Friday, March 13, 2015

Reunion in Madrid


Thursday, 12 March, 2015:

Days left, SHE'S HERE!!!


I woke up early today to grab the 6:10 a.m. train from Murcia to Madrid to meet Laurie at Madrid's Barajas Airport. She had flown from Los Angeles to Paris and then down to Spain's capital city. The train ride lasted four hours in the complete comfort of my Preferencia (First Class) seat.

I got to Madrid at about 10:30 a.m. and Laurie's plane was not scheduled to land until 3:00 p.m., time to explore!

Once in Madrid, I began to again acquaint myself with a city that, for me, is becoming better and better each time that I visit.

There are certain things that, in my opinion, make for a great European capital. Amongst these things are . . .


Winged Statues on Government Buildings


Fountains . . .


Lots of fountains


Majestic Buildings


Various Museums


Lords overseeing the city


Tributes to star crossed lovers


Armor and swords for sale

Where did that NO PICTURES sign come from?

Tributes to blind men,


Federico Garcia Lorca,


and Calderon de la Barca


de la Barca's sidekick?


My Liege


Tall spires


Flamenco dance halls

Vulcanic dining spots


Revolutionary bars


Wine Museums


Interesting tile work


A History of love for a blood-sport


Tapas and . . .


Haughty women


Madrid also has many iconic sights.

The Tio Pepe sign and the
Madrileño bear on Puerta del Sol


Kilometer Zero for all roads


Two good fútbol teams


Souvenirs lauding almost
all things Spanish


Great dessert store on Puerta del Sol


La Mallorquina's wares


Generalissimo Francisco Franco

Lots of eating spots


Cool street signs


Plaza Mayor


Hey, that's my birthday!


A slice of Heaven


It was only a five minute walk from our hotel.


Lots of great food stalls in the
Mercado de San Miguel!!!


Like these . . .


Oh


my

GOD!


Is


all


of


this


good

for


my


diet?


Although I did try a couple of things, I decided to return later with Laurie to do it justice.


Icarus?


In Love with Life


Sounds about right to me today.


I just liked this sign in front
of a local bakery


I checked into our hotel, freshened up a bit and then ambled over to the Ópera Metro station to head to the airport.


The station was relatively calm


A José Marti recital

Definitely of interest as a person of Cuban heritage.

Laurie at the airport,
but where are her bags?


Still in Paris as it turned out. Not to worry, they would be delivered to our hotel at about 8:00 p.m.

With Laurie in tow, we returned to the Mercado de San Miguel to do some serious damage.


Nice looking strawberries


Ugly looking sea urchins


Now, that's a swordfish


Looked good


Not bad


Incredible!!!


Laurie's at home with her white wine


I just liked the sign


Cookie Rivalry


Gulas were interesting


Olives, which Laurie loves


Me, not so much.


Meat in a cup

So many tapas, so little time but it was so worth it!

We opted to go for a walk after leaving the Mercado de San Miguel to get our digestive fluids going again.

Plaza Mayor hat store selling . . .


For sale, a montera,
a matador's hat


Madrid loves a splash of color
on it's cities


Cookie store


While I was strong and did not even go inside, I now wonder, what was the point of that?


Anti-Franco demonstrators
at the Puerta del Sol


Franco died in 1975, old hatreds die slowly on the Iberian peninsula it appears.


Time out


Don Quixote sighting


Laurie goes shopping for linens,
Spanish economy flourishing again


Another typical Madrid plaza

Now if this were Amsterdam . . .


The Hotel Preciados at dusk


Cool outdoor bookstore


One last stop for the night for . . .


Churros and chocolate

Madrid, good food and a wonderful woman, I am in love with life!!!

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