神馳馬德里

由羅馬飛馬德里，只經(jīng)過(guò)半小時(shí)，就到了位于伊比利亞半島中部的西班牙首都馬德里。

馬德里天氣晴朗，陽(yáng)光充足，全年平均日照每天都在8小時(shí)以上，難怪英、法、德和北歐的客人都對(duì)這里充滿了向往。酒店對(duì)面就是著名的西班牙王宮。王宮外的草坪和樹木綠色宜人，修葺齊整，環(huán)境整潔，精美的人像雕塑神態(tài)各異、栩栩如生，掩映在繁茂枝葉之中，透出一種典雅的歷史文化氣息。王室現(xiàn)已搬到北郊，只有重大的典禮如接受國(guó)書、檢閱儀仗隊(duì)等仍然在這里舉行。位于馬德里市內(nèi)的西班牙古代王宮，是現(xiàn)存的世界上最完整、最精美的宮殿之一，完全可以和法國(guó)的凡爾賽宮相媲美。

走進(jìn)王宮內(nèi)參觀，果然相當(dāng)奢華，宮內(nèi)有帝王餐廳、瓷器大廳、御座廳以及小教堂等等，有的房間從四面墻壁到頂部都是用金子裝飾起來(lái)的，有的房間則全部是用陶瓷（不同畫面和不同形態(tài)）裝飾起來(lái)的，宮內(nèi)設(shè)立了各種各樣的博物館供游人參觀，設(shè)在底層的王家圖書館藏書達(dá)30萬(wàn)冊(cè)，而鐘表館中收藏的那一座座各國(guó)的鐘表，至今走時(shí)準(zhǔn)確。離王宮不遠(yuǎn)處就是著名的西班牙廣場(chǎng)，廣場(chǎng)中央矗立著高高的紀(jì)念碑，由頂部而至底部，那參差排列的人物群雕，在噴水的映襯之下，是那么典雅，又那么傳神。更具特色的是，在紀(jì)念碑南面的基座上有兩座活靈活現(xiàn)的青銅雕塑，他們就是西班牙著名作家塞萬(wàn)提斯筆下聞名于世的人物：騎在一匹瘦馬上的唐吉訶德和騎在小毛驢上的他的侍從桑丘；塞萬(wàn)提斯是西班牙人民非常尊敬的人物。

普拉多博物館坐落在馬德里市內(nèi)普拉多大道，是西班牙最著名的博物館，亦是世界大美術(shù)館之一，館內(nèi)有100多間陳列室，陳列著12 —18世紀(jì)的美術(shù)作品共3000余幅，主要是西班牙畫家的作品以及英國(guó)、荷蘭和德國(guó)畫家的代表作，大畫家畢加索1937年創(chuàng)作的巨幅油畫《格爾尼卡》于1981年10月起開始在這里展出。這幅畫被認(rèn)為是20世紀(jì)的杰作和西班牙的國(guó)寶。博物館門前有西班牙名畫家弗蘭西斯科·戈雅手握畫筆的坐像，館內(nèi)展出的他的《戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)的恐怖》組畫，包括《五月二日馬德里巷戰(zhàn)》、《五月三日槍殺起義者》等都是廣為人知的作品。還有一幅畫，畫的是一個(gè)少女踏著戰(zhàn)友的尸體去點(diǎn)燃大炮。

在用畫筆反對(duì)戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)上，戈雅在歐洲算得上是一個(gè)先驅(qū)，以至在后來(lái)畢加索等人同類題材的作品中，人們常能感覺(jué)到戈雅的影響。

西班牙斗牛是西班牙傳統(tǒng)文化的重要組成部分，聞名于全世界，每年從4月份開始到10月份結(jié)束，每個(gè)星期天都要進(jìn)行。馬德里市中心的斗牛場(chǎng)是一幢方正高大的建筑，可以容納2萬(wàn)多觀眾。斗牛時(shí)那熱烈的場(chǎng)面、古老的服飾和情調(diào)、緊張?bào)@險(xiǎn)而又美妙的角斗，使斗牛成了西班牙人民普遍喜愛(ài)的一種傳統(tǒng)娛樂(lè)項(xiàng)目。

繼續(xù)驅(qū)車前行，是當(dāng)?shù)刂募永鱽啿宛^。在西班牙加利西亞菜是著名的，而加利西亞人又以會(huì)做菜而聞名。馬德里老城區(qū)的街道很窄，兩邊都是停放的汽車，沿街四、五層高的樓房都是住戶。西班牙式的陽(yáng)臺(tái)很有特色，都是鐵欄桿做的，樣子各式各樣，離房間也就是半米多寬，老太太站在陽(yáng)臺(tái)上看看街景，也有年輕人站在陽(yáng)臺(tái)上聊天。走進(jìn)餐館，在吧臺(tái)的一側(cè)，掛著一大排火腿，這也是馬德里餐飲的一大特色。當(dāng)窗外天色漸暗，街燈亮起，馬德里就更有了另一番情趣。

It takes only half an hour to fly from Rome to Madrid， the capital of Spain， which is located in the central area of the Iberian Peninsula.

The weather in Madrid is usually clear， featuring abundant sunlight. All year round， the average daily sunshine can last more than eight hours， making this a mecca for tourists from UK， France， Germany， and Northern Europe. Opposite our hotel is the famous Spanish Palace with its spacious green lawns， huge shade trees， and diverse sculptures creating a pleasant environment and evincing a time-honored history. Nowadays， the royal families have been moved to the northern suburb of the city， so only on ceremonious occasions， such as accepting credentials and reviewing the guard of honor， do they appear in the palace. Our friend and host， Mr. Othello， is of the opinion that this ancient palace is the most complete and exquisite extant in the world， comparable to the Chateau de Versailles in Paris and the Forbidden City in Beijing.

Inside the palace are the deluxe King’s Dinning Hall， Porcelain Hall， Royal Seat Hall， and Little Church. Some rooms， from walls to ceiling， are covered with gold leaf， and many are decorated with porcelains of diversified patterns. Various museums in the palace are open to tourists. The Royal Library， located on the first floor， includes more than 300，000 volumes. In the Clock Watch Museum， an incredible variety of timepieces made in countries all over the world during different periods still tell the exact time.

A short distance away from the palace is the famous Spanish Square， in the center of which towers a lofty memorial monument on which there are vivid sculptures. To the south of the monument are bronze sculptures of Don Quixote and Sancho Panza， legendary figures from Cervantes’ famous novel Don Quixote. Mr. Othello tells us that Cervantes is highly revered by Spanish people the world over.

Bullfights constitute an important part of traditional Spanish culture and are reknowned throughout the world. From April to October every year， bullfight performances are held on Sundays. The bullring， located in the downtown area of Madrid， is a huge quadrangle building， which can accommodate an audience of more than 20，000. The fierce contests between matador and bull produce a fervor in the audience bordering on frenzy and rarely rivaled in other sporting events around the world， unless perhaps by World Cup Football， heavyweight boxing championships， or America’s Super Bowl.

Driving ahead， we see the famous Galicia Restaurant. In Spain， Galicia cuisine is well known and much appreciated. Streets in the old area of the city proper of Madrid are mostly very narrow and are further congested by cars parking on both sides. Lining the streets are four- and five-storey buildings providing apartments for many families. The verandas of the apartments， different from those on Chinese buildings， are all constructed with iron balusters in diversified shapes， stretching about half a meter from the room. In the restaurant， over one side of the bar desk hangs a row of hams， which is a special feature in the restaurants of Madrid. When the sun sets and street lanterns are turned on， the night scene produces another memorable view of this splendid city.