More Day One - Madrid
Moorish Ruins
Apparently there are Moorish ruins everywhere and it is difficult to build in Madrid because of it.
The Royal Palace
Built in the prevailing style of the 17th century, this ostentatious display of tacky grandeur is mostly empty.
View of Madrid from the Royal Palace
More View from the Palace
Pretty ugly, huh?
Teatro Real
The Royal Theatre was renovated in the 90's
and is now the most technologically advanced Opera house in the world.
Still, it only holds 1,500 people.
Neat Statue of King Ferdinand II
The neat thing about this statue is that only the two hind legs of the
horse are holding it up. The tail and the two front
hooves do not touch the base. It's the
first of it's kind. Galileo himself did the calculations to make
sure it wouldn't
topple over.
Alex and Sarra in front of Don Quixote and Sancho Panza
We're not really sure what this says about our relationship, but Al's DQ impression leaves a lot to be desired.
Egyptian Ruins
Yes, we're still in Madrid. Egypt sent this really old monument
over stone by stone as thanks for Spain's help in building
the Suez canal.
Same Ruins, new angle
Alex wanted this pic 'cause it reminded him of the Judas Priest "Sin After Sin" album cover. Pretty neat, huh? As we left this monument, down the hill we saw a dead cat and a huge pile of manure, plus lots of kissing teenagers. Nothing says romance like dead cats and horseshit.
Memorial in Plaza del Colon (Columbus Plaza)
Behind the camera in this picture is a statue of Christopher Columbus.
We're right in the heart of the shopping district.
There was some pretty expensive stuff right
around the corner, but nowhere (we discovered to our chagrin) to eat.