Madrid, Sunday, May 29, 2011

May 29, 2011

Jet lag got the best of me. I slept in, went downstairs for breakfast, and then went back to the room to nap. Then I rallied.

Museo del Prado

First stop was the Museo del Prado, Spain’s main art museum with the world’s best collection of (obviously) Spanish art. Of course I couldn’t take pictures of any of it, but it was amazing.

Museo del Prado

Parque del Retiro

Since it was such a beautiful day, and since the Paseo del Prado in right there, I took a long walk around and through the Parque del Retiro.

Fountain on the Paseo del Prado

Apollo Statue – Paseo del Prado

Plaza de la Cibeles

Palacio de Comunicaciones

Galeria de Cristal

Plaza de la Independencia

Parque del Buen Retiro

Plaza de Nicaragua

Monumento a Alfonso XIII

Palacio de Velazquez

Palacio de Cristal

Restoration

Parque del Buen Retiro

La Roselada

Parque del Buen Retiro

Singer

Random Ruminations About Spain

After a day of wandering around Madrid, I’ve had a number of observations that are completely unimportant to anyone but me:

I’m definitely allergic to Spanish cigarettes. I sneeze every time I’m around someone smoking, which is often in this city.
Fashion: all the women here are wearing harem pants and colored jeans. I suppose this is something we have to look forward to in the US soon.
The “Don’t Walk” street signals are not kidding. As soon as they stop blinking, the light changes and the cars take off. I’m now going to follow the Spaniards when it comes to crossing the streets.
The FIFA bribery scandal is all over the news here, and I wonder if it’s making this much noise over the in US. Probably not.
BBC World News has the exact same theme song as they did ten years ago, and the tune brings back a lot of memories of our round-the-world trip. Specifically, of the morning I waited in an Arusha campsite for Jon to sleep off his 30th-birthday hangover. I watched the BBC for hours.

Tapas at Lateral

At the recommendation of the Westin Concierge, I walked to the Plaza Santa Ana for a trendy dinner at Lateral. Though I had to wait 45 minutes for it a table, it was completely worth it. I sat outside, enjoyed the people watching, and ate delicious food.