These European capitals

never cease to fascinate and excite us and Madrid was no different. We spent the first day exhausting ourselves by walking everywhere in the heat. We learnt our lesson and on the second day we discovered the joy of the metro. We did enjoy the walking and discovered Madrid's main square the Plaza Mayor and its symmetrical buildings and interesting bars. One bar is a tribute to bullfighting. Here are a couple of pictures for the not so squeamish

The dude from the first photo survived. I think this is as close to bullfighting as we might get. The streets are interesting and the walk from here to the Royal Palace and cathedral was a maze of narrow alleys and plazas that demanded a stop and maybe a coffee and cake 

We had a fantastic time the following days at the Prado Museum, one of the foremost displays of classical art in the world. Filled with Goya, El Greco, Velazquez, Raphael, Picasso, Breughel, and too many others we say the highlights over a few hours. It is well presented and as usual, we have to shake ourselves to understand we are viewing the originals, so used are we to seeing photos or prints. 

We had an interesting time too at the Naval Museum tracing Spain's mighty naval history. This painting of Colombus was one of the masterpieces of this museum

But the real stand out were the incredible models and probably the building in which all this was housed. After a delicious lunch nearby, a three course meal with bread and beer/wine and coffee for ten euros, we had a relaxing stroll through Retiro Park.

From Madrid we headed north to El Escorial which we were keen to see as the Royal Palace in Madrid was closed for official functions for the two days we were there. El Escorial was the summer palace of the Kings and queens 

The highlight here was the library with its painted ceiling and of course beautiful ancient books. 

Over the past couple of days we have visited the towns of Segovia and Avila. We have enjoyed them both.  Segovia with its huge aqueduct which up till recently was still in use

and Avila with its intact and well preserved walls 

As you can see the weather has been very kind.  We are enjoying our road trip in our little car and Spanish roads are good. The food is great. Yesterday we splurged on a wonderful meal at a fantastic restaurant at Segovia, roast suckling lamb and vegetables. It was so delicious. As you can probably tell we are being more measured as we look after John's health. He has been OK but is conscious of being very careful. 

Happy holidays to all my teaching friends especially to those heading off on trips. Safe travels and look forward to swapping stories.