Madrid Day 2

I started my day with shockingly breakfast at the hotel.  It was very similar to the Barcelona breakfast but I do think the Barcelona breakfast was a tad better but at least Madrid still had my melon.  My only complaint was the itty bitty juice glasses so you had to take two.

I thought that my people (Egypt) gave Barcelona the Temple de Debod but I was mistaken we gave it to Madrid so that was my first stop...or so I thought.  The park it's in is huge & I didn't take the most direct path so I got a little turned around in the park which lead me to this beautiful huge garden.  It was ginormous & half of it was roped off so obviously I only got to go through part of it.  Mom, you would have loved it.  I decided it was time to search for the Temple de Debod again so I broke out my iPad for the mapping & that was obviously a huge help.  On my way to the Temple de Debod I saw these stairs going up so I figured they don't look so bad so I'll just take these.  Ok, so about halfway up I was regretting my decision but I wasn't going to turn back now.  Once I got to the top & was able to catch my breath (not even kidding) I had to take a photo of what I just walked up.  If you look at the very bottom of the stairs you'll see something small...that's a person!  Now you see why I was out of breath.  Ah, I finally made it to the temple & got a nice lady (can't remember where she was from but she spoke English) to take a photo of me there.

On my way out of the park (the direct route) I saw this little schnauzer who had HUGE donkey-like ears.  I tried to get a photo of him from the front but he wouldn't let me so this is the best shot of his donkey-like ears I could get.  I then headed to the Museo Cerralbo.  This place had some serious chandeliers & amazing pieces including this table of swords.

I was on my way to the Paseo del Prado when Michael I found your green vespa/scooter & the guy was just emptying out his stuff & then he said he'd get it shipped to you.  I took a ton of photos along the way & saw this cute little dog that had the closest to Ollie's sweet face that I've seen since I left.  They had these cool planters in one of the little square-type areas.  As I'm walking I look over & see probably the most random thing I've ever seen in a park or maybe anywhere before...a pair of shoes, a cucumber & a couple of tomatoes all sitting on a park bench.

I headed to the Naval Museum as it was included in my Madrid Card & it was right there.  This is how they get you...even though you're admission was included they still ask for a 3 Euro donation.  I told the lady never mind then cause I was just going in there cause it was included & then she laid this whole guilt trip so I paid the stupid 3 Euros.  I passed back by the park bench with the shoes & the veggies & they were still there & not a soul around & it was like 30 minutes later.

Next I headed to the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum & the Prado Museum where unfortunately I couldn't take any photos.  The Thyssen was pretty cool & not too big.  The Prado however was extremely overwhelming (Cara S. you were right) & I didn't stay there long but I did get to see Goya's period of Black Paintings which was pretty cool.  There's this gorgeous old cathedral next to the Prado I just wish I could've seen the inside of it.

All over Madrid are these beautiful birds with this blueish tint & extra long tail.  Mom, do you know what they are?  After I left the Prado I headed to the Real Jardin Botanica.  It was beautiful & this was my favorite flower photo.  I came across this thing & it looked like "Cousin It" from the Adam's Family.  I saw this tree that looked really cool because it was so symmetrical & then I stumbled across the tree whose trunk was so crazy it almost didn't look real.

I left the botanical garden & headed down the street.  From a little bit away I saw what I thought was street vendors so I decided to walk by.  They were street vendors but they appeared to be more gypsy-like as they were selling totally random stuff like a pair of jeans, a pair of shoes, a camera, etc.  It was totally stuff they either found or stole.  Once I got through them all with a tight grip on my camera & my bag I had to take a far away shot of this.

Then I headed to the Reina Sofia.  The Reina Sofia is spread out on a lot of floors & you can either take the stairs or wait with everyone else for the itty bitty elevators so I took the stairs.  That was a big mistake.  I rolled my ankle about a week before I left for my trip & it had been ok the whole trip until after the Reina.  I knew I had to take it easy from here on out I was just so glad that if this was gonna flare up again that it was at almost the end of my trip.  It actually hurt worse now than when I did it.

I had heard from the girls & they were taking naps & we were going to meet up for a tapas crawl at 830.  So I started the slow walk (thanks to my jacked ankle) back to my hotel.  On my way I came across this enormous wall of greenery (attached is a photo) & was something I had definitely not ever seen before.  I was almost at my hotel when I noticed a couple of people taking a photo of this lion statue & then I noticed that one of the people was a midget.  So this photo of the midget taking a photo of the lion is for you Brendan & no I didn't go up & pat him on the head.

I stopped in the restaurant in my hotel for a small snack of a glass of wine & garlic potatoes...yum!! I finished up & then went to rest a bit & then get ready to go meet the girls.  Here's Robyn & I in the Plaza Mayor.  And then the tapas crawl started.  Here's what's crazy about Madrid there were a lot of places we went where we just ordered a drink & they brought out free food.  Which is how we came across one of our favorites...fried cod.  It was absolutely sinful but we did NOT care!  Here's a picture of us getting ready to partake & we still ate the ones Robyn accidentally spilled on the counter.  Our other favorite food of the night was Iberico Jamon wrapped around the Pimiento de Padrons.  Absolutely amazing!!  They were both SO good that there was not a clear winner but we couldn't stop talking about them all night.  As you can see with Stacy's assistance mullets are still a thing in Madrid but I didn't see them as much as I did in Barcelona.  Here's Faith & I outside one of the places we went.  It had been a fun but late night & it was time to go home.  We had already decided we weren't setting alarms & we were going to sleep in & have an easy day.  It was so great to see old friends & we picked up right where we left off.  I can't believe tomorrow's my last day in Madrid let alone Spain!!