The Iberian Jet Set (Part 11): The Rest of Madrid and the Flamenco Finale!!

- December 2-4, 2016, Friday to Sunday.

- I am finally back in Madrid to explore the rest of it after seeing the main tourist/historical spots (click here) and my three consecutive day trips (click here for Cordoba, here for Segovia, and here for Toledo.) Since I only had to tick off a few more items from my Madrid itinerary, I had a late start for the day (still early actually, but later than the usual) and had a relaxed and proper breakfast at the restaurant beside my hostel. It felt strange to not be in a rush to catch a train to somewhere far, but it was some sort of a reward for myself after running uphill-downhill through some of the old cities.

- My first agenda for the day was an off-beaten path for many tourists, but definitely a must for Filipinos like me - the Rizal monument. This monument is an exact replica of the Rizal monument in Rizal Park (aka "Luneta.") It was erected in Madrid in 1996 to celebrate Rizal's centennial death anniversary. Interestingly, this statue is located along an avenue called "Avenida de las Islas Filipinas" and is accessible via metro, the "Islas Filipinas" metro station. Speaking of which, a lot of places in Madrid are named after the former colonies like "Colombia" or "Buenos Aires."

Pigeon invasion. (Hey that rhymed!!)

Luneta?? No!!

- I was prepared to do a photoshoot with my casual Barong Tagalog. Since it was an off-beaten attraction, doing my photoshoot was a breeze. Passersby who were jogging, driving, or walking their dogs seemed to wonder why I took interest in the monument at the corner of the avenue. There were no other tourists around, as it appeared to be a part of Madrid that was only "for the Madrilenos." Simply put, it wasn't a place that regular tourists would go to.

With my casual Barong Tagalog.

Y u hir?! (But yes, of course I know why; Rizal hung out a lot in Madrid.)

 Of course, his famous poem, "Mi Ultimo Adios."

Rizal.

- From the Rizal monument I walked all the way to the Museo del Traje, passing by the Museo de America (but didn't go in anymore,) the Faro de Moncloa (a modern transmission tower with the observation deck,) and the Arco de la Victoria (Madrid's Arc de Triomphe, built in the 1950s.)

Faro de Moncloa.

Museo de America, Faro de Moncloa, and Arco de la Victoria.

Brighter than the moon and stars combined. 

Relationship goals.

- The Museo del Traje (Costume Museum) is one of the newer museums of Madrid, being founded in 2004. As one would expect, it is a museum of Spanish clothing and costumes from the past to the recent years with some of Spain's top designers. It is a large museum with its own restaurant and colorful museum shop. It's a shame that not a lot of people visit this museum since it's quite far away from the usual tourist hubs (i.e. Gran Via area, Puerta del Sol area, etc.) It was also free for teachers, so that was an added bonus to my visit.  

One of my favorite museums in Spain.

The museum.

Spanish regional costumes in one. Can you spot the matador costume?

Royal cape.

I need a pair of socks like this one.

Manton de Manila (Manila Shawl) - the Spanish style shawl but never actually made in Manila. The fabric is from China but transported to the Spanish world through Manila.

Details from the manton de manila above. It has China written everywhere.

Corset fashion.

WHAT!! ("Que" is "what" in Spanish, and so is my surname. My surname is actually the butt of jokes among my Spanish-speaking and Portuguese-friends. It was also the butt of miscommunication in Spain and Portugal, and so I always had to give a lengthy explanation of why my surname is "Que.") 

Annabelle....is that you?? (The doll's Spanish clothing is nice though.)

- I rode the metro from Moncloa back to Puerta del Sol to find lunch. I stumbled upon a cheap buffet restaurant that I had hoped to discover earlier. The restaurant's name is "All U Can Eat" and it has three nearby branches: Gran Via, Calle Montero, and Calle Tetuan (all three are within the Gran Via and Puerta del Sol, and my hostel is in the "Bermuda triangle" of those three branches. Lucky me.)

Palacio de la Prensa (Press Palace) in Plaza Callao, a 1920s cinema that is still operating today (it has shops and a dance club as well.)

Gran Via.

- After lunch I rode the train to Sevilla (not Seville the city in Andalusia, but a metro station within Madrid.) The Sevilla station is close to Plaza de Cibeles. From the station, I walked south, along Paseo del Prado, to reach one of Spain's most important art museum - the Museo del Prado. The building, built in the 1700s, was decided to be the national art museum by the Spanish royalty. The name Prado is a nod to the district where the museum is located. Being the national art museum of Spain, the words of some of Spain's best artists like Picasso, Goya, El Greco can be found there. Photography is not allowed in the museum. Personally, the museum was quite interesting even without the audio guide as the brief descriptions of the works were well-written, and thus, giving people a basic but informed understanding of the works. There are more than a hundred galleries and there are parts where the sequence of the galleries can be confusing. I tried my best to follow the galleries by number though. It reminded me of Washington D.C.'s National Gallery of Art at the National Mall (click here to see.)

I'm here. It was a GIANT museum.

The only photo I got inside the museum before I was told that photography wasn't allowed.

A statue of Goya outside the museum.

- From the museum, I walked north to Plaza de Cibeles, turned right to Puerta de Alcala, and from the door, turned left to so north along Calle de Serrano to visit the National Archaeological Museum of Spain. This museum appealed to me more than Museo del Prado since I'm more of a history-and-artifact kind of person than a fine-arts person (still, the artworks inside Museo del Prado impressed me.) The National Archaeological Museum was built in the late 1800s, and houses artifacts from all known eras of Spanish history, and a special portion on Egypt. (I actually noticed Spain's fascination with Egypt - from museum exhibits to books and pieces of art in rich Spanish people's homes from before like Casa Amatller in Barcelona (click here to see.))

Museum facade.

Early man.

Early images, probably a warrior's memorial/epitaph.

Pre-moorish Iberian goddess. See, Spain wasn't always Catholic.

Lady of Elche from the 4th century BC, a rather controversial artifact.

Early mother goddess.

Excerpt of the city's rules during the Roman era.

Mosaic octopus!!

Mosaic Medusa.

Scale replica of the Mezquita interior, hung under the ceiling.

Arabic inscriptions during the Moorish era.

Statues of Egyptian gods.

Roman-era artifacts.

- I took the bus from the museum back to my hostel and rested for a while before my dinner reservation at 7pm. I later rode the train to La Latina, and found my way to Corral de la Moreria. This restaurant is very near the Almudena Cathedral and the Palacio Real, and is just a couple of blocks south. This restaurant, tucked away at the end of Calle de Yeseros, is the oldest flamenco restaurant in the world. Inagurated in the 1950s, this flamenco restaurant has been patronized by big names not only in Spain, but big names from other countries - their roster of visitors ranges from presidents, politicians, royalties, celebrities, you name it. This prestige also makes Corral de la Moreria a popular destination for tourists. Because of this, a reservation online is a must to make sure you'll be given a seat. There are two shows nightly, one at around 8:30, and another one around 9:30. It is best to reserve at least an hour before the show, so you can be done with dinner during the show. The lights will be off during the show, and it would be distracting to finish your meal while watching the show.

I'm here!!

- The flamenco show in Corral de la Moreria is astounding as they star some of the best flamenco dancers, guitarists, and singers in Spain. The food was also of top quality, serving Spanish dishes with uncommon ingredients like pheasants (not peasants, please,) foie gras, among a few. The dishes can be ordered a la carte, or like what I did, through the different set menus. By the way, during online reservation, only the payment for the show will be paid, and the payment for the food will be paid on site (since you'll be telling the restaurant what you'll be having right there and then.)

The singers' and guitarists' opening.

A ver passionate dance.

Yes, men can definitely dance the flamenco too. It's not just a girl thing.

Ay caramba.

- The flamenco show started on time, and people were only allowed to take photos and videos during the first number. Photography and videography are not anymore allowed throughout the one-hour show.

Ole!!

- Speaking of flamenco, many people know that flamenco is the national dance of Spain. However, not a lot of people know about the origins of flamenco. This fiery, passionate, and highly rhythmic dance originated probably during the Moorish era of Spain, when gypsies from India brought their dances and forms of music to Spain. Andalusia, being the main center of Islamic Spain, adapted those dances and forms of music and later made it their own. Today, the link between flamenco and its Indian roots can be found through the mudras (hand-gestures,) music style, and rhythm. Flamenco is related to some of Indian's gypsy folk dances, and is commonly associated with an Indian court dance called "Kathak." Kathak, also respected as one of the "classical dances" of India, can be danced alongside flamenco due to the many similarities between the dances (there have been multiple performances that did just that.)

Ole!! Ole!! Ole!!

That's on powerful finish.

Our singers.

The dancers with their final bow. (Wasn't able to take a photo of the guitarists since they bowed and left quickly.)

- The flamenco show ended with a big finish, as expected. Not only the dancers were cheered, but the powerful singers as well and the quick-fingered guitarists. Though the dinner + show was a bit pricey, I felt that it was worth it.

- I decided to walk all the way home by walking up north to Calle Mayor, and walking along Madrid to appreciate the city more at night. I arrived at my hostel and spent the rest of the night packing my things, which involved body slamming my luggage so it would close.

Almudena Cathedral at night.

 - The next morning I woke up the latest in my entire trip - around 7:30am - lazed around before heading out to have breakfast at All U Can Eat (yes, they have a cheap breakfast buffet too!!) I got lost looking for the branch I went to the day before for lunch, but I ended up in one of their other branches in Montero Street, so it was all the same. As I was watching the morning news, I almost spat my coffe when I saw that my country's president made his way to the Spanish morning news. This was one of the two things that reminded me of home (the second one is the photo below.) Truly, it was time to go home.

My university is haunting me - and colored in the rival school's color.

- I went back to my hostel and got my things, said goodbye to Hostal Acapulco and Madrid as I rode a long metro ride to the airport. I was at the airport quite early before my 2pm flight to Dubai, and from Dubai to Manila. Looking back, I never thought I could have gone around a part of Europe alone, since my major concern was that I did not know how to "act European;" I'm quite used to going around Asia, and the USA wasn't much of a problem since American culture is quite familiar to the Philippines. I am glad that I was able to survive my first solo trip to Europe, and I am glad to have the rare opportunity to know more about Europe first-hand, and appreciate Europe more. I may teach history in school, but I teach about Asia. I can discuss anything about Asia, but ask me anything about European history and chances are I'll give you a blank stare. At least now I have gained more knowledge and insights about Europe - the Iberian Peninsula at the very least - and I am definitely hoping to have more chances to explore more of Europe in the future!! (Please don't forget to read Part 1 here, Part 2 here, Part 3 here, Part 4 here  Part 5 here, Part 6 here, Part 7 here Part 8 here, Part 9 here and Part 10 here.)