Madrid

It is 6:30 PM so the day isn't over yet, but we are taking a break before dinner.  We are hopeful that we may finally be back in a place that has internet that can post photos, about a week's worth by now.

Again, olive trees as far as the eye can see.

We drove away from all the dramatic natural beauty (it reminds us of Hawaii, the way the mountains are  close to the ocean, and the greenery and the temperature and the clear blue skies) and headed north just as the sun was coming over the mountains.  It was an easy trip.  We hadn't really planned on doing this much driving in Spain but since we had never been here before it was hard not to want to visit as much as we could reach without straining too hard.  On a second trip we might find it easier to settle into some sort of village-based routine (kind of what we thought we might do this time, but we were naive).  Anyway, by the time we were ready to turn in the car, we had driven 3419 kilometers (2051 miles).

On all our road trips, Jon navigates the complicated parts while I drive.  We are pretty good at it by now and there is very little angst, although sometimes we do go around the traffic circles more than most people.  In Spain there are circles at almost every intersection so Jon tells me which lane to be in so I can get back out without incident.  When we got to the train station we tried to find the place to return the car. We even asked some people but they had no idea.  So we looped up and around and back and forth until Jon finally spotted the tiny sign that indicated the ramp.  We returned the car without a scratch, and without any bad stories at all (see Florence for our least favorite car story) and walked away with our bags.

Half the famous Plaza Mayor.

For a whole city block they are
gutting the building but leaving
the facade.

The Madrid Metro is easy to understand, buying a ticket is simple, and we made our way to our hotel (sweating in our coats), right in the middle of all the historic sights.  We are on the fifth floor, we don't have a balcony but we have a window that can open up to the sounds of the city below, and it all feels very fancy.  We walked around for a few hours, I wouldn't let Jon get tapas at the fancy Mercado de San Miguel because we would have had to eat standing up.  Instead we ate at an uninteresting little place, just patatas bravas and clams, and continued our wandering.  Madrid is impressive.  Many other people have written much more eloquently than I can about the architecture and the plazas.  There is much to see on every street, and street performers in the plazas.  Seeing Madrid I now understand where Mexico comes from. This looks like what I remember about Mexico 45 years ago. It also feels like Paris.