Madrid, April 3

We were we were nearly overwhelmed by the size of the city, but after a day of walking to Plaza Mayor and Catedral de la Almudena, we were fairly comfortable with crowds and narrow streets where all you can see is buildings and a tiny piece of sky.  Spain is full of wonderful architecture  

Clockwise from upper left: Cathedral, inside the Cathedral, the National Palace, a church

 and tasty food.

Clockwise from upper left: Spanish ham (famous cured hams from pigs with black hooves), olives and more olives, an angler fish (aka monk fish, very tasty), and strawberries.

Clockwise from upper left: moca, tapas (fried fish, shrimp, and squid), famous choros and hot chocolate (very thick), and creme brúlee 

We especially enjoyed the street entertainers in the plazas. 

We braved public transit on our second day, entering the underground terminals at plaza Puerta del Sol where you walk down to buy tickets to the metro, then down to the level of the metro, then down to buy tickets to the train, then down to the train.  We were were deep underground, but the public transit system is easy to navigate.  We traveled 10 minutes to Atocha Station and walked up to visit Parque del Retiro.  

Unfortunately the park (at least a mile square) was closed because a child had been killed by a falling tree, so they were doing maintenance.  It was a stormy day, so we walked and visited coffee shops all the way around the park and eventually ended up at Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza, where we viewed works of famous artists from all over Europe.