Madrid, Spain

Madrid, Spain

We traveled to Madrid for a Tuesday meeting I had at our Rivas factory near Madrid.  We left Basel on Friday afternoon and were in Madrid Friday evening.

Our Saturday was pretty rainy, so we did some indoor touring, including the Royal Palace of Madrid (we went back there on Sunday to see what the outside looks like in fair weather).
The picture below is the front of the palace, with a courtyard facing the Almudena Cathedral:


The picture below is from the back of the palace, a garden and fountains that was private, now open as a park:

The entry of the palace :


I took this picture earlier (last summer), then I didn't realize you are not allowed to take pictures:

On our walk on Sunday, near the Temple de Debod, we got another good view of Palace and Cathedral:

   

Below is the Temple de Debod, which was a gift from Egypt, an existing temple, taken apart and shipped from Egypt to Madrid:  Spain defeated the Turks in in the late 1500s and drove out most Muslims.



Mayor Square in the center of the city:

One of the gates to the city (Alcala Gate): 

Below is the Cibeles Fountain, an icon of the city of Madrid:

We were really amazed at the architecture and how well preserved the building are, in the center of the city:








We found the chocolate shop that Susan had on her list of places to see:

Churros dipped into their  hot chocolate.

Below, Susan is in front of the oldest restaurant, still in service, in the world.  Since 1725:

The photos below are from the Mercado de San Miguel, a food market:












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