From Barcelona we headed to Madrid to meet dear friends. We enjoyed playing “tour guide” for David Wise and Judy Krinitz, the rabbi who married us 26 years ago and his wife. They were on their way to Israel and did a stopover in Madrid to meet up. Alas, none of us knew at the time we planned our visit that the NATO summit would be taking place in Madrid at the same time.
We made the most of it by making a few adjustments to the plan. David and Judy didn’t get to visit the Royal Palace because it was being used for “official purposes,” but we did sneak in a visit to the Prado the day they arrived before it was closed for two full days for a NATO event. While they didn’t get the same tour of the Prado as the Biden family did, we did our best to show them the highlights in their jet lagged state.
Madrid turned into a literal police state overnight, with a huge deployment of law enforcement personnel. Locals were encouraged to work from home, stay off the roads, and use public transportation. There must have been staff from an official delegation at David and Judy’s hotel because they set up a metal detector and had armed guards in the lobby. You don’t normally see guns in Spain – many police don’t even carry them – it was a bit of a shock to the system.
Our adventures included Madrid classics, such as Retiro Park, a flamenco show, and the famous bar on Plaza Mayor covered with bullfighting paraphernalia. Of course, we had to get a photo in front of one of Madrid’s Tim Horton’s as David is Canadian. (Yes, there’s more than one!)
We did a day trip to Toledo, which was a lot easier than our trip in 2007 when we didn’t speak much Spanish. The entire city is a UNESCO heritage site and has some of the best-preserved Jewish sites in Spain. Toledo’s streets are super narrow and not built for car traffic, so we had to step into doorways several times as cars passed us, which we found amusing enough for a silly selfie squeezed into the limited space available.
The city gates and train station are terrific examples of how classically beautiful Toledo is:
After David and Judy left, we had one more day, and based on an article in The Guardian we went to see a photography exhibit at the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando featuring photos by two women photographers taken during the Spanish Civil War. The history of how the photos were smuggled out of Spain and found decades later in Amsterdam was more interesting than the photos themselves, but we learned a lot about the anarchist movement in Spain during the mid-1930s. There was also a viola-piano concert that day featuring the debut of new compositions. Most of the composers were there to hear the performance, which was very special.
We had our fill of art, history, and music while in Madrid. We then came home for 18 nights – the longest stint in our place since April – but we’re headed to Amsterdam soon, to meet friends, of course.
Hasta luego,
Shana and Jeff
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