Hitting the Ground Walking

Thursday, November 13, 2025

This morning our son and his wife arrived from the West Coast after two nights of very little or no sleep. It was early and their room was not ready, so we decided to go on an orientation walk. We took them through Barrio de las Letras to Puerta del Sol.

Beautiful buildings that are typical of Madrid:

The wires are for Christmas decorations which will be put up soon

On many blocks in Madrid the corners have been blunted. This makes for larger plazas and a more open feel.

The iconic Tio Pepe sign at Puerta del Sol

Puerto del Sol is the literal center of Madrid. There is a plaque in the pavement marking “kilometer zero.” Numerous roads converge here, and it is always full of tour groups, tourists, buskers, hustlers, and Madrileños heading for the subway entrance. 

The person responsible for creating Puerta del Sol and adopting enlightened urban policies was King Charles III (1716-1788). His name keeps coming up as you tour the city.  A statue of Charles III occupies a place of honor in the center of the plaza behind us.

Photo from Shutterstock

If you could get close enough to the statue to see Charle’s face, this is the face you might see. This is a public domain portrait of Charles III painted by Anton Raphael Mengs around 1765. It now hangs in the Prado.

By the time Charles ascended to the throne of Spain, he was an educated and experienced ruler who endorsed many principles of the Enlightenment. He appointed capable ministers and enacted many reforms to modernize Spain and boost its economy. It must be said, however, that he owned many slaves in Spain and the new world. Historian Stanley Payne considers him “the most successful European ruler of his generation.” So, he is Spain’s Thomas Jefferson, maybe.

Nearby is the Plaza Mayor. In the 1600’s, Plaza Mayor was Madrid’s main square, not Puerta del Sol. It is a large square enclosed on all sides by four-story buildings. The square has been used for bullfights, Carnaval celebrations, and gruesome executions of victims of the Inquisition.

Photo, from Wikipedia, by Sebastian Dubiel

Next to the Plaza Mayor, we found the Mercado de San Miguel. It is a gourmet tapas market, full of interesting vendors and places to eat, but it was extremely crowded and chaotic. It was a little too much for our jet-lagged travelers, and also for me and Ken. It seemed it would be too much of a challenge to actually be able to get anything to eat. 

Photo, from Wikipedia, by Fernando

We quickly left the overwhelming market and walked a bit until we found a local chain restaurant where we could get a decent Spanish lunch.

We returned to our hotel, Scott and Keisha checked in, and we decided to meet up a few hours later for dinner.

They were still tired at dinner time, but they managed. We returned to the Barrio de las Letras for a lovely dinner at a place called Mas al Sur.

Today’s fabric is “Madrid Spain” by fluffystudio for Spoonflower.