On the left, this was a drink during supper. Apparently, it's Spain's leading brandy. On the right, the first place we visited was my friend's apartment. What an amazing place! For example, 5 bathrooms, 4 of which have toilets. NOT the case in France. And he had AC!
Then we visited Church of San Manuel y San Benito. The stained glass on the left is in the entry.
Next, we walked around in the Buen Retiro Park, which is just across the street. It has a bunch of stuff to see and it's a park so it's a very nice place to visit. On the right is a shot of the Monument to Alfonso XII. We also saw the Palacio de Cristal which seemed to be nothing more than a giant bird house for sparrows (because they can get in). But, it's a cool building.
Next, we visited the El Oso y El Madroño (The Bear and the Strawberry Tree) and saw some cool street performers. As it's always a game to be the most intriguing and the two guys above seemed to have found an edge. The top dude is just floating above the other dude! Amazing!
Next we walked past the Royal Palace of Madrid and the Cathedral de la Almudena (wiki) which is just to the south. It was free to enter so we had a look. On the left, is the side of the church facing the Royal Palace and on the right, is a shot of the inside. I wasn't into panoramic shots yet.
There was plenty to see inside, but I took a couple of shots. Both witch seemed very Catholic to me. Lot's of fancy colors and glory to Mary on the left, and an interesting painting of a nun. Kind of a super nun so it seems.
There were a lot of cool architectural touches on many of the buildings in Madrid. On the left is just one example and there are some more below. On the right is a shot of the Puerta de Alcalá. I mainly took the picture because of the colors and the sky. Most impressive day!
We also visited the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte, Reina Sofia museum. You can't take pictures, but I did sneak one before I found out. It's on the left and it was part of an amazing series of war cartoons and posters. I thought I'd taken a note of the artist, but didn't so I can't help you out there. It looks like PIIYOL but I can't find him on the web. On the right, my ticket. Other great works at the Sofia include Estudio para «Premonición de la Guerra Civil» (Study for "Premonition of Civil War") which is a great Dali. The Guernica, 1937 by Pablo Picasso. And several works from Goya including the Kukla. I really appreciate the darkness and emotion in Goya's paintings.
I took advice from Trip Advisor and visited the Sherry Tasting at San Miguel Market. It was a pretty interesting. They give you the Sherrys and an audio guide (like a museum) which talks you through the tasting. It was a good event and included are tickets for tapas from the surrounding restaurants. Below are some pics of different olive preparations. I was amazed, actually. Take a look...
This is a picture of the Plaza de Cibeles. It's a crappy picture, but it's an impressive site at night (and during the day).
As mentioned earlier, many buildings in Madrid have some great accents. On the left, is the Metropolis building. And on the right, is the Plaza de Cibeles in daylight.
We also visited the Prado which is like Madrid's Louvre. It is huge and is one of those places that takes more than a day to really see. I did take some notes and here's what I liked...
Anton Raphael Mengs (don't remember the specific painting). Giovanni Battista Tiepolo has painted some great images. Diego Velázquez also had some incredible work. Francisco Ribalta was impressive. And there are some works from Dali (of note, bather). Bottom line, Madrid is a great place to visit! Highly recommended!.
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