Madrid Part Tres: Naps, Art, and a Tired Stadium

After waking late and still feeling exhausted, we walked to Temple de Debod. I took a nap as Elizabeth enjoyed the sunshine.  There are some great views of Madrid from around the temple area. The temple was a gift from Egypt to Spain for help with the Aswan Dam project.  The US helped as well and was also given a Temple, it sits alone in a large room at the Met in NY.

From there we grabbed lunch at a hipster food court for tapas, Mercado de San Miguel.  As it was Friday, we were allowed to have something other than jamon.  We enjoyed crab something, a couple of different burrattas, and some potato chips.  I had to eat more than I wanted since Elizabeth was not feeling well. After eating her portion too, I was not feeling well.  

A nap for Elizabeth and some reading for me and we were headed to the Prado.  

The Prado is mostly a museum for world famous Spanish artists, heavy on the Goya and Velazquez.  It’s free at night so after a long wait in line, we got to visit a few sections of the museum.  We enjoyed a few Roman works from the turn of the AD as well as Historical Portraits which are painted to portray certain historical events. These really brought the history of Spain to life. Unfortunately, we only went to the museum this one time and only stayed for a few hours before it closed.

After the museum, we thought we would give churros another shot, hoping Granada was the exception and not the rule.  Chocolateria San Gines is open every day, all day and has been for over 100 years.  Even through a dictatorship with a nightly curfew for citizens.  It is one of the most popular places to go for churros.  Still no cinnamon or sugar.  We officially ended our hunt for churros and called it a night.

After our lazy day, we went back to the regular scheduled program. The next day was full of excitement. First on our list was the Thyssen museum in Madrid. It has many fine works by Van Gogh, Gauguin, Monet, Manet, Beirstadt, and other well known artists.  One of the temporary exhibits was about a family of painters/artists from Pennsylvania, the Wyeth’s. It was free with the general admission ticket and well worth the visit.  Especially since the exhibit was organized in association with the Denver Museum of Art. A museum we visited a few months ago when we were skiing in Colorado. The Denver Art Museum had a Wyeth exhibit but we chose not to pay to see it then.  We are so cultured and refined, art follows us.  

We enjoyed the museum for so long, we were not left with time to do much else between the museum and our first futbol match. We did grab some sweets before the match to tide us over.  I planned for us to eat stadium food, but this turned out to be the first real snafu of the entire trip.  We arrived in the area of the stadium two hours before the start.  We wanted to soak up the atmosphere, the stadium, and all that goes along with futbol and fandom.

The stadium is around 50 years old so it looks dated from the outside, but not awful.  Fans here don’t tailgate.  Those of drinking age mill about in the streets near the bars with beer in hand(s).  Anyone with kids is waiting on the gates to open.  We grabbed a beer and began to walk around to get a picture in front of the stadium. 

During our milling about, we noticed plastic bags the fans were carrying.  We also noticed the tables set up hawking team apparel and foodstuffs.  We realized all the plastic bags contain food and we are the only people sans bag.  In an effort to fit in, I sauntered over to a table for a couple of snacks and was robbed for the first time as I paid five bucks for a handful of cocktail nuts. I was certain I was taken, but didn’t know the Spanish words to insult the guy, his stand, and his mother so I left his stand with my five Euro bag of nuts.

Feeling like a dope, we decided to go ahead and enter the stadium of Atletico Madrid, at present the best team in Spain.  I wanted to walk the concourse, take a few hundred pictures, grab our dinner before the show starts and settle in for the big match.

None of which happened.

As it turns out, the stadium is more like Legion Field than Bryant-Denny or the Georgia Dome.  Imagine the Braves playing at Rickwood Field before people decided to fix it up for movies. If the Falcons and Braves need new places to play right now, Atletico needed a new place before this one was built.  It’s deplorable.  Their new stadium is set to open soon.  Doctors who give out tetanus shots will be disappointed.  

I think to myself, “This stadium is old, that’s ok. I’ll just walk around…”

Nope.

At the Atletico Madrid stadium all sections are fenced off.

So again I think to myself, “Fine, at least the Spanish eat well. I’m sure the concession stand has great food…”

False.

No hot food in this place.  A couple of cold ham sandwhich options, bagged Lay’s chips, and popcorn from who knows where.

Souvenir cup? HA!

So with thirty minutes before the match starts, we are sitting in the stadium staring at an empty bag of trail mix. Dinner would have to wait, but only for us.

The game begins and Atletico is much better than Deportivo, who is in last place.  At halftime, everyone pulls out their plastic bags and begin to enjoy their homemade bocadillo (cold ham sandwich), together.  Entire families enjoying dinner with one another.

Atletico continued to dominate and won convincingly.  At some point, probably when it dipped into the 30’s, the couple next to Elizabeth offered up a sliver of their blanket.  A most generous offer since the stadium doesn’t sell hot drinks either.

We had a good time watching the match, but it was an eye opening experience with respect to general sporting atmosphere.  The fans were rambunctious, but not rowdy.  The main cheering section never stopped making noise for the entirety of the match. We left as the match concluded to head to a place with hot food and prepare for our daytrip to Segovia the next day.