01 - Madrid

Madrid, Capital of Spain. I got in a few hours before the rest of the gang. I had spoken to some guys on the flight over from Frankfurt, who had given me tips on where to eat, and outlined a LONG walk from one end of old Madrid to the other. Since the others' flight was delayed, I decided to explore the route and here is what I saw.

Department of Telecommunications building



hurray for the Tripod !



The Metropolis hotel building - in a halo !



I liked the screens they put up in some of the 'walk only streets' Almost all of old town Madrid is walk only - a common theme throughout Spain.



Inside a Iberian Ham store. The ham is cured for as long as two years and can cost a pretty penny (or more like 200+ Euros a Kg)



What?? It was a nice bridge and road.



Palacio Real - The royal Family still lives in there



Front entrance to the Palace.. loving the wide angle lens.



Interesting lighting



Plaza Mayor



Palacio Real - Twilight



And the rest of the party shows up - the church opposite the palace



TAPAS !! notice the little worm like things - I STILL have no clue what they were... but they were GOOD




Plaza de ... err.. something (I'm thinking Espana) in front of the car rental office


Outside the Prado Museum - Special exhibition hoarding



It was a LARGE museum... Largest art collection in the world... only 8-10% is on display at any given time... you get numb to the quality of art and bombardment of master after master - any other museum would have any been happy with any ONE of those as their main draw



mmm... pastry...




took the rest of the gang to the Telecommunications building


I have no idea ..



Afros in Spain... !




Walking to Plaza Mayor - this time with the troops.. another tripod beauty



Prateek and I at Plaza Mayor.. respite in the middle of a long hot day...



.....



Back at Plaza Espana - waiting for the car rental place to reopen after siesta...



El Escorial - the royal family is now buried here.. an imposing building.. try to find prateek and me...