River from train
I saw the Valley of the Fallen and El Escorial from the train. A nice Spanish man was kind enough to alert me each time.
El Escorial
Friday, July 17, 1964- Arrived in Madrid - Safely at Hotel
Postcard of our hotel with the room circled
My first and last hotels had been booked for me by my mother's travel agent. I was at the hotel (NH Nacional Hotel Madrid) which was a very convenient location - within sight of the Atocha railroad. This hotel has changed quite a bit from when we stayed there. On this - my first trip to Madrid in 1964, I spend some time looking out from my hotel room at the traffic going around the fountains and the people crossing in the zebras (crosswalks). In those days most of the motor vehicles were taxi cabs with some regular cars and scooters in the mix. Plus of course buses.
Carlos V fountain - station on right
Madrid’s two main railway stations are Camartin in northern Madrid and Atocha in the south of the city. So if you are going to transfer trains in Madrid check and see what station they arrive and leave from and if it isn't the same station, allow time for transfer.
In 1964, my hotel room looked out on the Carlos V fountain and the train station was right next to it. The original facade faces the Plaza del Emperador Carlos V, a site at which a variety of streets converge, including the Calle de Atocha, Paseo del Prado, Paseo de la Infanta Isabel, Avenida de la Ciudad de Barcelona, Calle de Méndez Álvaro, Paseo de las Delicias, Paseo de Santa María de la Cabeza, and Ronda de Atocha. I took a lot of pictures of the fountain, and the train station is on at least this one of them. This was also the site of Madrid's first railway station dating from February 1851. That building was destroyed by fire, so it was rebuilt and reopened in 1892.
Railway Station
According to Wikipedia
The architect for the replacement, in a wrought iron renewal style was Alberto de Palacio Elissagne, who collaborated with Gustave Eiffel. Engineer Henry Saint James also took part in the project. The name Atocha has become attached to the station because of the nearby basilica dedicated to Our Lady of Atocha. The train platforms were partly covered by a roof in the form of inverted hull with a height of approximately 27 meters and length of 157 meters. The steel and glass roof spreads between two brick flanking buildings.
After our 1964 visit, the station was completely remodeled in 1985.
Back in 1964, taxis were black with a horizontal red stripe and a little emblem on the back fender. They were often Seats (the Spanish FIat).
Taxi speeding around a fountain
Taxi cabs from above
Looking down from the hotel room at the zebra
I shopped a little, but didn't have time to buy much. I was in a department store and a man came up and asked me a question (in broken English) and after I said that I didn't know, he asked if my Naval Academy miniature on my right hand was a college ring. (The women here wear their wedding rings on the right hand.) How to explain a miniature? I finally said that it was my husband's college ring, and he backed away fairly smartly. So I conclude he was perhaps trying to pick me up.
Front of the Prado in 1964
I spent some time in the Prado (and I bought several postcards to send - I had address labels printed out for the ones I needed to send)
It was 8:45 before my sister and I reunited in the lobby. I had given up on her and was coming down to inquire. Her baby (my niece) is a year old. (She was born on July 4th and my baby was born on September 21st so they are only 2.5 months apart) As you may have guessed that we have been too busy talking to write. For awhile I was afraid I was turning into a deaf mute [i.e. that I wasn't able to speak anymore - just gesture and mime], but no fear of that now. No one speaks anything much but Spanish.
View of Carlos V fountain at night
Saturday, July 18, 1964 - another letter to my mom
Street in early morning
Taxis around Carlos V fountain at 6 am
My sister and my niece
Crib without niece
Traumatic discovery. Today was a National Holiday -- of Spain's independence and nothing "marches". So. We took a city tour this morning. We met an English girl who has a puppy while waiting for the tour in the morning and she said baby food is sold at the chemists. They have "Lecheria" for milk, stores for canned goods, stores for meat, stores for candy and cheese and stores for fresh veg., and stores for bottled beverages, but since it is a holiday, and then Sunday, only certain chemists are open, and it is too difficult to figure out where those are and to get there.
English girl and puppy with my sister and niece
Photo past the bus driver of Plaza Mayor
Plaza Mayor from a tour bus in 1964
Plaza Mayor in 1964
Banners on the balcony for the king
Taxi speeding along the street
- Next entry in the series 'Visiting Europe - 1950, 1964, 1992, 2002, 2015': A Bullfight in Madrid in 1964 - post 4
- Previous entry in the series 'Visiting Europe - 1950, 1964, 1992, 2002, 2015': Climbing to the Top of Paris in 1964 and the Train to Spain - post 2
