I'm in Spain!

It feels so good to finally be traveling outside the US; its been awhile.  I flew in to Madrid by way of Atlanta, and arrived Saturday morning.   Once in Madrid I planned on taking the Metro to the hotel, which worked fine, but jeez, it was 8 miles through the airport to the Metro station.  The stop, Principe Pio, is right across the street from the hotel, so I didn't have to haul luggage through the streets.  I did pack light - just a carry on - so I won't be buying much.
I got to the hotel about noon, checked in, and unlike other places I've been they have an elevator.  Of course its the size of a tiny closet, but no dragging suitcases up 5 flights of stairs.  Yeah!
I went out immediately, to the palace gardens right across the street, then up around the cathedral and palace, and back to the hotel.
The weather was gorgeous, so there were lots of families out walking in the gardens and playing in the park.  Most were 1 child families.  Also lots of lovers, very public with their affection.  Outside the palace were tourists, musicians, artists, schoolgirls, and locals enjoying the sunshine.

Madrid is a relatively new city, for Europe.  Although there have been settlements here for eons, it was not a place of note until the Muslims built a fortress here in the 9th century.

remains of the Muslim fortress

Conquered by Christians in 1085, King Phillip II moved the court here in 1561, and Madrid became the political center of Spain.

Phillip V built the Royal Palace, and 

the most important Bourbon was King Charles III of Spain, who was known as "the best mayor of Madrid". Charles III took upon himself the feat of transforming Madrid into a capital worthy of this category. He ordered the construction of sewers, street lighting, cemeteries outside the city, and many monuments (Puerta de Alcalá, Cibeles Fountain), and cultural institutions (El Prado Museum, Royal Botanic Gardens, Royal Observatory, etc.). 

Saturday evening a friend and I went to San Miguel Market for tapas.  Yum!

Sunday morning I went to the Prado.  What a privilege to see Spanish artistic heritage on display.  Velazquez, Titian, El Greco, and Goya on display for me and all the world to see.  No picture taking allowed, but here is a sampling of what I saw:

La reina Isabel de Borbón, a caballo

Las Meninas

I walked back to the hotel from the museum, downhill toward the Manzanares river.  In the evening our group met up for the first time.  Ends up one of the people used to teach at Hays, and we are all connected through friends of friends.  I am looking forward to the journey.
More pictures here.