Travel Tales: Fiesta de la Almudena

Feast of the Patron Saint of Madrid

Two years ago today we happened to be flying into

Madrid to begin a few weeks of traveling around our

beloved Spain.  Arriving in the airport, we noticed it

was deserted.  We took the Metro into the city and

again, no one was around.  We got off in Puerta del

Sol, the center of Madrid and were shocked to see

it so quiet. 

As we pulled our luggage through the

cobblestone streets, heading to our hotel near Plaza

Mayor, we started noticing everyone we saw were

dressed in native costume and mantillas and capes.

Never ones to miss something exciting, we followed

them, luggage and all.  When we walked through the

gates of Plaza Mayor we saw it filled with people.

A few locals told us this was the Fiesta de la Almudena,

the patron saint of Madrid.

We dropped our bags off at our hotel and hurried

back to watch the festivities.  One of the volunteers

happened to be an American exchange student and

she filled us in on what was going to happen.  There

would be a Mass in the Plaza, followed by a procession

through Puerta del Sol and then the statue would be

taken back to the Cathedral where flowers would

be taken.  You needed a ticket to get into the seating

area but we were happy to watch from behind the

barricades.  After awhile the American exchange

student found us and said she could get us in if we

wanted. Of course!  And with that we were ushered

into the the VIP section. 

All was well, we were seated with the local

politicians, the movers and shakers and from

the amount of security, I wouldn't be surprised if

there were a few royals as well.  The Mass began,

the statue was paraded in, our Spanish is not

strong enough to say Mass, but we followed

along in English and the locals seemed happy

that at least we knew how to say the Mass.

When it came time to kneel, there were no

kneelers, you knelt on the cobblestones ~ this

is Spain after all and they take their religion

very seriously.  One thing that we were not

familiar with was the Song Leader (pictured

above), during each song he would stand and

wave his arms wildly to get the crowd singing.

I found him a bit scary.

Sometime before Communion, the inevitable

happened.  When one takes the night flight

across the ocean and hasn't slept for over 24

hours, it happened ~ we hit the wall.  During

Mass in Plaza Mayor, in the VIP section,

behind barricades that would make it very

hard to leave.  We reached that point where

our eyes would not stay open and we each

started dosing and then catching ourselves

and jolting awake.  So now, we look like we

are drunk, in Mass, in the VIP section, behind

the barricades...  I whispered to Mr. W, "We

HAVE to get out of here."  But how?

So we hatched a plan, when people got

up to go to Communion, we would just

slip out.  We didn't realize that Communion

would be given out over the barriers.  There 

was no way out!  Finally, we saw a little

abuelo  (grandfather) slipping between the

barriers and we followed him, not our most

gracious moment but better than the Americans

passing out during Mass.  We followed the

little man as if we were escorting our grandfather

to the restroom.  And then we crashed.

We could hear the procession from our

hotel room but sleep overtook us. 

After a nap we decided to walk over to

the Cathedral in Plaza de la Almudena.

As we were walking there we noticed

everyone was carrying flowers, when we

arrived we saw why, people bring flowers

in adoration of their patron saint.

The Cathedral Santa Maria la Real de

La Almudena is located just across from

the Royal Palace in Madrid.  The reason

La Almudena is the patron saint of Madrid

is because a statue of La Almudena was

brough to Spain by the Apostle Saint James.

The statue was hidden in the city wall of

Madrid in 783 by the Christians as the Moors

were about to take over the city.  Two candles

were lit near the statue when it was enclosed

in the wall.  Two centuries later, Madrid was

liberated but no one remembered where the

statue was.  A procession was held and the

wall crumbled away, revealing the statue

and legend states the candles were still

miraculously burning.

Back in Plaza Mayor, the local Madrilenos

were performing traditional songs and dances

in native costume.

And as night fell in Plaza Mayor, we

did what we always do when we are in

Madrid.  We took our evening paseo, two

laps around Plaza Mayor, before saying

buenas noches.

I Speak American

A Spring Sunday in Madrid

We started out the day at the famous

Sunday morning flea Market, El Rastro.

Since it was so crowded we all said if we

got separated we'd meet back in Sol Square.

In the first block, we got separated.

The kids found Rob & I in an antique shop

but there was no sign of my brother.

After the market, we popped into a coffee

bar for pastries and cafe con leche and

who should walk in but my brother.

I guess we have the same taste in coffee bars.

We headed back to Sol Square

to check into our apartment rental.

We settled into our funky and

I mean funky with a capital F

apartment.  We took a little siesta

and headed back out to explore.

We spent the afternoon roaming through

the Museo del Prado admiring the works

of Goya and Velazquez.

And one of my favorites, Bosch's triptych,

The Garden of Earthly Delights.

By now we are hungry again so

we went to the wonderful supermercado,

El Corte Ingles.  We wanted to have tapas

and sangria our first night in our apartment

but we had no pitcher for the sangria.

I tried to ask the check out girls but I had

no idea how to say pitcher in Spanish.

I even did a quick sketch on the

back of the receipt and tried "vaso grande".

They sent me to another section of the store

where they sell paper goods and plastic ware.

Still nothing.  The cashier there was trying to

explain where I had to go to get this but even

though 4 of us had studied Spanish we had no

idea what she was saying.  Finally, she called out

to the other shoppers for an English speaker.

And here comes a gorgeous Spanish guy to

my rescue.    I showed him my sketch and told

 him I wanted to buy a pitcher.  He asked, "picture?" 

No, I explained, "I want to make Sangria." 

Now he understood.

He explained that I had to go to

another Corte de Ingles that is up the street

and they would have a kitchenware department.

But it closed in 10 minutes.

After I thanked him, en espanol, I ended the

conversation as I often do with "cool."

And then I heard "Coooooooollllll", we looked

in each others eyes and smiled.  And we both

realized, yes, he can speak English but he

just spoke like an American, and he liked it!

All this time a tiny Spanish Grandma

was standing behind us at the checkout.

Though she didn't speak English she

knew exactly what was going on.  We sent

Rob and the kids home with the groceries

 and my brother and I were off on the quest

for the pitcher and the little Grandma was in

on the caper.  She showed us the proper

door to exit from and took us to the correct

street and as we were thanking her, she

barked, "rapido, rapido!"  or we would never

make it before closing.  We got in and ran

up 6 flights of escalators and split up to search

and in the end... success.

And that night, over tapas & sangria,

we toasted all our Spanish helpers.

Salud!



Parque del Buen Retiro ~ Madrid

Park of the Pleasant Retreat

Every great city has a premier park and

in Madrid it is El Retiro.

It is located in the heart of the city,

not far from the Prado Museum.

The history of the park goes back to 1505

when it was used as a royal retreat.

You can row a boat on the lake.

Visit the Crystal Palace.

Or just take a stroll to

see and be seen.



Outside My Window: Madrid, Spain

Puerta del Sol, Madrid

The first night I ever spent in Madrid was at the Hotel Europa

located in the center of Madrid in the Puerta del Sol

or the Gateway to the Sun.

Since it was just before Easter and the processions for

Semana Santa were about to begin our apartment rental was

not available until the day after we arrived.

We had taken the kids out of school early and drove to

Detroit to catch our flight to Frankfurt, Germany.

After a short layover we then flew to Madrid.

My brother had arrived the day before and as we

came out of customs he was there with our Metro passes

and could lead this exhausted group to the hotel.

As we exited out of the Metro, there was the wonder

of the Puerta del Sol.  A large square that is the center

of not only Madrid but the center of Spain.

We were filled with that thrill that is Spain!

We checked into our hotel and the kids went off with my

brother to his room and the bellman took Rob and I to our room.

When we walked in the shutters and drapes were closed

and I told the bellman I wanted a view and a bathtub.

With that, he flung open the drapes and shutters and there

were our 2 balconies overlooking Sol Square.

We went to my brother's room located on the other side of the

hotel and sprawled across the beds, snacking on olives and sipping

Tio Pepe while looking out the window at the Tio Pepe sign
and enjoying a warm Spring breeze coming from across
the Spanish plain.

Just below our balcony is the Hotel Europa Cafe.

Everyday that I am in Madrid you will find me there

as the afternoon turns to evening.  I'm the girl in a

scarf reading the International Herald Tribune.

I knew I was finally a regular when the hardened

Europa waiters would bow and say Buenos Noches Senora

as I left and other regulars would look over and nod to me.

I have wanted to be part of cafe society ever since reading

Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises.
This is my Lady Brett moment.

As I sit in the cafe, I listen to the dueling marimbas,

or a gypsy orchestra or the beautiful Spanish guitar.

And I watch the world go by and get into the

Spanish rythym of slow down and enjoy.

That first night, after a very late Spanish style

dinner we were headed back across Sol Square

and my brother said, " Isn't it great to be back in Europe?"

Yes, it always is...