Wednesday morning

Debra and I grabbed a cafe solo and pastry and headed down a few calle's we had not went down before ending at Plaza Santa Cruz. There was this long line to get into a cathedral (don't know why) and a security truck. Debra went into a few shops in the area and noticed some very good prices on jackets only to be informed that they were wholesalers only. Too bad!

Tuesday night on the way out for dinner

Outside the doorway of our apartment (Paul, Ben and Debra in the doorway). We went out for a very tasty Indian dinner. The Spanish eat around 10 pm, so we do not find it difficult to get a seat at the times we would like to go. The weather has been great, around 17 during the day and maybe 10 at night.

Tuesday on Calle Gran Via

We shopped the Gran Via this afternoon. It is the premier shopping street in Old Centro Madrid.

Our apartment

We are on the top (fourth) floor Suite 401.

Plaza Santa Ana

We had a very nice dinner with Paul and Anne and the family in a restaurant fronting this plaza. The food here is great.

Monday afternoon

The top three photos are of a cathedral beside Palacio Real (Royal Palace). The palace was closed by the time we made it there. You can see the side of the palace in the fourth photo. The last shot is in the Plaza de Espana and is a statute of Don Quiote and Pancho Sansa.

Monday AM

We were up early hunting for a good strong coffee and trying to be understood. I had asked for two triple shot espressos and was offered three single shots. Working on the language barrier. :)

Sunday morning at the Puerta del Sol

This plaza is the heart of the old centre of Madrid. They are putting up a giant Christmas tree in the one photo. Most of the shops do not open till 10 am. At night the plaza is packed with people and each side street is lined with tavernas and tapa bars.

Sahara Libre

No idea what this parade/protest was about, but it snarled traffic to get to the apartment (took an additional 20-30 mins). These pictures are on our street Calle Carretas.

On our way to Madrid Spain

The photos are out of order. When I get a chance, that will be corrected. We left Friday morning from Victoria at 9:15 am. We travelled via Seattle, Amsterdam arriving in Madrid at 12:30 pm on Saturday. Our good friends Paul and Anne's oldest son Ben is marrying a Spanish girl. We had to include the shot of the bare chested eastern European as seeing this was definitely a first in our travels.