A bus to Logan Airport from Hartford, a flight to London Gatwick, a flight to Madrid. First thing I realized when I collected my kit was some baggage handler decided that my trekking pole was something he apparently needed more than I did because after over 12 flights with the pole stopped to my backpack, it along with a wee flask were nicked.
The first surprise I got in Madrid was getting off the airport shuttle and into a hail shower! I did not think my Trespass would get a use so early. Exiting the airport I met this guy.
My Hotal is located just steps from Plazas Mayor de Sol in the heart of the city. After settling into my small, nice, clean and inexpensive Victoria Hotal II, I went for a walk to get my local bearings. Sol was hopping. Although this mini tub or deep shower base I found odd.
The first go to tourist hook is the symbol of a bear and a strawberry tree!?! The bear has represented the city on it’s shield since the early 1200’s with the tree added a couple hundred years later. Bears populated many of Madrid’s forests where trees produced fruit that looked like strawberries, hence they were named “strawberry trees or the strawberry bush” (Madroño in Spanish). At times bears were even seen to be a little tipsy after eating over-ripened fruit.
The day cleared up as quickly as it had turned bad so I went for a stroll to get my bearings. The plaza is a hub of activity with musicians and street mimes keeping everyone entertained. There were a lot of street mimes in Barcelona when I was there in January and so I wasn’t surprised to see them in Madrid. It was amazing how long this lad could grab the big air
He can hold that position because he is laying on a support frame.
My favorite is this headless character I was all over the city as it turned out.
And the street musicians reminded me of the Pipe band video I saw on Buchanan St Glasgow posted on my Bill Blackwell Youtube channel, with the local flair.
I first saw theses vendors in Barcelona. You can see that the tarps they display their goods on are roped so that as a police officer approaches they can quickly scoop everything up and move on. It seems a bit of a game as the police don’t seem to bother them if they relocate, but I was told that if the police catch a buyer, they fine the buyer the amount what the tax on the item would be and they base the tax number on the cost of the real item not the vendors knockoffs.
Charles III 1758 -1788 and arguably one of the homeliest monarchs to sit on a throne as later paintings will show.
A couple blocks away in the Plaza de Santa Ana I found a statue of Garcia Locra first brought to my intention in college when listening to Jacques Brel Is Alive and well and Living in Paris, which is still nearly 50 years later, my favorite musical.
Federico del Sagrado Corazón de Jesús García Lorca, known as Federico García Lorca; 5 June 1898 – 19 August 1936) was a Spanish poet, playwright, and theatre director.
García Lorca achieved international recognition as an emblematic member of the Generation of ’27, a group consisting of mostly poets who introduced the tenets of European movements (such as symbolism, futurism, and surrealism) into Spanish literature. He was executed by Nationalist forces at the beginning of the Spanish Civil War. His body has never been found. In 2008, a Spanish judge opened an investigation into Lorca’s death. The García Lorca family eventually dropped objections to the excavation of a potential gravesite near Alfacar, but no human remains were found.
Some of the shops and restaurants are finely decorated.
This one in tiles.
One of Madrid arches
I would become familiar with the Museum of Ham
Always remember to look up as you never know who’s watching you.
And sometimes you see something odd with no explanation for it. Like this photo:
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