Madrid

Today is a rest day from running since we had an early wake up call to fly to Madrid. Its a good thing too since my knee is bothering me, especially on stairs. I did find out that my timeshare reservation for a Boston hotel in 2010 came through and now all I need to do is qualify.

We arrived in Madrid at the hotel around 11am and headed out to Plaza Mayor and Plaza de la Puerta del Sol. Although the jury is still out, we like Barcelona much better than Madrid. Barcelona was spotless, with wonderful detail on the buildings and stamped design sidewalks. So far we haven't seen this in Madrid. In Plaza Mayor there were plenty of street performers including a man dressed in fruit. Outside of the Plaza Mayor and in del Sol we saw many beggars with missing limbs and deformed women.

Being disappointed in the shopping and very tired, we hopped on the metro back to the hotel for some rest. We had dinner in the hotel and the chicken paella at dinner with sangria was excellent. It is very light still in Madrid and I was amazed at how many people were out walking about and the number of open stores while on my hunt for an elephant ear pastry. I've decided those are the best desserts/pastries in Spain and now I'll have to search for the best one. The best one will most likely be the first one that I had, which was in Barcelona. It is very light still in Madrid and I was amazed at how many people were out walking about and the number of open stores.