A broad abroad: THREE DAYS IN MADRID

We arrived in Madrid on the fast train and taxied over to our hotel. We had used a Rick Steve's recommended hotel on the Puerta del Sol. Was a great location and the rooms were very nice and it had a good restaurant. The Puerta del Sol is Kilometer Zero, the absolute center of Spain. All major highways are measured from this point.

Nice view from our room. Busy area!

The hotel also had a nice restaurant and very often you could Sharon and I sitting out front having a coffee and enjoying the weather and being entertained by the people passing by. Lots of activity.

Notice we are getting into our spring wardrobe.

I mean, Minnie herself!

After settling in we decided to just wander around and although we had gotten a recommendation from the hotel on a place to eat we ended up selecting another llittle place which looked more "fun"..Additionally the restaurant didn't open until 1400. We couldn't wait that long.

Typical of Spain and Portugal tiles depicting scenes are found throughout the cities.

The little tapa's bar we found was filled with locals so how could one go wrong. It had lots of character, so did the waiters.

I had their house special salad - tuna, eggs, lettuce, olives and more.

Sharon had a Spanish Omelet. Oh, I almost forgot I ordered potatoes with a spicey tomatoe sauce and an aioli . They were so good! Did feel a little uncomfortable all day knowing I had terrible garlic breath! One can't be too healthy. Oh well!

After lunch we did a bit of window browsing and saw this shop which had some beauitful capes in the window. Unfortunately the glare in the windows prevented any good photo's . It did have a plaque in front of it similar to those in Barcelona which means that the store is over a century old.

Capa Sesena in Madrid is the only shop in the world that sells capes and only capes , and makes them right on their premises. It was founded in 1901 by Santos Sesena, and is now run by his great-grandson. Sooner of later anyone who is anyone ends up at Capas Capas Sesena: Piers Brosnan recently dropped in; King Juan Carlos, Palacido Domingo and Nicolas Cage are all customers; and Picasso left instructions that he wanted to be buried in his Capas Sesena cape. Prices run from 300-700 euro's and mail order is available. For those wanting to order one I'm going to share their website www.sesena.com.

Our next stop was Plaza Mayor where one of the Tuorist Information Offices is located. We had a terrible time finding it and usually they are so well marked. We finally spotted the big i behind this blue fencing and noticed directions on the fence for the information office. There' s always something going on in the Plaza. Lots of restaurants and of course "characters" that want you to give them money.

This building, located at the north end of the square is Casa de la Panaderia, supposedly named after the bakery it replaced. The construction of this building and its colorful facade of frescos was iniated in 1590 and it has been renovated several times over the years, most recently when the fresco's were repainted with designs by Carlos Franco in 1992.

The square was originally planned by Felipe II but was inaugurated in 1620 during Fellipe III's reign, whose statue sit proudly in the very center of the square. Over the years, the square has had many different names. Located at the confluence of the paths toward Toledo and Atocha, it was originally the site of the "Plaza del Arrabal" market and thus took this name before later becoming the Plaza Mayor.

Since then it has also been called the Plaza de la Constitution, Plaza Real and Plaza de la Republic before returning to the now famous Plaza Mayor name at the end of the Spanish Civil War. Public executions, crowning ceremonies, bullfights, Inquisition trials and diverse fiestas have all taken place in this square.

The square is mostly surrounded by three-story houses with balconies looking out onto the square and lived in by the fortunate few.

A friendly Matador...

A shaggy dog...

And even Spiderman was seen miingling in the square. I think perhaps he had visited a few too many of the restaurants in Madrid . His physique had changed since I saw him last.

After leaving the square we stopped by the most famous and also oldest market in Madrid. It has recently undergone a stunning renovation and bills itself as a "culinary cultural centre". Within the early 20th century glass walls, the market has become an inviting space strewn with tables. You can order tapas and sometimes more substantial plates at most of the counter bars and everything here ( from caviar to chocolate) is as tempting as the market is alive.

Before leaving we treated ourselves to a little cup of yogurt. We knew that Prince Charles and Camilla had eaten here so we felt we just had to try it also. It was pretty good!

Our next stop was the Cathedral. Have you notice we haven't been in a church for some time. The Almudena Cathedral was originally the site occupied by Madrid's first mosque, then by a church dedicated to one of Madrid's patron saints, Santa Maria de la Almudena.

Francisco de Cubas, designed and directed the construction in a gothic revival style. Construction ceased during the Spanish Civil Was, and the project was abandoned until 1950 when Fernando Chueca adapted the plans of de Cubas to a Baroque exterior. The cathedral was not completed until 1993, and was consecrated by Pope John Paul II.

The main doors of the cathedral.

Interesting ceiing.

The cathedral is consecrated to Santa Maria de la Almundena, a name which has Arabic origins; al mudayna means "the castle". Legend has it that in the 8th century when the Moors invaded the fortress where Madrid now stands, the people hid an image of the Virgin in the city walls , and only when the city was reconquered in the 15th century did a wall crumble to reveal her presence once again. Some versions suggest that the legendary el Cid found the image in the wall and the Virgin helped him to retake the city.

More contemporary stained glass windows.

The Chapels.

This was probably one of my least favorite cathedrals. According to the guide on our city tour the people of Madrid don't like it very well either.

This picture did catch my attention when I first walked in and I forgot to walk over to it and see if there was any explanation.

It was time to head back to the hotel and get our walking shoes off and plan where we were going to find nourishment for our bodies. We decided to go to an area that the desk clerk at the hotel had said was a great tapa's area. I went on trip advisor and found a little tapa's place that had been recommended by a number of peopole so we headed there. On our way we passes a number of places which looked like they might be worth stopping to eat but decided to persist to our restaurant of choice.

Their speciality - pork with cheese. It was their specialty and it was very good.

Our waitress was darling and when we asked her to take a picture she agreed. We posed for a couple and than she asked us to pose for a few more and she adjusted her position and ..