On to Madrid – Parque del Retiro and the Casino de Madrid

The next day, I got up early to have one last look at the spectacular view from Cuenca’s bridge, in the morning light this time.

Cuenca’s famous view – in morning light this time

Then I set off to the station to continue my route to Madrid. My second Spanish train trip was not as smooth as the first. The modern-looking but empty station of Cuenca had a security check for baggage and the bored and zealous staff there detected my Swiss army knife in my bag. I had no idea this was not allowed on the train. They got very excited (this must have been the highlight of their day) and told me I had to leave it somewhere inside the station. I took this as a hint that if I concealed it discretely somewhere (just not in the bag which went through the scanner) they would turn a blind eye, so I ducked out of sight, hid the knife in my pocket and returned to the platform….to see one of the guards waiting for me, armed with a hand-held metal detector. I didn’t want the indignity of having my fur checked so took out my knife and left it on a table where he could see it, but the guard still checked me anyway, even making me take my hat off. He then recorded my ticket number – maybe as proof that they had been working, maybe to report me. It was the third Swiss army knife I had lost on my travels. At the ticket check, I had another surprise. The man there said that the free baggage allowance was only for a small bag (the size of carry-on luggage in a plane), and I would have to pay 30 euros to the staff on the train to transport my suitcase. My favourable impression of Spanish trains was beginning to wane, but once onboard, I stowed my case quickly in the luggage wrack and nobody asked me to pay extra for it. The train sped through the flat Spanish countryside, reaching Madrid in an hour.

I already knew the city from previous visits, so decided to spend a relaxed afternoon visiting some familiar places, and a few new ones. My flat was right in the centre, and I walked down the wide avenues to the Royal Palace….

….and then back across town to the Parque del Retiro, where Madrilenos go to cool off in hot weather (although it was only May, it was already quite hot). I spent a happy couple of hours there, enjoying a drink in the shade, visiting the crystal palace and the rose garden.

From the park I headed to the Reina Sofia Art Institute, which houses work by famous 20^th century Spanish artists like Picasso, Miro and Dali. It was a very large building and I found the layout confusing – the works by the best-known artists were spread out amongst dozens of different rooms, forcing you to visit the whole museum if you wanted to sure not to miss the more famous paintings. Maybe this was intentional, but I had already spent the whole afternoon walking and soon my little legs were tired. Still, it is hard to not like a museum that is the home for Picasso’s magnificent Guernica painting, which I saved to last to enjoy (smaller crowds near the museum’s closing time!). Sadly, no pictures allowed so here is a link to the famous picture…..

After the museum I just about had the energy to walk home, popping in to the Casino de Madrid for a well-earned aperitif. The casino is now a private members’ club, and my membership of my London club gave me access. It was a beautiful building, with many impressive rooms and a stunning staircase.

The Magnificent Staircase, Casino de Madrid

A well-earned aperitif in the Casino de Madrid

After my aperitif, I had dinner back in my flat, accompanied by a bottle of red wine given to me by the exceptionally friendly owner. It came from his own vineyard near Cuenca, and I had great pleasure in telling him how much I had liked the place.

Next Post: Toledo

Previous Post: Cuenca

16th May 2023 2

Cuenca, an unexpected highlight

The next stop of my short Spanish trip was Cuenca, a small town located halfway between Valencia and Madrid. I went by train, which covered the 200km distance in an hour, reaching speeds of nearly 300km/h in places.

I arrived at a very smart, new train station which bore a strong resemblance to an airline terminal – except that there were almost no people. Cuenca did not seem to be a very popular destination.

The station was a long way out of town, so I took a taxi which first went through an unremarkable modern part of the city, before climbing a steep hill to the old town, where my flat was. I settled in and then set off to explore. At first site, the old town was small, with the typical winding streets and old buildings you can find in many places in Spain.

I soon found the main square, where the cathedral was located. This huge building was originally constructed in the 12^th century but underwent many modifications and additions since that time. It was a big surprise, rivalling many of the more famous churches I have seen around Europe. The interior was pleasant and light, with many small chapels leading away from the central aisle.

The ceiling of one of the many chapels of Cuenca’s cathedral

A view from the triforium, Cuenca Cathedral

After the cathedral I headed down a steep slope for a view of Cuenca’s best-known attraction – its “hanging houses”, perched precariously on the edge of a sheer cliff. One of these houses is home to a museum of abstract art.

The Museum of Abstract Art lives up to its name

Further down the slope, a long wooden bridge ran across the deep ravine at the city’s edge, connecting it to another hill and the city’s “parador” hotel. The bridge and the hotel offered spectacular views back to Cuenca.

The amazing view from the bridge over the ravine

I returned to the old town, and this time headed up a steep hill, past a convent to the ruins of a castle. This was first built by the moors, who recognised Cuenca’s strategic location and founded the city in the 8^th century. The town changed hands regularly between moors and Christians in the centuries that followed. The area gave yet more amazing views back to the city.

I walked back down the hill, intending to go sit at a café for the rest of the afternoon, but instead I met a group of Spanish walkers who recommended a walking route that led away from the city through some interesting rock formations. I took their advice and was rewarded with more beautiful views. The path ran below a mountain ridge for a few kilometres, before descending to a river, which I followed to get back to Cuenca.

On arriving, I made the steep climb back to the main square and finally sat down for a well-earned and much needed drink, enjoying the views of the main square and cathedral – this time, empty of people. Cuenca seems to be visited mostly by day-trippers from Madrid (and not many of them), and is very quiet at night when they have gone.

Cuenca Cathedral in the evening sun, and an empty Plaza Mayor

I enjoyed a dinner of yet more ham and cheese in my flat, sitting on a sofa with a great view of Cuenca’s steep valley. The little-known city had greatly exceeded my expectations – with its beautiful views, magnificent cathedral and many walking routes.

Next Post: Madrid and the Parque del Retiro

Previous Post: Valencia

15th May 2023 2

The Tea Train and the Well-Travelled Trousers

Today, I took the train from Ella back to Nuwara Eliya – a route renowned as one of the most scenic in the world. The train arrived on time – something not guaranteed in Sri Lanka – and I got on to find my reserved seat in second class (someone had told me that second class was better than the air conditioned first class, since you could open the windows). Usually, the reserved seats sell out long in advance to tourists, but with Sri Lanka’s current problems my compartment wasn’t even full.

My guide also got on, but his ticket was for unreserved second class, meaning that he had no guarantee of a seat. I could see through the rear door of my compartment that this was a completely different travel experience. I hoped he had got a place in the melee of people boarding at Ella. Our driver headed off in the van to be able to meet us at the other end of our trip.

We set off in bright sunshine, and the views lived up to my expectations. In the area around Ella, the scenery was wild and mountainous.

It was very pleasant leaning out of my window and either watching the scenery go by or observing the frenetic activity at each station as passengers with unreserved tickets fought to get on the train first in the rush for a possible free seat. The train doors are left open for the whole trip, and more adventurous passengers held on to the hand rails and leaned out of the open door for an even better view.

As the train progressed, the mountains and forest gave way to nice orderly rows of tea plants and rolling, green hills. It also started to get cloudy – it seems that we had already received our ration of precious blue sky for the day.

Rolling hills covered with tea plantations

The train arrived at Nanu Oya, a small town close to the popular tourist destination of Nuwara Eliya. On arrival, I got a big surprise when my guide informed me that my parcel had arrived. Initially I was puzzled, but then I remembered that I had left some trousers in the hotel at Polonnaruwa. I’d asked the hotel to send them to Kandy, but they had arrived after we had left and I assumed I would never see them again. It turned out that my guide had been in touch with the Kandy hotel to get them redirected here and that they had arrived in the morning. My guide took me to the station master’s office – a wonderful old-fashioned office room – to meet the station manager and collect my well-travelled trousers.

The station master….and my vagabond trousers!

Sure enough, our driver was also there to meet us at the station, and we drove to my lodgings for the night – the Hill Club.

This wonderful institution is a relic of British Colonial rule, when British men (not women) could join a private club in the hills to get away from the heat of the coast. The club has now been enthusiastically embraced by a new generation of Sri Lankan club members, who have kept most of the old traditions, which include a jacket and tie dress code after 6pm, providing hotel water bottles for the beds, and a daily ceremony raising and saluting the Sri Lankan flag whilst listening to the national anthem. One less good tradition – a side door for lady guests, who were not allowed to use the main door – had thankfully been scrapped.

The club is popular with its members at weekends but rents out spare rooms to travellers when it is less busy. I arrived on a Sunday and it turned out that I was the only guest. I had the whole of the huge building to myself, including the comfortable reading room……..

……bar, two snooker rooms and dining room……..

There was even a gym. The manager looked surprised when I said that I wanted to use it and I soon found out why. It had a musty smell, like it had not been used in a long time, and after a few km on the treadmill I was soaking in sweat from the near 100% humidity. I decided that visiting the bar and ordering a cocktail was a much better idea, and I enjoyed drinking it siting by an open fire in the club’s dining room.

I then had a hearty western-style dinner of fish and chips (the menu had many traditional British offerings as well as Sri Lankan food) before retiring for the night and the company of my hot water bottle in my bed.

4th August 2022 3