Madrid, Spain

Madrid   —   October 8, 2021

   Leaving behind Lisbon, Portugal, we grabbed a cab and headed for the airport. After all the paperwork was complete we had our boarding passes and were soon in the air on an  Air France flight to Madrid.

   Fortunately, there were no glitches and we were soon in a taxi on our way to the Emperador Hotel.  The

Emperador is a beautiful building, ornately decorated with a feeling of luxury. Our room was comfortable and beautiful. I would like to say it was spacious but I cannot. However, it was adequate.

   For our first day in Madrid, we scheduled a walking tour through old town. We met our tour guide on this free walking tour in one of the town squares. He was a young man who can speak faster than a computer could print. He had a large folder filled with black and white and color, 8 x 10 photographs. He knew a large amount of history and made the tour interesting. He pointed out buildings that were centuries old businesses that were still doing the same business for hundreds of years. Many of those old buildings were the same hotel, bar, or restaurant all these years  and even still owned by the same family. Yes it was very interesting.

   Next we visited a local park in the central part of Madrid called Parque del Retiro . This park is Madrid’s Centeal Park and is very similar to New York City’s Central Park. The lake inside the park dates back to about the 15th century. It was made so the king and queen could watch staged battles between ships on the water as created by the people wanting to entertain their king. Today it’s used by the locals for canoeing, boating or feeding fish and ducks. 

 We found a stand selling gelato. It was very tasty!

   After dinner, our last evening, we discovered the top floor of our hotel  that contained a lounge, food and drinks and  a swimming pool, with awesome panoramic views of Madrid’s night lights.  Pretty cool!  The swimming pool looked inviting but because of the cool night air, we opted to stay dry instead. 

Mike