Wednesday 19 July 2017
Another hot and sunny day in Madrid.
We started our day with taxi ride to Hotel Villa Magna, where photo call of "Skyfall" was held in 2012. Daniel Craig (James Bond), Javier Bardem (Silva), Naomie Harris (Moneypenny) and director Sam Mendes attended.
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| Sam Mendes, Javier Bardem, Naomie Harris and Daniel Craig Photo: Getty Images |
After meeting hotel's public relations people in the lobby, we took a couple of photographs inside and went back out.
Then we continued to other magnificent hotel, Hotel Santo Mauro, where "Casino Royale" (2006) photocall took place. Daniel Craig (James Bond), Caterina Murino (Solange Dimitrios), Mads Mikkelsen (Le Chiffre) and director Martin Campbell attended this event.
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| Daniel Craig, Caterina Murino, Mads Mikkelsen and Martin Campbell Photo: Getty Images |
After introducing ourselves, we got a nice guided walking tour in and around the lovely hotel. It would have been really pleasant to take a drink at their beautiful garden terrace, but we had to rush to lunch, because of a table reservation at one o'clock.
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| Look, is that Daniel Craig? :) |
Taxi found Cava Baja 35, which is the address of Casa Lucio restaurant. This was the place where Pierce Brosnan had eaten years ago and we had even a photograph of it with us. Time was approx. 12 o'clock and we knocked the closed door and trying to make sure if our table reservation was valid (we booked it by phone a previous night via their website and we wasn't 100 percent sure if the booking was successful or not...).
A man opened the door, but he didn't speak English that much, but he confirmed that our reservation was ok and said that we should come at one o'clock. We walked to a bar near-by and ordered a beer. After one hour we went back and we were guided upstairs, where our table was.
We had chicken "Pollo Ajillo 1/2" (14.00 EUR) and meat balls "Albondigas" (18.00 EUR) with red wine "Copa Vino" (3,50 EUR / glass), "Agua" 3,50 EUR / glass) and desserts ice cream "Helado Variado" (6,50 / each). Both our meals were wonderful.
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| "Pollo Ajillo 1/2" |
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| "Albondigas" |
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| "Helado Variado" |
Then we met Mr. Lucio Blázquez himself, we shook hands and showed him a photo where he and Pierce Brosnan were. He autographed the photo and we took a couple of pictures with him. What a lovely man and a true legend!
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| Mika, Lucio Blázquez and Pirita |
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| Autograph of Lucio Blázquez |
Before we left the restaurant, the waiter showed us the table where Mr. Brosnan sat when he visited the restaurant, we saw also a nice Bollinger champagne bottle with 007 logo on its side :) A nice Bond connection also in deed!
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| "Pierce Brosnan´s table" |
You could say that air was quite hot again, when we went outside and walked towards Royal Palace of Madrid (Palacio Real de Madrid). A good thing was that there was at least some wind every now and then and also buildings gave some shadow.
The Palace of Madrid is the official residence of the Spanish Royal Family at the city of Madrid, but it is only used for state ceremonies. King Felipe VI and the Royal Family do not reside in the palace, choosing instead the more modest Palace of Zarzuela on the outskirts of Madrid. (Wikipedia)
After taking pics outside, we paid the entrance fee of 11 euros and went through the garden gates first outside of palace doors and then inside this grand palace. We also took photos of Santa María la Real de La Almudena (Almuneda Cathedral), which is the seat of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Madrid.
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| Royal Palace of Madrid (Palacio Real de Madrid) |
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| Santa María la Real de La Almudena |
Then it was time to go to back to our room in four star hotel Santo Domingo before meeting our Spanish friend, a true Bond fan, Oscar Rubio Castillo. Oscar arrived and gave us wonderful presents, a Cinemanía magazine, which included several articles written by Oscar and a pin of Club Archivo 007.
Then we walked to place Teatro Real de Madrid (Royal Theatre) where "SPECTRE"s (2015) Madrid premiere was held. Daniel Craig (James Bond), Monica Bellucci (Lucia Sciarra) and director Sam Mendes participated in this event.
After taking some pics we moved forward to place where "Skyfall"s (2012) premiere was: Teatro Español in front of Plaza de Santa Ana. Daniel Craig, Javier Bardem (Silva), Naomie Harris (Moneypenny), producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson and director Sam Mendes were there back then and of course Oscar was in the audience :)
We had a very nice chat with Oscar and we enjoyed a couple of beers with peanuts and olives. It would have been so lovely to stay longer. Hopefully we can meet Oscar soon again. We have so much in common!
This was our last evening in Madrid for now, so we went back to our hotel and to eat this trip's last dinner. We chose Italian pizza restaurant "La Tagliatella", Pirita had "Pizza Tonno" (11,55 EUR) and Mika "Pizza Tropicale" (11,55 EUR), with glasses of wine (2,80 EUR / glass) and bottles of water (2,15 EUR / bottle). The food was quite OK. This was a great travel experience, too short however:)
Our flight back to Finland was next morning and we didn't have any time to do anything more than just travel to the airport.
Thank you Madrid, for everything!
See more 007 TRAVEL STORIES here
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| An article by Oscar Rubio in Cinemanía magazine |
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| Nice logos :) |
Then we walked to place Teatro Real de Madrid (Royal Theatre) where "SPECTRE"s (2015) Madrid premiere was held. Daniel Craig (James Bond), Monica Bellucci (Lucia Sciarra) and director Sam Mendes participated in this event.
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| Photo: vivademadrid.com |
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| Photo: entradas.com |
After taking some pics we moved forward to place where "Skyfall"s (2012) premiere was: Teatro Español in front of Plaza de Santa Ana. Daniel Craig, Javier Bardem (Silva), Naomie Harris (Moneypenny), producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson and director Sam Mendes were there back then and of course Oscar was in the audience :)
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| Photo: cinemania.elmundo.es |
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| Photo: Komodo comunication |
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| Photo: Komodo comunication |
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| Pirita, Oscar Rubio Castillo and Mika |
This was our last evening in Madrid for now, so we went back to our hotel and to eat this trip's last dinner. We chose Italian pizza restaurant "La Tagliatella", Pirita had "Pizza Tonno" (11,55 EUR) and Mika "Pizza Tropicale" (11,55 EUR), with glasses of wine (2,80 EUR / glass) and bottles of water (2,15 EUR / bottle). The food was quite OK. This was a great travel experience, too short however:)
Our flight back to Finland was next morning and we didn't have any time to do anything more than just travel to the airport.
Thank you Madrid, for everything!
See more 007 TRAVEL STORIES here
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