July 13-15: Madrid

Madrid is a wonderful city! It feels like one big small town of 4 million people. There is a warm, hospitable energy to the city. The city is well suited for walking, shopping, and people watching. You can safely walk about the streets after midnight with the many people still out and about. There is also an expansive and modern subway system making it easy to get around. Like Toledo, our hotel was near a "Puerta del Sol"... this time, however, this refers to a central Plaza of the city were some main streets intersect:

We were also near the Plaza Mayor, a place that charmed Ernest Hemingway:

On our first full day we visited the Reina Sofia museum of modern art. It has a great collection of Picasso, including his famous Guernica masterpiece. But mostly this visit affirmed our lack of enthusiasm for modern art.

We also visited Retrio Park:

Our second day we visited the Royal Palace, the residence of the Spanish monarchy. (Currently the King and Queen live elsewhere, but use this palace ceremonially.)

The rooms are exceedingly ornate, each unique. Here is the throne room (this picture is a bit blurry because of the time exposure).

The down side was the hot spell while we were in Madrid, with temps pushing 100 degrees! Jamie cooled off in a fountain near the Palace:

On our final night, we enjoyed a visit to a "meson", which are some cave-like taverns near Plaza Mayor featuring tapas and cheesy live music.

The next morning, after our usual morning stop at a nearby cafe for some Cafe con Leche (a Latte) and pastry, and doing our laundry, we were off to our final country, Britian!