Once our luggage finally arrived in Madrid, we were able to relax a bit more and enjoy the city. It’s weird how not having clean socks and what-not can throw one off a bit. We’ve had a couple nice days balanced between exploring and relaxing … this is vacation, after all. The rain, which has been more prevalent than we had hoped for, has also kept us lying low at times. Still, we’ve had a great time getting to know this city.
Here are some photos from the past couple of days:
Edificio Metrópolis (Metropolis Building), very near our hotel
Puerta del Sol area in central Madrid … on a rainy day
They love their ham here. Here’s a “Ham Museum” in Puerta del Sol. Yes. A ham museum. But look at the ad in the window … you can get a ham sandwich for only 1€.
Plaza Mayor, built in 1617 and a giant rectangular plaza, was not too crowded when we visited, but we imagine it would be on warm and sunny days.
Looking outside the walls of Plaza Mayor and down Calle Cava de San Miguel
Balconies near Plaza Mayor
Mercado de San Miguel: a public market featuring food and wine vendors. We had tapas here from a couple different places.
A ham merchant in Mercado de San Miguel
A fish monger’s display at Mercado San Miguel: hake, prawns, squid, razor clams, and octopus.
Enjoying tapas at Mercado San Miguel
The sun broke through the clouds and this bulldog was out to enjoy it amongst the daisies.
Sun beats down on the Palacio Real (Royal Palace) while a dark cloud looms behind it.
Umbrellas are folded up at Plaza de Oriente as the sun continues to break through the rain clouds.
Pansies soaking up the sun at Plaza de Oriente
Breakfast is provided as part of our stay at The Palace under this glass dome, off the hotel lobby. It is quite a spread, too! (Sorry for the blur!)
One of Clint’s favorite breakfast choices is churros dipped in a cup of (very thick, dark, and sweet) hot chocolate.
The view from our suite at The Palace on a rainy Thursday morning
San Jerónimo el Real looks downright medieval on this drab day.
Clint, trying to stay dry, outside San Jerónimo el Real, with The Prado museum in the background
Museo Nacional del Prado … a perfect place to step inside and stay dry, while exploring classical art
Blue skies emerged for a bit on our walk to dinner Thursday night.
What a great find for dinner: Motha (like “Motha Nature” or “Motha Earth”), serving all house-made dishes with ingredients solely from Spain.
Post tapas at Motha … and ready for a rest from the day.
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