Madrid: Day One

I have to admit, I was a bit nervous that we (my husband, 'D',  and I) were going to actually make it out of Chicago. First, the cab that we reserved did not show up. Next, in a new cab (that required an extra 10 minutes of walking), we merged onto I-90/94 and just sat. And sat. And sat. And then the skies opened up and a torrential downpour commenced - there was a clear forecast (umm, fail?)! And we were still sitting. After convincing the cab driver to get us to the closest El stop, we ran with our luggage (in the pouring rain) to catch the Blue line to O'Hare. We made it to our gate with time to spare, but found out shortly thereafter that the plane was not at the gate because it was also stuck in traffic - ohhh, the irony. After a delayed boarding, we made it on to the plane - yay! No. The weather was not done with us. It began to pour again, resulting in a ground stop and a 2 hour delay. But, we made it out! Hola, Espana!

Today we had to force ourselves to adjust to a new time zone - a seven hour time change. In honor of D's father, we did a forced march around the Madrid districts of El Retiro, Huertas and Toledo - roughly 8 miles.  Our initial march started off at the Parque del Buen Retiro, right near our hotel. We had a goal - to find the oldest tree in Madrid. It took us about 2 hours to find it - mostly because it was right in front of us at the main entrance to the park, a rectangular section called the Paseo Parterre. Additional oddities in this section were some strange, perfectly pruned trees that strongly resembled broccoli.

Madrid's oldest tree, planted in 1633

D sitting underneath the broccoli trees.

We did part of a bus tour, but true to form, I fell asleep almost immediately after the bus started moving and eventually whacked my head on D's shoulder. We had to get off the bus and start walking. Luckily, there are many beautiful cathedrals in Madrid which made the walk back towards the Parque del Buen Retiro much more enjoyable. The Basilica de San Francisco El Grande had a beautiful garden and a lovely view of the city.  About 2 blocks up the road was the Catedral de la Almudena which features stunning carved artwork on its front doors.

D and me in the garden at the Basilica de San Francisco El Grande

The front doors of the Basilica de San Francisco El Grande

On our way back, we encountered several street artists. For some reason, the noises they made to attract interest (strange chirping and squeaking sounds) fascinated me. This particular street artist completely captivated me - ooo - shiny and sparkly!

Street artist

We were headed back to the Parque del Buen Retiro for one purpose - to see one of the few statues of the devil (in the world!!). This statue is called El Angel Caido or "The Fallen Angel." Quick weird fact: this statue sits exactly 666 m above sea level. Definitely strange.

El Angel Caido

D and I have now been up for about 30 hours straight. After some well needed rest, we plan to see the Museo del Prado, take a boat ride at the Palace de Cristal and go see a bullfight - all tomorrow!