Going Full Circle

We made a great big circle of downtown Madrid this afternoon. We began by looking for a place at the Atocha Train Station to change money to Euros since some places won't accept credit cards...especially if it's not over 10 Euro. After walking around the atrium for about 30 minutes, we finally figured out what the map was trying to tell us. After changing the money, we set out to see the sights of Madrid.


First off, we spent between 3 and 4 hours at El Parque Del Retiro, a public park full of statues, fountains, and interesting structures. We ate our lunch at a kiosk of sorts. Ales de pollo al barbacoa. We then found a neat little rose garden, a Crystal Palace hosting 4 casts by an American sculptor, ponds, monuments, and much more.

After the parque, we made our way to Plaza de la Puerta Del Sol. We passed several more monuments and fountains on the way there. Once at the Plaza, we found a wonderful pastry shop. We had a Napoleon al Chocolate, a Napoleon a la Crema, and a couple of chocolate truffles. Words cannot describe...just saying. Just up the road from there, we found a churreria and had Chocolate con Churros. Wow, so good!

We then made our way to the Palacio Royal, and walked around the gardens. It was too late to get tickets to get into the Plaza, so we continued onward. The Cathedral was having a special event tonight, so the square out front was packed with people. My guess is a special concert.

After the palacio, we went and got some empanadas at the market. Sherry Ann had a cod-filled empanada, and I enjoyed a pollo con queso. Then we walked to the Plaza Mayor and sat for a while people-watching. We finally made it back to the hotel just after 9:00. I have 35,640 steps on my tracker, and Sherry Ann has well over 38,000. We are EXHAUSTED!

We had issues with downloading the pictures.  Here is a sample of them and we´ll try to get them into video form tomorrow or Sunday.  We are too exhausted to do any more with them today.  :)