Postcards: A Walking Tour of Madrid

After visiting Sevilla and Granada, we only had three full days to explore Madrid. Madrid is the kind of city that is so huge and so rich in culture and history that, as first-time visitors, we decided that the best and easiest way for us to get a good introduction to it was to join a guided tour.

Some web surfing led us to Sandeman’s New Madrid Tours which offers a free half-day  walking tour of the city. Yes, free. (Tips, though, are very much appreciated — and deserved — by the tour guides.)

On the day of the tour, we slathered ourselves with sunscreen and walked the short distance from our hotel to the Plaza de España.

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Postcards: La Alhambra, Granada

When Washington Irving wrote Tales of the Alhambra, the Moorish compound was a place seen only by few people from outside Andalusia. It was even then surrounded in myth, despite its almost decrepit state. Irving had the very good fortune of being allowed to live within the fortress and he had the luxury of exploring the buildings and gardens at leisure.

Such privileged adventure is no longer possible. The Alhambra has become one of Spain’s most popular tourist attractions, with thousands passing through its grand arches and gates everyday. Nowadays, instead of the rambling but romantic expedition taken by Irving, one is more likely to get to Alhambra via a generic tour bus and be deposited outside the entrance where several buses will be disgorging even more tourists.

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1983 B.C. (Before Cellphones)

From the depths of my keepsakes box, an old note from high school:

Written by a classmate and marked ‘CONFIDENTIAL’, it was secretly passed hand to hand in class until it reached me, who as class president had the responsibility to resolve weighty matters such as:

When are we going to watch Betamax?  Before YDT (P.E.) or after Chem?

DECIDE WELL.

T.Y.

Ah, the 80s. When 13-year-olds made a momentous event out of watching E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial. :D