Madrid Spain

 Our Presidents Day adventure took us to Madrid Spain. A wonderful city with a friendly atmosphere.  My Spanish is no better than my French, but communication seem easier. We spent almost 4 days in a city that had KFC, BurgerKing, McDonald's and Starbucks. I heavily used the Starbucks where I ordered my American coffee and enjoyed every drop.
We did the usual tour of the city and spent time watching the street performers in the plazas. They had some things we had not seen like these levitated folks.

 

 

 

 

While we were there, protests were being held. Several times traffic was blocked by peaceful protesters walking in large groups. It seems they are unhappy about the austerity programs. My understanding is that there are many governmental cuts.

 

As with any trip to a 1st world county we frequent grocery stores and admire the pork selection. We found this store along the main walk between Isabella plaza and Puerta Del Sol.

 

We returned from Spain with 10+ pounds of hot dogs. The all American food right?



My Knight near shining armor

We also ventured into the county side to visit Avila and Segovia.  Both were fascinating towns with old churches, monasteries, and synagogues from early times. We visited a castle which sat high on a hill and the river had cut cliffs so it was only accessible one way.

Segovia also boasts of Roman aqueducts 16 km long and intact. It was impressive considering they were built in 77 AD with no mortar.