New Year in the Iberian Peninsula

A few years ago, Barbara and Rod decided to enjoy their New Year festivities in some major cities abroad. They have been to:

Berlin - where there was a spectacular display of fireworks near the Reichstag.

Dublin - where they witnessed the year-change with vast crowds, chanting the countdown by the bells of St Patrick’s Cathedral.

Budapest - where they joined in the mayhem in the main square and enjoyed the extensive spa facilities in the Hotel Gellert.

And latterly to Madrid, with wonderful accommodation on the Gran Via and within a few yards of Plaza de España. In this capital of Spain they made the most of all the sights and events:

• Eucharist at the Cathedral Nostra Señora Almudena and again at the Cathedral of St Isidore in the old Moorish Quarter.

• Visit, after an almost 2 hour queue, into the Prado, where they were enchanted by (inter alia) the works of Velasquez, Goya and El Greco.

• A cultural tour of the city by special bus. Five full ones went by as the people in the queue became more and more frustrated, and B and R had to force their way into the sixth for a very worth-while circular journey.

• Rod went ice skating on a rink thoughtfully provided free by the municipal authority.

• Inspection and tour of the Palacio Real (where they saw the Changing of the Guard), and also the museum of La Reina Sofia. In the latter place, devoted mainly to modern art, they were confronted with the deeply moving ‘Guernica’ by Picasso.

• The actual new year was counted in near the famous Plaza del Sol - supposedly the centre of the city, and also reputed to be the centre of the country.

Rod wrote these lines in appreciation of a very lively and culturally uplifting holiday:

A New Year Break

We flew Jet Ease into Madrid’s Hispanic air,
And feria Tryp’d to Plaza de España’s Mercado there.
In Gran Via, for Nuevo Año to stroll along its strand
Towards Plazas Mayor and Sol, the centres of this Castillian land.

For Prado queued we hours two, the artists for to see -
Velasquez, Goya and El Greco. Marvelled we
Again at La Reina Sofia, where Picasso’s Guernica moved us both
To muse on man’s inhumanity, its widespread deadly and destructive wrath.

A tour of Palacio Real and ice skating on the rink,
With sightseeing tourist bus (the sixth to make the culture link).
We in Gloria dined and walked the Moorish parts in pouring rain
Metro music saxophone dancing restored our spirits once again.

Mass at Nostra Señora Almudena and at Santo Isidore
And air was taken in spiralled waterfall Retiro Park, by Atocha’s farmacia
New Year delights in festive mood were we to face
The Sangria, with Bull’s tail meal at the wine-spilled Miau writers’ place.

We enjoyed a lively Happy New Year, the old one dead -
So forward look to face new challenges in the months ahead.

Rod Dawson