Gym's Ramblings: Iberian Incusion 2025: Some Notable Sights

All four intrepid travellers spent the daylight hours traipsing all over Retiro and Centro districts to see the sites. Then at night, after Chris and Shawna had put the older folks to bed, they explored other landmarks after dark. Chris will have to start his own blog for thirty-somethings on the night-life in Madrid. Some of the daytime highlights that that stood out for Gym and Mrs. Gym were as follows:

1. Bernabeu Stadium - the home of Real Madrid FC. After a 1.76 billion Euro renovation was completed in 2024, a retractible roof was installed along with many other modern enhancements. Capacity was also brought up to just over 83,000. It now has a modern new look from the outside and on the inside there is a massive wrap-around TV that rivals anything Gym has seen in North America. We will cover the NFL game played there on Sunday, November 16, 2025, in the next post.

Shawna and Chris in front of the stadium which was
the temporary home of the Miami Dolphins

2. Plaza Mayor - In Centro district (Old Madrid), not too far from the Royal Palace, sits Plaza Mayor. Since the 15th Century it has served as a site for a central marketplace and still today, is a venue for various markets throughout the year, including the Christmas Market which Gym etal were one week too early to peruse. During the Inquisition, it was the site of numerous public executions and later, bullfights were held there to the delight of the apartment owners lucky enough to have one or more of the 237 balconies overlooking the square. The square is notable for the uniformity of the architecture of the buildings on all four sides. Each building is between 4 and 5 stories in height and each building is supported by roman arches facing into the square. It is a great spot to grab a coffee or glass of wine and people watch. There are also several small kitsch shops there.

Plaza Mayor partially decorated for Christmas
but one week too early for the Christmas Market.

One of the ten Arched Access Gates

King Phillip III statue in middle of Plaza Mayor

3. St. Mary the Virgin of Almudena Cathedral is the seat of the Archdiocese of the capital. Construction began in 1883 and it took 110 years to finish. In 1993, Pope John Paul II consecrated it. For a 7 euros you can see the Almudena Cathedral Museum and climb to an observation deck for great views of Centro District, as well as the Royal Palace grounds, the Manzanares River and the massive Casa de Campo Park. Then you can visit the inside of the cathedral which is quite impressive. Our intrepid travellers all enjoyed this venue.

St. Mary's Cathedral from the front

Inside looking down the nave

A view from the observation deck with the Royal Palace
framed by the two cathedral towers

A view of Centro District (Old Town)

4. The Royal Palace - is a massive structure with almost 1.5 million square feet of internal surface area and almost 3500 rooms. It is the largest royal palace in Europe. Unfortunately, the travellers arrived a little late in the day and did not get to see the interior but they walked around to the Plaza de la Armeria and were able to get a sense of this enormous building. Next time in Madrid, Gym hopes to be able to get in and see some the Royal Amoury of Madrid and the numerous royal collections that are inside.