Photography

Paseando

After our day at the museum and a brief siesta we decided to have a walk around the Plaza Mayor.

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At night it is a very lovely place. The weather is holding and it’s very soothing to be out and about.

Cynthia had read in her Rick Steve’s guide book that the Casa Rúa offered a tasty bocadillo calamare for 2 euros.

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Yup, a squid sandwich! YUM!

All kinds of characters roam the plaza. This group of ladies were all sporting light-up bunny ears.

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I’m sure they were having quite the good evening.

As we strolled past the various restaurants and shops we saw something that caught our eye and caused us to both stop dead in our tracks.

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There’s a message here, I’m certain.

We stopped to take a couple of portraits. This one I shot of Cynthia

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And this one is Cynthia’s first successful no-flash night shot

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We headed off for a night-cap of churros and chocolate at San Ginés Chocolateria

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After that, we returned, tired and happy to our hotel

Tomorrow, Segovia!

Madrid – El Dia Segundo

We stayed up a bit late last night. It was fun to wander the streets and take in the sites after sunset. I am happy to have access to several Starbucks as it’s a great value on a huge cup of coffee.

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This morning we woke up much later than we anticipated. It seemed that it should only be around 7:30 am but was, in fact, 9:30 am. We were obviously more tired than we thought.

We got up, got dressed and walked past the Palacio de Comunicaciones on our way to the obligatory visit to the Museo del Prado

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The line to get into the museum was not too bad, even at the late hour. I was most pleased to see The Garden Of Delights by Hieronymus Bosch.

Now we’re back at the hotel for siesta and contemplating our next move.

Spain – Llegamos

12 hours worth of travel time. Flight from Houston to Newark, New Jersey and then a change of planes for the overseas leg to Madrid.

Definitely not one of my best travel days. About 1/2 way into the 6 1/2 hour flight from Newark to Madrid my stomach started to get upset. I probably could have held out but there was a woman two rows back who had the most indescribable stench. When she walked past us to go the lavatory the smell was so overwhelming that I had to avail myself of one of the utility bags in the seat back pocket. Even Cynthia who was doing pretty well started to hyperventilate and came close to utilizing her own bag.

We cleared customs quite quickly and soon we were in a cab heading to the Hotel Plaza Mayor. The room is small but comfortable and is well situated to a lot of the city’s attractions.

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We were able to check in right away and we attempted to go for a walk, but were so exhausted we quickly returned to the room for a 3 hour nap. It was the best 3 hour nap ever! We had the balcony doors open and the cool breeze lulled us to sleep quite quickly.

We woke up without an alarm clock feeling much more human that we had in awhile and set out to explore a bit of our surroundings.

The sun is bright and the sky is deep blue. High today was around 74 degrees and no humidity. Temps tonight should be in the upper 50’s.

We walked for a quite awhile and shot some pictures and are now relaxing in the room. Our intention is to head out this evening so I can get some night shots and have some dinner.

Here is the statue of Charles III in the Puerta Del Sol

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