Day 64: Madrid, Spain

We are now in Madrid and all I can say is - YAY!! :-) Coming here is like coming home for me and just walking through the streets is a pleasure. I'm going to have a hard time limiting the photos I upload!

First of all, here are some photos from our home for the week - we rented an apartment which saves some money and also gives us some more space and makes it feel more like home.

This is the view from our very small balcony that you can't even go out on because it contains some sort of air conditioning unit:




This is the view inside the balcony of our Head of IT working busily on his netbook (which is a mini laptop for those not in the know):




This is the bedroom:





And this is the kitchen area and bathroom near the front door:






The apartment isn't large but it's clean and comfortable and fairly well located, so we're happy with it. No escapes to a 5 star hotel this time!

This is the entrance way to the building:




This morning's first activity was going to the local Carrefour Express to stock up on some groceries. Today is some sort of holiday so we had to go between 10 and 3.

After that, we set out to explore the city a bit. I was put in charge as Team Leader Madrid given my love (ok, obsession) with the city. We walked from our apartment to the Plaza Mayor, which took about 30 minutes. The Plaza Mayor is the historical center of the city and was the site of numerous public events over the years, including some of the executions during the Inquisition.




After that, we walked to the area with the cathedral, palace and opera house.

This is the cathedral from multiple angles:






After that we walked through the Puerta del Sol, which is a square that contains Kilometer 0, the point from which all distances in Spain are measured. We stopped in a music/book store called FNAC so I could buy my book group book for the month (I'm trying to keep up even though I'm away!) and also picked up a second Spain guide - Rough Guide which is my favorite.

Then we walked along a major street called the Gran Via, heading toward the big park. Here is a street view of Gran Via near the metro stop of the same name and close up of the quintessential building of that street:







One of the things that most impressed me the first time I came to Madrid is that the following is a post office (called the Palace of Communications):





We spent most of the afternoon in the Parque del Retiro - the Central Park of Madrid. We strolled around, sat in the sun, sat in the shade, stopped at an outdoor cafe area for a very cold beer and sat on a bench reading our books. A very relaxing afternoon!






We also discovered something new since I was last here - a monument to the victims of terrorism (in the form of a hill with a spiral path to the top) that was inaugurated on the 1st anniversary of the 2004 Madrid bombings. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2004_Madrid_train_bombings)

Here is Frank at the top:




This is a view of the whole thing:






From Retiro, we walked back to the apartment, passing the Atocha train station along the way:





For dinner we went to a place I had been to years ago that has very interesting canape-style tapas. It's called Casa Lucas and is on a street filled with different kinds of tapas places.



We had a 20+ minute walk back to our apartment, but the sun doesn't set until late, so we stopped to have an ice cold beer in one of the outdoor cafes in one of the plazas on our way home.

Now we're back at home and working on our plans for the rest of our week here. Poor Frank has to deal with my threats to stay in Spain and not come home with him when it's time to go!

ILM