Madrid

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We woke up kind of late...arriving at the hotel/apartment at 3 am and going to bed around 4:30 made it hard to get moving.  We stayed at the Jardine de Sabattini which was right across the street from the  gardens of the same name.  It was easy to walk up and through the garden to the main parts of downtown Madrid.  

There was a stage set up for summer concerts.  We could hear the music from our hotel-it was Cinderella on Ice,sort of ironic in the 98 degree heat...

We walked up to the Palacio Real

and from there we could see the Cathedral and begin to head towards the Plaza Mayor.

Loved the matador dressed to take pictures with tourists.  This whole plaza area is up on a hill with views all around.   It was hot, very hot, but not humid and it was much more manageable than Singapore because you are not dripping wet all the time. I had to buy  a hat though-wish I had brought my Singapore umbrella...only Asian tourist use them here. 

Madrid is wonderful-maybe it's hearing Spanish spoken all over which is such a comfortable feeling. 

We walked to the Plaza Mayor and looked around.  The walk there was beautiful

And  the first on my series of Spanish doors.

Don't be surprised if you come over someday and find one of these overwhelming our little green house!

This furry thing was there every time we walked thru the plaza-lots of people dressed  up and tried to get their photos taken for money...seems a hard job on such hot days..

All the streets look like this -lovely old buildings and streets and cobblestones. 

I took a photo of this-candy or licorice-like stuff.  Loved the colors and they were so thick.

Sitting at the plaza before trying to find some lunch.

A ham poster -there are a million things to do with ham in  Spain.  It shows up everywhere. They have big hams hanging from stores everywhere and there are lots of flavors.  It is actually quite good although I am  little tired of Spanish food now. 

Kind of a weird shot but the shopping streets all have these awning-type coverings-probably as a way to manage the heat.  

I loved that someone was selling books on the street with built-in bookcases.

This is the National theater.   

Lots of red flowers in parks and squares-it's a real walking city.  We headed back to the hotel through the palace grounds.

This is the back side of the palace.  We opted not to wait in line to go in.

I dont have photos available right now but Luis does. I can add them later.  Our hotel has a roof terrace and serves drinks and tapas.  We made a  reservation and watched the  sunset over the Palacio Real while visiting with Luis' cousin-Gustavo, Juvenal is his father,one of Elsa's brothers.   He's lived in Madrid for ten years.  It was a really  great day-day two of Madrid in the next post.