I have been feeling dizzy on and off these last few months, so I’m avoiding long drives – that has left me dependent on public transport, which is not too reliable. Thus, instead of all the hikes I wanted to take, I’ve been doing day trips to Madrid.
My first stop was in the district of Arganzuela. Although I’ve been to Matadero a few times before, I had never wandered to the side, where a boring-looking metal roof peeked over some trees. I recently discovered that I should have ventured beyond the brick walls that close the Matadero area. This building is called Arganzuela Crystal Palace Palacio de Cristal de la Arganzuela, and is an example of the wrought iron functional architecture of the early 20th century.
The building was designed by Luis Bellido y González and erected between 1908 and 1928 as a vegetable warehouse. In 1992, the building was remodelled – the wrought iron structure was consolidated and the original fibre cement panels were substituted by glass ones. The warehouse, 7,100 square metres, was divided into different sections, each one transformed into a different greenhouse: two for tropical plants, one for subtropical species, and the last one for desert plats and cacti. The centre has four long fountains with tiny sprouts and waterfalls. I expected a few plants to be in second bloom, but apparently that does not work for tropical or desert species?
I then hopped onto the underground towards the district of Carabanchel, where I could visit an unusual place – the British Cemetery Cementerio Británico de Madrid. Around 1854, the British government bought the terrain with the intention to turn it into a cemetery, since during that time Catholic cemeteries did not accept interments from other denominations.
The burial ground hosts about 600 graves and about 1,000 tombs, most of them British citizens – but there are also Americans, Germans, Swiss and French, even some Spanish. Though it is now closed to new burials, in the 20th century it was open to non-Christians. Inscriptions on the markers are in Latin, English, French, German, Hebrew, Cyrillic and Spanish. Some of the people buried here include part of the Georgian royal family, historian Alice Bache Gould y Quincy, members of the fashion family Loewe, photographer Charles Clifford… There is also a memorial to the American soldiers who died in a plane accident. There is only one pantheon, belonging to the Bauer family – owners of an important commercial emporium in the 19th century.
I have to say that the charm of a Victorian cemetery fades more than a little in the middle of the Spanish plateau’s scorching summer. Though there are several artistic markers – ever-present angels, a couple of tree trunks, and a very gothic grave – most of them are simple headstones with a cross or just a name. One of the graves asked a good question: If good things lasted forever, would we appreciate how precious they are? All in all, it was a quaint little cemetery that felt slightly out of place in the middle of Madrid.
Afterwards, I went back into the underground. The cemetery is a couple of stops away from Carpetana. On the connection, I got checked for a ticket, sort of – they were controlling that passengers had a valid ticket, and just as the train was arriving they waved me through, maybe not complaining about it and just looking for the card made me trustworthy or something? (For the record, I did have a ticket). Anyway, I reached my destination in about 10 minutes or so. When they were working on the Carpetana underground station, they found a few fossilised bones and jaws, and they have turned it into another of the spots of Museos de Metro de Madrid – palaeontological site Yacimiento Paleontológico de Carpetana. I saw reproductions a few mammal jaws and took a picture. Good thing I was close, this would not have warranted a trip from further away.
I had a reservation for late lunch, but I decided to cancel it. I wanted to check a shop for something I needed, and that would take me in the complete opposite direction from the restaurant. Instead, after the shop, I grabbed a Matcha Frappuchino and headed back to the train station to return home.
JBinnacle – A Travel Logbook 