Madrid

Lleida to Madrid was about a six-hour drive and we had our sights on strolling through El Rastro, Madrid’s every Sunday open air flea market. Merchants fold up their tents and tables at 3:00 so we got an early start. Craggy hills to wide open plains. The Osborne bull: 46 ft high black silhouetted image of a bull in semi-profile. Swatches of windmills. Towns with prominent domed churches. An army procession. Even a rainbow.

Got to Madrid a little before 2:00. So much for strolling. Greg dropped Pam and me off and arranged a meeting place around 3:00. Never underestimate two women on a mission.

We shopped and took in about as much as either of us needed. Met back up with Greg and had our first empanadas. They would’ve been better hot. Then it was off to find our apartment. We drove around our elbow to get to our nose before realizing we had only been a few blocks away—it was very centrally located and made our couple of days in Madrid easy to maneuver by foot.

Retiro Park (Parque del Retiro) was our first stop…well, after our fresh pastries, of course. Our time was limited so we opted to do the Hop On Hop Off. Feel like we got a good feel for the overview but not much in depth. Have to say, I’m about done with cities. Yes, I know there is much history and art and architecture. But there are so many people and so much noise and so much action that I am overwhelmed. Parks give me a sense of a people’s priorities and a bit of peace in the midst of chaos. Ate fresh seafood paella for lunch and called it good. 

But Greg was not done. He wanted to go to a real flamenco

show. Pam & I resisted. He won. Villa Rosa, founded in 1911, was only about a block away at Plaza de Santa Ana. Oh. My. It was delightful. The venue was a room floor to ceiling in old tile work. The show was passionate and entertaining. We had great seats and good eats/drinks.