From Madrid Airport (where unfortunately Easyjet does not use Terminal 4) I had no hesitation about using the Metro. It's far cheaper than anything else and the Madrid Metro is almost alarmingly efficient. A ticket for 10 jouneys by Metro or bus can be obtained for €7.40 (with a €1 surcharge each way for using the airport stations.) I am happy to say that during my trip I used it exactly 10 times and had no need of anything extra – without any contrivance of the result! There were two changes but on all my trips on the Metro, I never waited more than 3 minutes for a train.

I spent a while finding my hostal on the Gran Via. It was on the fifth floor of a vast building with a fast lift. It was very friendly and the service was well up to standard. However I should only go again if I were taking my own towel. I think they must have bought a job lot that had been rejected by an establishment that practiced flagellation!

The evening of my arrival I had time to walk down and see the Plaza de Cibeles, one of Madrid's grandest. Unfortunately it was spoiled to some extent by roadworks. I will get my remarks about roadworks out of the way. I know that city streets need to be repaired and that a number of European cities have inadequate and outdated sewers. However I have never, anywhere, seen so many roadworks going on at the same time. The fine squares at Sol and Colon were like building sites and that was only for starters. Can it be that all works except dire emergencies are done in Madrid to avoid the terrible cold of winter and the almost insufferable heat of summer?

I ate at a place called Mercado de la Reina on Gran Via near my hostal. It is a market only in name! The food was excellent and the prices very reasonable. I digress briefly to comment on the attitude that I, aged 72, encountered in this establishment that was almost entirely populated by people in their 20s and 30s. Far from the barely (if at all) veiled hostility that I have often encountered in England, a chair was vacated for me and many were happy to converse. This attitude, that was replicated wherever I went makes me think of Madrid as a city of enjoyment for all age groups.

Then I went back to my room and prepared for the next day. Friends had suggested that I should hop on and off tourist buses the first day to get my bearings and I couldn't think of any better idea. I started fairly early and found the tourist bus stop easily enough. Madrid Vision offers two routes, Historic and Modern Madrid respectively. I started on Historic but the ticket (half price for ancients – they call it something more polite) allows hop-on-hop-off on both routes and I later changed – several times.

As well as some picturesque squares, not ALL like building sites, I had excellent views of the Temple of Debod, the Royal Palace, the Cathedral and the Basilica de San Francisco. The Plaza de la Villa was visible to one side, smaller than the other major squares but as beautiful as any.. The Modern Madrid route was particularly obras-ruined. However it was from this one that I did my longest hop-off to see the Outdoos Sculptures and the Museo Sorolla.

The Outdoor Sculptures are a thoroughly good idea. One major road crosses another by a kind of viaduct and there is a dual flight of steps from one to the other. The sculptures are contained beside and between them. They are of course free to view. However as a resident of Yorkshire I go sometimes to the beautiful Yorkshire Sculpture Park with works by Henry Moore and Dame Barbara Hepworth – so I felt somewhat underwhelmed by the Madrid sculptures.

There was nothing in the least underwhelming about the Sorolla Museum. I feel astonished that I had never heard of him but I am not alone. I have met numerous people with more knowledge of art than I am ever likely to acquire, who have only heard of him from me! To put this in context, there was an exhibition of his works from numerous private collections in the Prado – that I sadly missed by 3 days. The attendance at this exhibition was the highest in the Prado for 10 years and well higher than for some names far more exalted outside Spain. He is generally regarded as an Impressionist.

Sorolla was also an avid collector. The museum is housed in the lovely house where he lived, built in 1910 with an equally beautiful garden in a very unremarkable street. The rooms nearly all have some wonderful furniture and porcelain from Sorolla's collections as well as his studio much as he let it and a wealth of his paintings. He has been described as a master of light – Without knowing this I paraphrased it in my mind, thinking of him as a master of white. For an illustration of this go to http://museosorolla.mcu.es/colec_pintura.html and click on 'Madre'. Going here is a different kind of experiece from a visit to the Prado or the Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, both of which will come later..

I had one amusing episode immediately after leaving thhe Sorolla Museum. I wanted to connect with the Modern Madrid route on its way back to the centre. It was easy enough to find the Calle Serano but I did not know whether to turn right or left. There, as though pre-arranged, were two policemen so of course I asked them, showing them my map. I hope they never have to use those guns they carry – Heaven only knows who they would gun down if their performance equalled that of finding where I should go!

Then I went to the Museo.Thyssen-Bornemisza. Two membes of that family had acquired huge collections, mainly of paintings. They seem to have had impeccable taste and to have examples of the best of everything and everybody in the world of painting. I had been advised to see this museum 'properly.' as opposed to the Prado, where I should concentrate on only one or two painters. The advice on the Prado was good (see later). I think I would give anybody the same advice for the Thyssen-Bornemisza. Because I tried to see too much, it is the place of which I have fewest memories to treasure and it certainly deserves better.

I ate at mid day and went for tapas in the evening. The term 'tapas' seems to have strayed from its original meaning of a small amount of something served free with a drink. Pinchos or canapes seem ore like tapas were – but all are now more often sold as small snacks. At the 'Tigre' on Calle de las Infantas, parallel with Gran Via, I saw a lad with a large plate of mixed tapas. I asked him what he had asked for and he told me that if I asked for a large beer (€6!) they would give me the tapas with it. What a problem – the beer was truly huge and at one time it would have suited me fine but heart problems mean that was far too much alcohol for me now – but I hated the idea of leaving half of it. The problem was solved by a young Spanish woman beside me who said in perfect English, 'Ignore that idiot – the tapas do not depend on the size of the beer. Get one of those if you prefer.' 'Those' were reasonably sized glasses of beer and I paid €3.50 for the drink and enough food to satisfy my appetite.