Some quirky things in Madrid

Once again, we waited out the rain before heading out to do more exploring here in Madrid. So it was almost 1:30pm before we set out on the subway towards the center of the city.

We often use the Atlas Obscura website to find interesting things to see that aren't necessarily on the tourist radar, and Ruth had mapped out a short list of them.

The first is an abandoned subway station. It's now set up like a museum, the way it might have looked when it was in use around the 1920's. But we got there right at 2:00pm... when it closed for siesta! It doesn't open again until 4:00pm, and by that time we didn't manage to go back. Many shops and businesses are closed for siesta, usually between 2pm to 5pm. Then they open again for the evening.

The next stop was a small church. You wouldn't know it from looking at the plain exterior, in fact it doesn't even really look like a church from the outside... but the inside is covered in paintings, including the ceiling which was painted in the late 1600's. 

The interior of the San Antonio de los Alemanes church.

We almost didn't go in because we thought there was a entrance fee of €5 which included an audio guide. And the people in front of us turned around because of that. But it turns out there is no entrance fee... it's only €5 if you want to pay extra for the audio guide. We asked the lady if we could go ahead in without the audio guide (or the fee), and she waved us through. 

Looking up!

The walls are covered in frescos.

Flowers made out of plastic bags.

Unfortunately, there are a lot of graffiti criminals in Madrid.

I think Madrid is one of the worst cities we have seen for graffiti. It almost ranks up there with Bogota, Colombia, and Morelia, Mexico... the other two cities that we have seen with the worst graffiti problems. 

This is the fanciest metro station entrance in Madrid.

The appropriately named Garden Suites Hotel.

The Goodnight Kiss.

The statues at the Albeniz Theater.

This wasn't on our list, but we walked by a short lineup of people looking inside a little box in the wall. It turns out this is the Mouse House. We got in line to have a look. 

The four Asian tourists in front of us took forever! They photographed and videoed the interior of the little house as if there was nobody waiting in line behind them.

Finally it was our turn.

I opened the door...

And had a peek inside.

I mean, it's kinda cute, but I didn't feel the need to spend five minutes staring in there!

Next stop was the Posada del Piene Hotel.

The exterior is interesting.

But it turns out there is really nothing special inside.

But the attraction is this plaque on the ground outside.

The Posada del Pienen is the oldest continuously operating hotel in the world... since 1610!

Scenery along the way.

Coincidentally, Madrid also hosts the oldest continuously operating restaurant in the world. We walked over there, and had a quick look inside, but it was really quite busy, and fairly expensive so we didn't stay.

The Restaurant Botin.

Operating continuously since 1725.

They had their Guinness World Record certificate on display.

Scenery along the way.

Lots of people out and about.

This restaurant also looked very old.

More scenery along the way.

A Roman Temple.

View looking over towards the Royal Palace and Cathedral.

It was a fun afternoon exploring!

This morning, it is only a five minute walk to the 9:15am meeting point for the volunteer language program where we meet the program coordinator, other volunteers, and some of the participants who we will be spending the week with at the resort. There will be a bus that takes us about two hours west of Madrid to the resort near the town of El Barco de Avila.

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