Madrid & Gibraltar

Our next stop was El Escorial some 80 Kms to the NW of Madrid and we promptly set off to explore this outstanding city. Many of the buildings have recently undergone major cleaning. The City Hall in the Plaza de Cibeles was still being cleaned and hence only partly visible but nonetheless imposing.Other buildings had been completed. The Parisian facade of the Edificio Metrópolis built in 1905 was outstanding with its bright gold and black roof and sandstone walls. As can be seen from the background historical buildings are everywhere.

The Plaza Mayor is as large as any we saw with its statue of Felipe III (who ordered construction of the square) offsetting the Allegorical paintings on the Casa de la Panaderia. The Plaza saw bull fights, executions and inquisitions which were started in 1480 to try and create a single Catholic ideology and ran for almost 400 years.

One building that caught our eye was a bank with two chariots on top. These were lit up and formed much of our view during our terrace dinner (see below).

One of the reasons for travelling to Madrid was that Royal Canberra had reciprocal rights with the Casino de Madrid club and golf course. Our first point of call was to the club which was set up on 1836 and is wonderfully “old world”. We met the secretary who gave us temporary membership for the week. The building has some 3 level which are accessed by beautiful timber lined lifts (with the addition of glass doors presumably for safety reasons). These also led to the rooftop or terrace restaurant. This was clearly the place for a memorable dinner so we booked a table for the following night. We had wanted a 7:30 booking but being Spain it opened at 21:00 so we were in for a late night.

When we arrived I had to borrow a jacket (I am on holiday) but Helen had the necessary "appropriate" attire. We were escorted from the lift to our table (there were only 10 or so tables occupied) where we could see the aforementioned rooftop chariots beautifully lit up. The menu was a degustation of 25 dishes starting with a whiskey sour chilled at the table using liquid nitrogen ranging through to lobster, Wagyu and Raspberry spirals. The Sommelier suggested a bottle of a Spanish wine (Fefiňanes III Aňo 2005) which was excellent.

The service was without doubt the best we have experienced (in our short lives). Each course was explained by the waiter after new cutlery had been set (none of this hold onto your knife and fork scene) and the course presented. When Helen had a brief trip to the ladies her napkin was replaced with a new one using a spoon and fork so it was not touched by the waiter. We ended the evening being presented by a copy of the menu as a souvenir and which had been printed off with our specific meal including the wine. A nice touch, reminiscent of what we were told happened when eating on Britannia. We arrived back to the ‘van at 1:30 and with an early start the following morning's golf was not all it might have been. The course is young but after a climb on the 14th hole the view from the 15th tee was panoramic looking over the plain to the distant mountains.
Any RCGC members should go out of their way for both experiences!

The caravan site was one of the largest we have visited and had extensive facilities. The 3 pools were brilliant although surprisingly invigorating (or as Helen would say cold).

We both wanted to see Gibraltar and had hoped to catch a train down. This would have been a slow journey to Algeciras and then taxi into the rock so we opted to leave the ‘van and drive down after the golf. It was some 450 miles and we stopped overnight at Malaga. The hotel was good but the town left a bit to be desired. We arrived in Gibraltar for lunch which we had in the square; now about the coffee…

The rock was fascinating and busy. It is steeped in history and has many cannons and guns on display.

We took a cable car to the top of the rock where the first item to greet us was a small family of Apes which originated from Algeria. These were originally brought to the rock as pets and there are now several large groups of them. Interesting to watch but on no account should you have food with you as they can be vicious in the pursuit of any tidbits.

The views from the top of the rock were sensational. To the South was Tunisia, the North Spain, West the straights of Gibraltar (about 30 kms wide) and east the Mediterranean.

Gibraltar has its own international airport. Fortunately there are only some 6 planes a day as the main entry road crosses the runway and has to be closed for any landings and take offs. This causes quite a back up of traffic.

The rock was subject to a number of sieges over the years and in the second World War various caves and man made caverns were used to house several thousand people to operate radar and a hospital. The latter was in a huge limestone cave system called Saint Michaels. We were allowed in for a brief look just at closing time. It has 3 levels including a lake in the bottom. The top cave is huge and has an auditorium in it where concerts through to Miss Gibraltar are held.

The most interesting aspect for us though was where a huge stalactite had fallen several thousand years ago and cemented itself to the floor. In 1972 the top was cut through to reveal its history. Rather like a tree, wet years give rise to thicker lighter lines. There are also two areas of crumbly white material that are believed to have been formed during glacial periods.

Gibraltar is expanding through land reclamation and the main industries revolve around tourism (particularly cruise ships), the financial sector (only a 10% business tax) and the shipping industry (dry dock repairs and bunkering). We thoroughly enjoyed our visit despite being faced by a return 450 mile drive.

The drive included a spectacular gorge where the dual carriageways take different valleys to traverse the range (tunnels are currently being constructed to straighten the route). The other main point of interest was the extensive plantings of olive trees. There are thousands of square kilometres of them. It must be the world wide capital of olive oil.

After a lazy day in back in camp sharing a bottle of wine with some Brits on the site we reluctantly started our return journey North via Santander and the ferry back to Portsmouth. Spain and Portugal have been wonderful places to visit and we would happily return to Madrid, Porto and Gibraltar, however there are so many other places we haven’t seen yet…..