Spain
-
A visit to Puerta del Sol and Plaza Mayor in Madrid: Thriving squares
Save a bunch of people here and there, at first the cobblestoned road in Madrid is quiet. Around me are buildings— some residential, some offices. As I keep walking, I feel human noise amplifying. Street artists perform illusive stunts; inside makeshift white tents, flea markets are abuzz. The street is not so quiet anymore. Finally, the road opens to a square, cluttered with a crowd of leisure seekers and overlooked by a bell tower with a ticking clock. This is Puerta del Sol, the literal centre of Madrid as well as Spain. Puerta del Sol facts that attract Puerta del Sol which means “the gate of the Sun” served as…
-
Tour of the Royal Palace of Madrid: Facts and decor
The Madrid sky is grey, as if trying to complement the classical façade of the Royal Palace of Madrid (Palacio Real de Madrid). Even on this pale day, Plaza de la Armeria, the open square that adorns the entrance of the palace looks uplifting. In Western Europe’s largest palace, in front of the marble walls and pillars, standing on a dais, wearing a toga, a Romanesque statue of King Charles III of Spain welcomes me at the base of the staircase. The tour of the Royal Palace of Madrid features at the top of every Madrid itinerary and rightly so. The palace contains 3418 rooms and covers a total area…
-
Santiago Bernabeu Stadium tour, Madrid: The cult of football
From the top-most tier, I see a panorama dotted with 81,044 seats gradually smudge with the green velvety field. The four tiers below me that successively converge into the pitch is empty. Maintenance workers are busy tending the grass; these are painstakingly obtained from northern Europe. I am at one of Madrid’s top tourist attraction—the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium tour—football club Real Madrid’s home turf. Many would casually call this the Real Madrid stadium tour. Even people who are obscurely aware of the football (what Americans call soccer) world know Real Madrid by name. The club holds the highest number of championships for both La Liga (the Spanish football championship), and UEFA…
-
An offbeat place to visit in Madrid: Santoña Palace
Across the 6-metres long wooden table, officials from the Chamber of Commerce, Industries and Services of Madrid are giving us, the Indian media, a presentation. My concentration, though, is divided between the speakers and the resident elements of the room— a Renaissance inspired ceiling painting, a voluptuous chandelier and an elaborate Baroque décor. This is no ordinary conference centre, but the Luis XIV Room in Santoña Palace of Madrid in Spain, an offbeat place to visit in Madrid city. A tour to the past The building’s history goes back to 16th century Spain. For a brief period around 1593, it was the residence of the exiled Prince of Morocco of…
-
Geography, culture and history of Spain: A quick introduction
The broad streets, the statues in the city squares, the architecture, the yellow leaves drooping wearily from the trees along the two-way lane and the people dressed in winter garments of black, white and grey shades— right before my eyes is the Europe I had read about in books and watched in movies. Madrid, the capital of Spain would forever be that special city that introduced me to Europe. I am writing this quick note focused on the culture and history of Spain, not just for readers of the blog but also for myself, so that when my memory fades, I can quickly come here and read this up. I…
