Madrid, Spain

Our Madrid adventure started at the Puerta del Sol, a large public square in the centre of Madrid. Exiting the railway station we saw the statue of the bear and the strawberry tree. The statue is a representation of the emblem on the coat of arms of the city.

Next stop was Kilometre Zero, which now contains a plaque, but in its day was where all distances in the Spanish world were measured from.

We walked past the Palacio Real de Madrid (the royal palace) and the Madrid Cathedral to Templo de Debod. In 1960 the construction of the Aswan Dam in Egypt meant many significant sites were to be lost below the water. Spain provided knowledge and assistance to relocate many of these. Egypt thanked Spain by donating the 2^nd Century BC Temple which now stands in a park in Madrid.

We spent the rest of the day walking the streets marvelling at the ornate buildings, stopping for beer / wine and tapas when the mood took us.

Day 2. We headed straight to the Reina Sophia, Spain’s national museum of 20^th Century art. The curation of the gallery is interesting in that it is by theme or subject matter rather than by artist or time period. This gives the opportunity to see how different artists have tacked the same subject and allows you to review style, fashion and form. It was interesting to see the variation in Picasso and Salvador Dali’s works as their careers progressed.

The afternoon was spent walking through the Parque de El Retiro with its large glass house and massive lake.

Of course later we indulged in more wine and tapas, trying various bars and locations.