Day 2 was on our own around the city of Madrid. We flew out of LAX early
Monday morning on day 1 to New York, then got a red eye from New York
to Madrid that put us to our hotel around 9:00 in the morning on day 2.
The only way to get acclimated to the time change is to stay awake all
day, so we decide to take our own tour around Madrid.
We know we are going to go to the Prado tomorrow with the city tour,
so on the advice of our tour director, we take a bus to the downtown shopping
area...
...and end up in the Plaza del Sol. It's interesting being here so late
in the year. The weather is nice, if a little cold, and everywhere we
go people are getting ready for Christmas. There are even signs everywhere
advertising the "Black Friday" sales (in English).
The "Museum of Ham", where you can buy Iberian hams or just
have them make you a sandwich.
Of all the restaurants we did NOT expect to see in Madrid, we were shocked
to see a Steak 'n' Shake. We had just eaten lunch, too, or we might actually
have stopped in.
We decide to go to a different museum than the Prado, so we head to
the north end of the Avenida del Prado and the Archeological Museum. Spain,
of course, was a Roman colony before the Moorish invasion, so there is
plenty of history and archeology to go around.
Walking back down the Avenida del Prado is what used to be a gateway
into the city.
Paralleling the Avenida del Prado is the Parque de el Retiro. Think Central
Park for scale...
...with a lake in the middle with rowboats...
...and a surprising amount of wildlife.
That evening we get our briefing from the tour director, and go to bed
