Madrid Spain

August 23, 2019

Today was a busy but relaxing day at once. We started by doing some shopping along the way to the Gran Via, the 5th (or perhaps Madison) Avenue of Madrid, lined with beautiful buildings.

We detoured partway down to the Temple of Debod, an Ancient Egyptian temple that was dismantled and moved to Madrid. However, the lines were very long so we didn’t go in but instead went on to the Mercado de San Anton. We walked through a bohemian area with vintage clothing, lots of graffiti, plants growing in pants and shoes and a really nice organic bakery which had warm bread.

We reached the market and found something for lunch…I had a potato torta, ie a Spanish omelette, similar to a fritatta, which was quite good.

Next Susan and I wandered through some shops and eventually reached Retiro Park, the Central Park of Madrid. We walked past the famous Prado Museum into the park and met up with Tracey and Tim at the Crystal Palace, in front of a pond. There were turtles (sunbathing) and ducks (in the shade) and both in the water at times. We wandered back out of the park via the avenue of statues of famous Spaniards, and walked back towards the Grand Via. Susan and I shopped for a while and eventually went back to the apartment for dinner.

After dinner we wandered around. At 9pm, the place is really hopping…even at 10pm the Puerta del Sol is crammed.

Robin leaves here tomorrow around 3:30am, so that will leave just the four of us…we’re going to Toledo tomorrow for the day. Jenny has arrived safely back in South Africa and already back at work.