The Traveling Blogcrastinator: Hitting La Tierra Running

We landed in Madrid at 7:15 in the morning. We walked for about 20 minutes to get to the luggage claim area! This airport seems bigger than Atlanta's. We found the "Left Luggage" office - not without some difficulty - and left one of our bags there. Then we grabbed a cab and headed for our hotel.

Of course it was too early to check in, but the nice people at the desk told us we could leave our bags with the bellman and partake of the breakfast. I wasn't very hungry, but it was nice to have some strong coffee and a preview of what we can expect tomorrow morning at breakfast time.

Soon it was time to walk to Puerta del Sol to join our first tour. It took us less than ten minutes to walk there. Many of the streets had beautiful tiles serving as street signs.

We found the guides from OGO with their green umbrellas.

Our guide was Tatiana, originally from Kyrgyzstan. She spoke very good English. Our group, limited to 20, had people from Europe, South Africa, and Australia. Not all of them spoke English as their first language.

This two and a half hour walking tour was a good introduction to Madrid.

Puerta del Sol is a big, busy square. We immediately noticed the statue of a bear reaching up to a tree. It seemed out of proportion (and out of place - are there bears here?). Tatiana told us it is part of the coat of arms of Madrid. The tree is a "strawberry tree." (Wait, strawberries don't grow on trees.) Tatiana said she would show us one of the trees at the end of the tour. She did. It was a small tree, so the bear is not too far out of proportion.

The coat of arms of Madrid shows a bear eating from a "strawberry tree."

The starting point for all roads in Spain - Kilometer Zero.

The oldest hotel in Madrid

Tatiana talks about ham.
Look at the hams high up on the wall. We saw this everywhere.

The Plaza Mayor
The Plaza Mayor has been the scene of markets, bullfights, football games, public executions, and, during the Inquisition, autos da fe against supposed heretics.

We saw a lot of street performers. Many had some variation of this tableau.

We got to go inside Botin, "the oldest restaurant in the world." They have a certificate from Guiness to prove it.

Vegetarians: don't look! Botin specializes in suckling pig

Lots of Spanish kings have eaten at Botin. Hemingway ate here, too.

The gourmet food market

Beautiful wrought-iron balconies everywhere. Mustn't forget to always look up.

Elbow Street

Almudena Cathedral

Almudena Cathedral stands on the site of Madrid's first mosque. The exterior was a striking fusion of Gothic revival, neo-classical and neo-baroque. Surprisingly, construction took place from 1879-1993. We didn't have a chance to go inside on our tour. Apparently the interior is stunning. If we go back to Madrid we will have to make a visit here.