Madrid was a welcome relief after a long, restless flight. It was straight to our hotel from the airport. The soft bed on our backs, the refreshing shower, and the cold drink was feeling really good. Madrid was already beckoning for us to explore! There was no time to rest.

Hotel Riu

Hotel Riu was a good starting point. Its location was near one end of Calle Gran Via. Our first stop was at the twenty seventh floor to catch a view of Madrid’s skyline. Plaza de España and the Royal Palace of Madrid was in full view from our vantage point.

Calle Gran Via

Calle Gran Via (Great Way Road) was 0.8 mile long. Shops, hotels, and movie theaters were occupying both sided of Calle Gran Via. It was the “Spanish Broadway”. We were at one end of the Gran Via. Our exploration gradually took us to the other end.

St. Mark Church

The Church of St. Mark was almost right behind Hotel Riu. We can’t miss visiting this Catholic Church and pay homage for the safe flight into the city. The church remains one of the old churches in Madrid.

Plaza de España

The Plaza was right across Hotel Riu . A very short walk from St. Mark’s Church. It was a wide plaza with a monument of Miguel de Cervantes facing the wide space. Landscaping was surrounding the monument and was making it stand out. The novel, Don Quixote de La Mancha, considered as the first modern novel, was authored by Miguel de Cervantes

Walking along Gran Via

It took a lot of convincing to start walking down Gran Via. We were tired and sore after the long flight. The via was wide and busy. Motor vehicles were almost bumper to bumper on both directions. The pedestrian lanes were also busy with people walking on both sides. It was our curiosity to explore that was egging us on. It also looked like there was a slight uphill incline towards the other end of the via.

Mercado de Los Mostenses

This was our first detour along Gran Via. We were curious how Mercado de Los Mostenses looked like. What we found was a hodge-podge of shops. Our expectation was a big store with a big entrance that led to a multitude of shops. We found the area too chaotic and we aborted our exploration.

Plaza del Callao

We continued walking down Gran Via. Plaza del Callao was halfway along Gran Via. it was not so big and it was diverting pedestrian traffic through two alleyways – Calle de Preciados and Calle del Carmen. Small shops were lining both sides of the alleyways. Something like an open mall along a pedestrian-only alleyway. Both alleyways ended at a bigger plaza – Puerta del Sol. We spent a little bit more time at Calle de Preciados

Puerta del Sol

A plaza along Calle Mayor that was much bigger than Plaza del Callao. Several street were feeding pedestrian traffic towards this plaza. One of the prominent building in this plaza was Real Casa de Correos – a former post office that now houses government offices. The statue of El Oso y el Madroño and the Equestrian Statue of Carlos III are also in this plaza. It was easy overlooking one landmark in the plaza – the kilometer 0 marker in front of Real Casa de Correos.

Plaza Mayor

We found the frescoed building of Centro de Turismo here. The plaza is the main plaza for Madrid. It was just a walking distance from Puerta del Sol. There is almost no motor vehicle traffic here. Most people walk. The easy access from Puerta del Sol and Plaza means a steady traffic of pedestrians between the two places.

It was halfway our planned exploration of Gran Via. There was so much more to explore and see but it was time to head back to the hotel. It was almost time for our scheduled orientation with our tour manager for our guided tour across Spain.

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