I can make any smart comment based on my limited knowledge on architecture.

As for Patinir, I think I saw the &quot;crossing of the styx.&quot;

There are 6 works by Bosch on view. All are described in the Bosch gallery guide.

I forgot to mention, the &quot;Descent from the Cross&quot; by Rogier van der Weyden is truly a stunning masterpiece.

danon- I'm not quite sure where in the report I came across as &quot;angry.&quot; I definitely agree that I was covering too much ground in 12 days. I guess there are certain things on the trip I was disappointed, but overall I had a good time.

<b>Overall Impression of Segovia</b>

I don't want to sound like an expert since I was only there for about 9 hours. It is a neat town to visit, esp now that it's so convenient to get there from Madrid. I feel that 9 hours is a bit too much to hang around in the old town as it's not that big (compared to Toledo). If I had a car I think it'd be fun to visit some further sites. I liked the fact that it was not crowded at all, and the architecture yet again is quite different. Last but not least, the suckling pig... hm... still have me salivating right now.

yk, first thank you so much for your Madrid trip report, and all of your excellent and detailed reports. Second -- do you think it would be OK to have children (ages 9 and 13) at the restaurant Casa Lucio in Madrid? Third, I did not see a hint of anger in any of your reports. What a trip! Solo, too...kudos.

yk-Great report! I love your organization and details.

I also appreciate your honesty. Travel is not always rosy and perfect and I think sometimes people are afraid here to be honest because they get accused of being negative.
I admit I had a very different experience with the food in Spain on my last trip. For me, tapas were not hard to find, especially in Madrid and Sevilla. But I had also done extensive restaurant research before we went, focusing on tapas. That said, not every meal was fantastic either.

I also understand the feeling of &quot;no urge to return in the near future&quot;. While I don't feel that way about Spain (a place I adore) I certainly felt that way after my trip last year to Prague, Vienna, and Budapest. I enjoyed my trip, but I am in no hurry to return.

<b>Day 12
Time to go home</b>

My flight out of Madrid is at 2:05pm, so basically I have to leave my hotel by 11am.

I had a leisurely breakfast at the hotel, then popped over to the Tourist office at Plaza Mayor to check my flight status.

Then I'm off to a quick walk around the <b>los Austrias</b> section of town. From Plaza Mayor I walked SW through multiple plazas, past Iglesia de San Pedro El Viejo, one of the few churches that still have a mudejar-style bell tower. Honestly, after spending time in Andalusia, this was rather underwhelming. I then headed North to <b>Plaza de la Villa</b>. This is a picturesque little square surrounded by nice buildings. I was glad to visit this on my last day in Spain.

I returned to my hotel, finished packing, and checked out. There are a number of permutations on ways to get to the airport from Sol via the Metro. I had asked the guy at the front desk the night before, and he recommended Line 2 from Sol to Goya, then Line 4 from Goya to Mar de Cristal where I catch Line 8 to the airport. He himself had done this trip recently and said the amount of stairs is minimal.

I got to Sol station at 11:15am. The entire trip took 50 minutes. At both Sol and Goya there are stairs involved, but at Mar de Cristal there is escalator.

The Metro station at the airport is very convenient. The elevator takes you up to the departure desk level for check-in. I checked in at the BA counter, but the BA agent wasn't able to give me my 2nd leg (LHR-BOS) boarding pass on AA. I later found an AA agent who was able to print out the BP for me.

The new T4 at Madrid's Barajas is <b>huge</b>. As my flight departs from the T4 <i>Satellite</i>, I have to take a train from T4 out to T4S. [For those of you who have VAT to claim, the desk is at T4 before you get on the train to T4S.]

The train traveled for a l-o-n-g time. I was convinced it was taking me all the way back to Sol Metro station! This is just a cautionary note for future travelers - make sure you have plenty of time at the airport!

I browsed around the shops at T4S for a bit and didn't find them that attractive. So I spent most of my time at the <b>Iberia lounge</b>. It is a very nice lounge. It is open and airy, and very few pax that day when I visited. Too bad I don't drink alcohol, as the choices are unlimited! The food selection wasn't that great (compared to the CX lounge The Wing at HKG). I think I had some pastries. It also has numerous computer terminals for those who don't have laptops.

My flight on BA back to LHR was fine. It arrived on time into T1. I had done my research and printed out a LHR transfer guide from BAA's website (T1-T3 connection). Since I had over 2 hours of connection time, I wasn't too worried.

Connecting from T1 to T3 involves: walking for quite some distance, then a security check, then a bus to T3. The whole process took about 40 minutes.

I did a little shopping at T3, then popped into AA's Admirals Club there. I like the AC there too. Very old-world style and quiet. The food selection is still small. I also asked the AAngels there to change my seat on the flight. I had requested a window seat on row 21 (exit row), but I know the flight is relatively empty. So I asked her to move me to the middle section in the back to a row that has 3 empty seats together. She did that and even said she's block off the other 2 seats in my row!

My return flight was fine. I had all 3 seats to myself, so I was able to stretch out and slept flat for a bit. The food was just as digusting on the way home. The snack upon arrival was a cheese pizza. The crust was so tough that I couldn't even chew it.

I haven't flown into BOS international terminal for over a decade. Immigration line wasn't bad at all, and my lugguage was already out on the conveyor belt when I arrived at the baggage claim. From touchdown to me reaching curbside, it took just 30 minutes.

The good thing about Spain is that if you want to come back someday, you could travel the north..and really, it is very different from the south in every aspect, so the experience is not comparable.

By the way, Velazquez is my favourite painter But I understand you, many people rave about Mir&oacute;..and I'm still unable to see more than bright colors stains on his paintings ! Art is on the eyes that look at it, there is no &quot;good&quot; or &quot;bad&quot; , just you like it or not.

yk, thank you for taking the time to write this report. I sincerely appreciate the detailed information you provide on museums, etc., and the transportation information you detail for visiting places like Segovia.

I am impressed by the number of places you visited on this trip and admire that you did so solo--it's something I would very much like to have the opportunity to do someday.

Great report, thank you!

o.k.
maybe not angry , just a bit grumpy.
( totally understandable with your schedule)-

Hi YK

What were your impressions of your hotel in Madrid. the Hotel Plaza Mayor, no?

Would you return or recommend it?

I also really enjoyed your report, yk. Your candor was refreshing. I especially liked your descriptions of the museums and the Alhambra.

After helping in my child's art literacy class, I came to a greater appreciation of Velasquez than previously. We also had fun helping the kids &quot;recreate&quot; the Las Meninas scene.

I appreciate all of your comments. I don't think I'm going to *try* to make myself like Velazquez anymore. Maybe someday I'll learn to appreciate his paintings more.

I will post a review on Hotel Plaza Mayor, but that'll have to wait until tomorrow when I have time (it's all good though).

bakerstreet - I don't see any problems bringing your kids to Casa Lucio, but I'd recommend you getting the 9pm dinner sitting.

Kristina - funny you mentioned Vienna. DH &amp; I went there in Nov 06 and we both LOVED it. I would return in a heartbeat. I guess it's just different strokes for differen folks.

I'm really enjoying your report. I hope you liked the Hotel Plaza Mayor - we stayed there a night and thought it was a good budget place. The subway to Sol from the airport was quite an adventure - I still remember quite a few stairs.

Question for you yk... we are not proficient in bus usage but willing to learn...

In Segovia, you took the bus from the train station to town--are tickets required for the bus? Coins?

<b>Madrid Hotel Review

Hotel Plaza Mayor</b>
http://www.h-plazamayor.com/index.english.html

Initially, I was looking at hotels near Gran Via or Prado. Then, my cousin recommended to me Hotel Plaza Mayor where she had stayed before. My single room was &euro;60/night + tax, no breakfast.

I was somewhat concerned before my trip, because when I booked the room via the hotel's website, the single room was listed as a &quot;smoking room.&quot; Since I was staying here for 5 nights, if I didn't like it, I would be quite miserable.

The hotel turned out to be great. The hotel now is completely non-smoking, and I didn't detect even a trace of cigarette smoke in my room. My room is of reasonable size and the bed is full-size. It has high ceiling which makes the room more spacious. Bathroom is modern, but shower stall only.

There is an in-room safe, however, you have to rent a &quot;part&quot; from the front desk for &euro;1,20/night in order to get the safe to work. For such a small fee, why don't they just give it for free?

There is a computer terminal in the lobby for internet access for a fee. But as I've mentioned above, one can get on the net for free at the nearby tourist office at Plaza Mayor.

I had breakfast there 3 times. Breakfast is &euro;7,50 and I think it's a fair price. The spread includes cold cuts, breads, fruits, cheese, tomatoes, cereals, yogurt, hot food (scrambled eggs and bacon), juices, tea/coffee.

My room faces the inner &quot;courtyard&quot;. It is very dark because it's on the first floor. There is no noise to speak of except for hallway noise when other guests walk by.

I have met at least 5 front desk people during my stay. Every single one of them is young and very friendly/helpful. They are always smiling. Even the lady who is responsible for breakfast buffet is smiling every morning I see her. Julia, who mans the desk from 3p-11p, made the reservation at Casa Lucio for me by calling the restaurant many times (the line stayed busy for a while). Julia is quite a hoot.

The location of the hotel is great. Within easy walking distance to the Palace and to Plaza Santa Ana, and to Cava Baja. I'm pretty sure it's an easy stroll to the museums but I took the Metro instead. 3 Metro lines stop at Sol, including Line 1 which goes to Atocha and Chamartin train stations. The only challenge was going to the airport as it involves changing twice.

I thoroughly enjoyed my stay there, and being there for 5 nights is quite a long time. I think &euro;60 is a bargain to be in central Madrid. I would definitely stay there again in the future.

AnnMarie_C- For all my local bus trips, I paid the bus driver when I got on the bus.