Madrid day 1 (Sunday, October 26th)

Madrid is the largest city in Spain and third largest in the EU, with a population of 3.3 million (6.5 million in the metropolitan area), and I think that every one of them was on the street today, as movement in the central core was very slow.

It was an awkward day....daylight saving ended last night, so we headed out at 9 am when it was already well light, and we were still out in the heat of the afternoon, when we should have been napping. 

First stop was Buen Retiro park, known for the quantity of statues within its 350 acres.  Randy and I (now aka Statler & Waldorf) decided that we could do with a little more exercise so we worked out on the exercise bikes in the park (or perhaps we were just happy to sit down). 

We stopped to watch the first 50 or so runners cross the finish line in a local 10 km race, then wandered through the rose gardens and on to the Crystal Palace, which might have been more interesting if there were something going on inside it. 

Next stop was the lake in front of the memorial to Carlos XII (the dude on the horse), where we sat and listened to a local quartet playing a medley of jazz songs, and watched the locals enjoying Sunday in the park.

We exited the park on one of the statue-lined paseos onto Calle de Alfonzo XII. 

At the Puerta de Alcala we went left on Calle de Alcala, heading toward Puerta del Sol and Plaza Mayor.  Calle de Alcala is lined with impressive buildings, mainly from the early 20th century, such as the Palacio de Communicaciones shown below. 

We had a short break for a coffee and sweet before continuing on our quest.  We passed one of the best statue mimes that I have seen, so had to take his photo (and drop a coin in his hat). 

It is hard to believe that the Spanish economy is in trouble when you see the number of people in the Apple Store in Puerta del Sol. They were doing a roaring trade!

We made it to Plaza Mayor, but the crowds there and in Puerta Del Sol, and everywhere in between, were crazy, so we headed home via some quieter streets. 

Puerta del Sol, from the Apple store

It was after 3 pm when we arrived back at the hotel, hot and exhausted, but somewhat satisfied to know that today we broke the 500 km walking milestone on our trip.  So now the pressure is off. 

We don't have big plans for tomorrow....just to get some rest before our 3:15 am departure from the hotel on Tuesday.  We are all now in "going home" mode.