If it's Tuesday, This Must be Belgium - 7/1/08

Welcome to this week's edition of If It's Tuesday, This Must be Belgium.

This week is brought to you by the country...Spain.  (Yes, I do occasionally stay in Belgium, though I just got back from a long weekend in Paris...more about that in a later post).

A week or so ago (the time is blurring a lot lately), immediately after attending a meeting in Rome and my son's graduation on Cape Cod (near Boston), he and I jaunted off to Spain.  We visited Madrid, Valencia and Barcelona.  Given that I took close to a thousand photos (and he probably did the same), let's start with a highlights tour of Madrid.  I'll fill in details in future posts (like after I run out of vacation time and actually have to spend some time in Belgium).

Madrid was grand.  It was warm (sometimes hot) and sunny (very sunny).  After getting pretty much sun-dried and fried in Massachusetts I added to the redness on my face and neck with three days of almost constant sunshine in Madrid (even the sudden downpour we got caught out in was a welcome relief).

We arrived from our long overnight flight from the States in the early morning Madrid time.  After dumping our bags in the hotel we headed out for a day of street hiking and an urban photographic safari.  We weren't disappointed.

Our first stop was what I think was the Museo Naval (Naval Museum), or at least part of the building on Plaza de Cebeles.

And the nearby Puerta del Alcala

A hefty walk up the Calle de Alcala brought us to the bull ring (Plaza de Toros Monumental).  Interestingly, we were told the next day that bull fighting had been losing favor in Spain, and they expected that there would be no bullfights in Madrid before too long. [Obviously, the issue is animal cruelty.]

There was this cool sculpture in front of it.  This is a lousy photo but gives you an idea at least.

Also nearby was the Parque de El Retiro, a huge park filled with forest paths and of course a huge artificial pond and monument.  [Ignore the un-photogenic guy who wandered into the photo :)]

Once I got around to the other side I couldn't resist a few photos of the sculptures (I admit to being a sculpture nut).  Here's just one.

Madrid, like every other European city, has at least one major plaza...the most famous in Madrid being (what else), the Plaza Mayor.  They were setting up for some sort of event so here's a small portion of it.

Being a big catholic country, there are churces everywhere.  This one is the Catedral de La Almudena.

Immediately next door is the Palacio Real (the Royal Palace), which I actually got to tour inside (but no photos inside, please).

I couldn't resist a close up of one of the cool looking lamp posts in the plaza.

Finally, what would a highlights tour of Madrid be without....an Egyptian temple given by Egypt when it was threatened by the building of the Aswan Dam. (Thanks so much to Dorine for correcting me when I incorrectly labeled it as Roman...seems I've been in so many places - including Rome - the last few weeks has done something to my memory...argh.  See Dorine's comment below for links to some information about the Temple.)

Phew...I think that's enough for today.  Appropriately enough, the Europe 2008 football (i.e., soccer) tournament was ongoing while we were in Spain.  And then my last night in Paris over this past weekend was watching Spain beat Germany to win the tournament.  I found myself routing for the Spanish team, since after a week there I felt a kindred spirit.  (Perhaps next time I'll be in Germany and will route for them!)

Still lots of photos and experiences to come.  Valencia, Barcelona, Prague (which is my excursion this coming weekend), and more details from Rome and Madrid and Paris will give me plenty of fodder for future weeks of If It's Tuesday, This Must be Belgium.

Thanks all.  Adios amigos.