Hen Weekend in Madrid

The constant servings of tapas, tasty, light bites, with every drink ordered

Reina Sofia gallery - amazing modern Spanish art and proof of the genius of Picasso

Quick Tips:

Give the Prado a miss unless you really love religious art.

Madrid is a 24-hour party city - take earplugs if you are a light sleeper.

Cocktails can be very strong, and they don't seem to have standard measures for spirits - they just pour until you tell them to stop in many bars.

Be very careful with your belongings - thieves and pickpockets pray on tourists. Two of our group had bags stolen when they dropped their guard when they sat outside a bar having a drink.

Best Way To Get Around:

The open-top bus operates three routes and is a good way to cover a lot of ground, but beware of being exposed to the sun during the summer.

We choose this hotel because we wanted somewhere that was fairly inexpensive but in a central location, and it turned out to be a good choice. It was located just off the Pueta de la Sol, one of the main squares in the city, which was signposted from most of parts of the city, making it very easy for us to find our way back to base, even after a few drinks.

The reception staff all spoke English, but having recently started learning Spanish, I wanted to practice, and kindly none of them corrected my pronunciation. The housekeeping staff only spoke Spanish, and one of our group members had some difficulty explaining to them that she had lost the key to the safe, but it was resolved in the end.

We had twin rooms, and there being an odd number in our group, I quickly volunteered to be on my own. The rooms were large but basically furnished and contained two single beds, a bedside table, a wardrobe, and a dressing table with a chair. All of the rooms were en-suite, but no toiletries were provided. It would have been nice to have had a fridge in the room, as due to the heat we needed to drink a lot of water. And it quickly became warm in the room.

The best feature of the rooms was the small balcony, which was just about big enough to fit one chair on. The view wasn't scenic, as the hotel was effectively on a roundabout, but it was good to do some people-watching from or to sit and read for a while.

The location on the junction of two busy roads also meant that it was pretty noisy outside of the hotel all of the time. People go out to eat late in Madrid and stay out until the early hours of the morning. Then delivery vans started arriving for the nearby shops at around 5 or 6, so not great for light sleepers. Fortunately, I was so exhausted each night that I did manage to get a few hours of sleep before the morning noise started.

Breakfast was included in the price of our room. Again, it was very basic, with some sort of pastry or cake that was very dry, a couple of slices of toast, and a very small choice of cereal. We didn't eat in the restaurant besides for breakfast, and with so many good cheaper places around the city, it seemed unadventurous. We did have a drink in the bar, which was pretty much just two tables by the reception, but even here they gave us tapas with our drink.

This was a huge disappointment.

It has floors and floors of paintings nearly all depicting something about the Catholic religion. There are lots of portraits of cardinals and men with pointy beards. There are some works by some of the greats here, Goya and his mates, but they aren't really my thing, so I found it rather tedious, and so did the rest of my group, except one. It was a case of us wandering round, all wondering how soon we could leave without looking uncultured. It was a relief when someone piped up and said that they weren't enjoying it, so we left.

We went to sit on the grassy banks opposite and ate ice cream while waiting for our one friend who loves religious paintings, which was much more enjoyable.

After the disappointment of the Prado, some of our group was reluctant to go to another art gallery during our short trip, but five of us spent a Sunday morning at this amazing gallery and were very glad that we didn't miss it.

The main attraction here is “Guernica,” Picasso's famous mural depicting the horrors of the Spanish Civil War. This painting is huge and one of the most moving things I have ever seen, inspiring anger and terror at the brutal regime that blighted Spain's fairly recent history. Anyone who doubts the talent of Picasso and his Cubist style needs to see this to understand his genius.

There are some other gems here too by Picasso and Dali, including early work, proving that they can paint “properly” for anyone who doesn't like Cubism or Surrealism. Bunuel's “Un Chien Andalou” was also showing here when we visited, and the scene with eye and the razor is still one of the most powerful images ever put on screen.

It being a Sunday morning of a hen weekend, it is worth pointing out that we were feeling tired from the night before and the bride-to-be in particular was feeling a bit hungover, but the white walls and the cool air in the gallery proved to be soothing and modern art an unexpected hangover cure!

A huge green space near the centre of the city, a visit to Retiro Park is a great way to relax, enjoy the sunshine, and take a break from the crowded streets and sights.

Given its size, it is too big see it all, and for a park there really is quite a lot to see and do here, as, like the rest of Madrid, there are lots of interesting sculptures, usually with fascinating stories behind them - in particular, we sought out the statue of Satan, which was an interesting representation of some the country's past religious preoccupations. There are also a couple of small art galleries within the gardens and a boating lake. After all the walking, we were too tired to row, so we just watched as others did. There were also lots of people walking their dogs, but by law they are all muzzled and their owners rigorously clean up after them.

We went in the morning and it was already very hot, but there are plenty of trees, so when the heat became too much, we sat in the shade for a bit, enjoying an opportunity to read our guidebooks and find out more about Madrid's history.

This relaxing morning left us with plenty of energy to face the evening of food and drink.