Palm Sunday in Madrid

Today the streets were full of sellers of all sorts of palm fronds, crosses made from palm leaves and goodness alone knows what else.  Clearly Spain is still a very Catholic country.

Palm Sellers on side of road

First thing this morning, after a hearty breakfast we headed to El Rastro, one of Europe's largest street markets.  Located in one of the working class neighbourhoods of Madrid, it has been a weekly feature for more than 100 years.  It is on the site of what was once Madrid's main abattoir.

Views from El Rastro

Tonight we are going to the first bull fight of the season.  The best way to get to the bull ring is by Metro so, being obsessive compulsives, we had to check out the transport system.  The Metro is very impressive.  Spotlessly clean and modern stations and very easy ticketing.  Best of all, if you are staying for any length of time and are a senior citizen you can travel on all of the public transport system for a mere twelve euros per week. The website is clear and easy to follow (and with an English link) unlike that of the Paris Metro which has been known to reduce even hardy veterans of the Foreign Legion to tears.  To see the Madrid Metro website, click here.

So, as a major producer of wine, what would you imagine Spain's primary export would be?  If you thought wine, you would be wrong.  It is ham and we can say after some personal experience that the variety and quality of the Spanish hams is quite astounding. At breakfast in the hotel there are usually three or four different types of ham available, not to mention bacon and sausage. If you have followed our earlier blogs you may recall our commenting on how good pork was in France.  Well, it is at least as good if not better in Spain which makes one wonder if the pork we have eaten in Paris has actually come from Spain.

Spanish Hams

To say that the Spanish are football mad is an understatement.  They are fanatics and none more so than those who support Real Madrid.  Can you imagine a football club anywhere else in the world that has 75,000 season's ticket holders for a stadium which holds 90,000.  Even the hop-on, hop-off tour bus makes a very long stop at the stadium and sells tickets to the museum associated with the club. If you want a postcard view of Madrid you will have to push the hundreds of postcards of players for Real Madrid out of the way.  It is more than cult status it is a national mania. To see some of the souvenirs available click here.

More to follow on the bull fight.