1.9.10

Madrid

On the way back to France, we made an overnight stop at Madrid. We had all been there before so we did not make any real sightseeing or museum visits … nor did we have the time.

Here are few illustrations of what we saw and did. The top picture is of course from Plaza Mayor, where also this charming flamenco dancer performed.

A few photos from around Puerta del Sol, some typical fans – “abanicos” - in a shop window and the crowd in the adjacent crowded street, Calle Preciados.
… and some from a tapas bar and (this time) from the outside of the famous restaurant “Sobrino de Botin”, pretending to be oldest restaurant in the world (from 1725), still in operation*. Hemingway was here also – of course – and refers to it in his “The Sun Also Rises”.

*/ “La Couronne” at Rouen pretends the same thing and was established in 1345, some 85 years before Joan of Arc was burnt on the place in front of it. Of course, real restaurants hardly existed before the late 18th century; you could rather talk about taverns, or just a place to eat, no menu available.
Sorry, but we did not buy any ham… although they are excellent!
Finally, these pictures from the road. You can still see the famous “Osborne” bulls around, but now all in black. The windmills of Don Quixote (Don Quijote) have been replaced by wind turbines.
(You may wish to refer to my previous holiday posts – Bilbao, Salamanca, Lisbon, Sintra – Cabo da Roca – Cascais, Sesimbra.)

15 comments:

Ruth said...

Real restaurant or tavern, the oldest or not, they all look cozy and inviting, so warm. I wonder how the next Don Quijote movie will be, with Robert Duvall, if it ever gets finished.

Good to see you back in the swing, Peter. I missed you.

Thérèse said...

All the grace, the seriousness and the realities of traveling in Spain!

claude said...

Merci pour cette visite Peter !
Je suis alllée, quand j'étais jeune, es Espagne plusieurs, mais je ne connais pas Madrid
Nous allions en camping près de Tarragone sur la Costa Doarada.
Nous avions fait qq visites alentours et sommes passés, une fois dans un village aux volets fermés au moment de la sieste, au linge qui pendait aux fenêtres.
Un tour aussi à Barcelone, et c'est à peu peu près tous de ce que j'ai de ce pays. Le flamenco, j'adore !

Adam said...

125kmh! You must have been in a hurry to get home!

joanna said...

Interesting,lively, and a lovely flamenco dancer, too.

Joanny

lyliane six said...

Nous avons tiré les mêmes photos et voyagés dans les mêmes endroits. As tu rencontré Trotter?
Sans avoir regardé ton blog, j'ai mis sur le mien, ce matin, une vidéo faite à Cordoue en Juin, les grands esprits se rencontrent.......

EMNM said...

Madrid? that´s sounds me...
Next trip let me know Peter

Nice post ;)

Berit said...

Exciting pictures:)

Have a nice evening.

Berit.

Simony said...

The building in the first picture took my breath away! I love fresco on walls.
Yes, the ham looks tempting!
Great trip, Peter.

BLOGitse said...

Hola!
Tapas...yummy!
I'm going to post my tapas pics later this week...oh, I'm suddenly hungry!

Rakesh Vanamali said...

Marvelous pictures, as always!

La Couronne seems interesting and does wear that yesteryears look! A lot of interesting artifacts on its walls too!

Thanks very much for sharing!

sonia a. mascaro said...

I would love to know Madri...
Beautiful the collection of fans!

Unknown said...

Madrid me encanta! :-)
Great detail of the Plaza Mayor!

Trotter said...

We have it all here!!

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