Looking for a European Adventure? Consider
spain by train
By Jan Butsch Schroder
“... there isn’t a train I wouldn’t take, no matter where it’s going.” Edna St. Vincent Millay
I don’t know that I’d go quite that far — I want my destination to include fabulous food, a soft bed, and be relatively free of plagues and locusts. That said, I do love train travel. And what better way to see a country for the first time?
Last fall I visited three of Spain’s great cities via rail: two-thousand-year-old Seville, seaside Cadiz and the capital city of Madrid. Our Spanish rail adventure began when we arrived at barely dawn in Madrid’s gorgeous Atocha Station. Dating back to 1851, and rebuilt after a fire in 1892, the station is a huge concourse, accented by a large covered tropical garden. From there, we jumped on the country’s first high-speed train, called AVE, which took us 340 miles south to Seville. First-class service included free lunch. This popular route has been in place since 1994. A new line from Madrid to Barcelona began in February, cutting the time between the two cities to just barely more than two-and-a-half hours. No worries about being late — if your train does not arrive within five minutes of its scheduled time, your money is refunded.
Before we knew it, we were entering the theatrical city of Seville, inspiration for many operas including Carmen, Don Giovanni and of course, the famous comic love story, The Barber of Seville.
Sunny Seville
As we headed to the NH Plaza de Armas Hotel the sun was shining brightly, as it does 3,000 hours a year, as the Sevillians like to point out. And true to its reputation, the sun was ever-present during our trip.
At the top of the must-see list in Seville stands the Catedral de Sevilla. The largest Gothic cathedral in the world, it is the third largest in Europe, behind St. Peter’s in Rome and St. Paul’s in London, and contains the largest altar in the world. One of my favorite parts was the 7,000-pipe organ, intricately carved from Cuban mahogany. Upon beginning construction in 1402, the church members reportedly said they wanted to build a cathedral so large that when it was complete, “those who saw it would think we were mad.”
Fun fact on Christopher Columbus: We should all be so popular after we’re dead. His remains have been claimed by several cities, most notably Santa Domingo and Seville. In 2006, DNA samples confirmed that at least part of him is buried in Seville.
Fun fact on a saint: Saint Isidore of Seville is the patron saint of the internet, named by Pope John Paul II to watch over people online. Now you know where to direct your prayers when your computer acts wonky.
Dominating the Seville skyline and serving as its symbol, La Giralda is a bell tower that was erected as a minaret in the 12th century and contains a series of ramps that lead to the top, where it is believed that Arabs once rode their horses. It’s worth the winding journey up for the view of the city from the top. King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia still stay in the Alcazar Palace, making it the oldest royal residence still in use. The architecture and the art are impressive and the gardens are stunning, maintained in a natural style, made even more charming by a soundtrack of doves cooing.
A private passage links the palace to Santa Cruz, formerly the Jewish section of the city, which is often considered the most romantic part of Seville. Rebuilt in the 1950s to attract tourists, the area boasts winding narrow streets lined with geranium-filled window boxes and leading to small plant-filled patios. Coffee shops and boutiques abound; it was in this area that I found the one souvenir I couldn’t resist: a gorgeous pearl choker.
Many consider Seville the best place in the country to experience the nationally prized art form that is flamenco, beloved for its colorful costumes, energetic music and gypsy spirit. Prior to seeing my first flamenco show, we visited the Museo del Baile Flamenco, the first flamenco museum in the world. We got an excellent multimedia tribute to this native form of dance and to the museum’s founder, legendary flamenco dancer Cristina Hoyos.
Immediately after the visit we were ushered into a small area for the real thing. Seated on the front row — about two feet away from the swirling and elegant yet often explosive movements of the flamenco dancers — we were close enough to feel the sweat of the primary male dancer as he flung himself around. The fascinating dance ranges from slow and graceful to speed-of-light with pounding feet.
The next day we were in for a look at another Spanish tradition: bullfighting. The bullfighting season lasts from Easter Sunday to mid-October and while there wasn’t a match the day we were there, we toured Plaza de Toros de la Maestranza, one of the oldest bullfighting rings in Spain, built in the oval baroque style and able to hold 13,800 people. The tour was rather sobering and after a question about objections from animal rights activists, our guide said she believed the tradition may soon be banned in parts of Spain and that in Seville, a match may eventually involve just the simulated death of a bull. It was of some small consolation to learn that the meat of the fallen bull is sold at the market.
With the midday sun gaining strength I wrestled with what to do next. A Spanish siesta was calling, but there was one more site I’d really wanted to see and I couldn’t call myself a true travelgirl if I didn’t go. So after my speedy version of freshening up, which generally involves rinsing my feet in warm water, I headed back out.
My goal? The Parque Maria Luisa, a huge lovely park built on land donated by Princess Maria Luisa in 1893, and a cross between a formal garden and parts that are left to grow wild. There are several villas dating from the 1929 Ibero-American Exposition, but the highlight for me was the Plaza de España, a huge semicircular building, decorated with colorful ceramic tiles representing Spain’s 50 provinces.
The next day we were back on the high-speed train — destined for a few days in the capital city.
We were lucky enough to stay on the geranium-and-tree-lined boulevard Paseo de la Castellana, the Champs d’Elysees of Madrid. Our hotel was a former palace that opened as the Intercontinental Madrid in 2002. Celebs frequent the luxe lodging, and at one point we were refused entry into an elevator because the King of Romania was about to arrive. Ah, the perks of royalty!
Spending time in my beautiful room was a treat in itself, but I was drawn to the lobby for a sport much dearer to my heart than bullfighting — people watching. Groups of elegantly dressed Spaniards gathered for special events and upscale tourists barreled in loaded down with Prada and Gucci bags. After all, the hotel is located around the corner from Spanish-born Manolo Blahnik, Chanel and Hermes — you get the idea.
We had lunch at the elegant AC Palacio del Retiro, a home-turned-hotel built in 1908, located directly across from Parque del Retiro, Madrid’s version of Central Park.
A bus tour of the city is a convenient way to learn a lot in a short time. We started at the very oldest part of Madrid. Built on three hills, almost two-thirds of the city is covered by parks and gardens. We saw a most unusual one at CaixaForum, the new cultural center, where French botanist Patrick Blanc created a vertical garden in front with plants from 250 species — a clever way to cram a lot of garden into a tiny space.
Next, it was off to Spain’s most famous museum, the Prado. I was concerned that it was already mid-afternoon, but our wonderful guide told us that a wise college art teacher once told her that museums should only be absorbed for an hour and a half at each visit. Your mind can’t take in much more after that. This might be the most comforting thing I’ve ever heard from a tour guide. Poof, just like that, my guilt over not spending days in the Louvre disappeared!
She deftly took us on a highlight tour of this magnificent museum, which houses 1,300 paintings, with the world’s finest collection of Spanish paintings. She also paused to point out two small figures on a large tapestry — a sailor saying “good-bye” to his wife before heading out to sea. Apparently this scene has given generations of small Spanish children quite a giggle.
The next day we visited the Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, a magnificent jewel of a museum started from works acquired by a baron and baroness. It was considered the most important private art collection in the world, until it was acquired by the Spanish state in 1993, for $350 million. In addition to European collections, it also has a rare-for-Europe collection of 19th-century American art.
Another Madrid must-see, the Almudena Cathedral is unique in its newness and modernity — although originally started in the 19th century, it was not completed until 1993 and was consecrated in person by Pope John Paul II. The stained-glass windows inside are done in a much more modern style than you see in other European cathedrals.
The morning I was set to leave sunny Spain, I enjoyed one last meal in the hotel, overlooking the wide boulevard below where a bicycle race was in progress.
While I was reviewing all the brochures I picked up during the trip, I came upon this line from a book on Seville, describing Feria de Abril, a 150-year-old fair that happens each April. It read: “A funny party time is lived.” I love that line, and it’s a fitting description for my first time in Spain. A funny party time indeed was lived.