First, Plaza Mayor- perhaps the most famous plaza in town. On one morning run, I jaunted up to the plaza and ran around it, then straight through the center to say hi to King Phillip III. (Mama Said Knock You Out was the soundtrack in my headphones, no lie.) I walked back later in the day for these pictures.
After Plaza Mayor, I continued walking down toward the palace. I got sidetracked at the giant church next to it, El Catedral de la Almudena. Not impressive at all on the outside (despite what that wiki link shows) but I really enjoyed looking around the interior. The ceilings were the most amazing part, but I was also drawn to the honoring of (I believe) Santa Maravillas de Jesus, and the clever little money saving ingenuity of the candle thingy (help me out, oh Catholic friends).
To wrap up, I walked through El Parque del Buen Retiro, a very large park in the middle of the city that alternates between family fun to lazy sitting areas to stately gardens to rustic pond hideaways. Alas, I've only got a few photos. The boat rental looked like fun and I was tempted momentarily but then I figured a lone woman out there would not only look peculiar but would leave me in the odd predicament of actually having to do the rowing myself.
To let you know Americans aren't the only ones, an advertisement for a rally back in May:
 |
| "We are not at the mercy of the politicians and bankers." |
No comments:
Post a Comment