Marvelous Madrid

Since we are in Spain, we thought it was a must to see Madrid (and Barcelona, too, but later).  We got an early start since we were doing a day trip.  It was still dark when we headed out, so we got to see a beautiful sunrise over the mountains near Murcia.  The area is covered with freshly cut hay fields, sun loving sunflowers, orange and olive trees, and vineyards.  We were amazed to see hundreds of wind turbines and a massive solar panel installation.  The Spanish are certainly making an effort to find sources of energy.  We wondered what Don Quixote would have done if he had come upon the wind turbines!

It was about 11AM when we reached Madrid.  With the help of our GPS (We call her Stella, so we can scream STELLA!, if she steers us wrong.) we came right to the city center.  We found a convenient  place to park and set out to explore.  At first we thought we would walk the area, but after looking around, we decided to get right on the Madrid City Tour.  There were two tours, the historic and the modern.  We didn't choose, we just got on the modern first.  Madrid is a beautiful, clean, modern city.  It is the hub of Spain and has a population of 3.2 million.  It was cool on the top seating of the bus.  We saw the new skyscrapers, the banking centers and the football (soccer) stadium where Real Madrid plays.  Many of the old historical buildings have been taken over as office buildings and shopping malls.

Well, time for lunch, so we hop off find a cool (the temp is heating up) place to get a bite to eat.  We were in the Puerta del Sol.  This area is the center of activity.  There are lots of restaurants, shops, even  street performers.  The statue of a bear pawing at a berrytree is in this plaza.  Bears used to live in the royal hunting grounds outside Madrid and the berry tree is the symbol for the city.  There is also a statue of King Juan Carlos III on his horse.  Just across the plaza is the governor's office and directly in front of the entrance is the marker, "kilometer zero," the very center of Spain.

We got back on the tour bus to see the historical part of the city.  We saw lots of fountains, statues of famous Spaniards including Cervantes, Cortez and also Columbus and magnificent old buildings adorned with gold!

We made a stop at the Royal Palace (Palacio Real) for a tour.  You can visit 24 of the 2000 rooms.  The rooms were filled with tapestries, exquisite chandeliers and priceless porcelain.  The ceilings were painted by some of the most famous Spanish artists.

Back on the bus and off to find the car.  It was a wonderful day in Madrid.