Welcome to Spain! Madrid

We had the terrific luck to visit Spain recently. I took hundreds of shots and am sorting out which ones will translate well to blog o'sizing.  The whole trip was so beautiful, I could go on forever, but will try not to.   Here's a bit to start us off:

              Madrid Airport at 7 a.m. Sleepy and confused, I thought we'd gone through the looking glass.                         They put this much design into an airport?  Wow.

                                                                                                                                                               
Road work saw us dragging our bags the last block or so to the hotel (an 18th century palace, which could have meant anything) and found that our room was near the old chapel. Here's the hallway:  The chair on the right is upholstered in a mauve mohair velvet that just glows.

After a bite, we wandered the botanical gardens next to the Prado Museum.  Everyone was settling in for siesta, so we found a nice park bench and hubby napped while I watched the world go slowly by.

 He's half Spaniard himself and looks it, despite the Marcello Mastroianni vibe he has going here. I found myself thinking more often than usual "he's nice looking" about passersby and then realize "of course I think so, he looks like my beloved!" I enjoyed having that reaction and he, as you might imagine, enjoyed hearing about it!

This little boy clearly adored his father and emulated him as much as possible. Their sunglasses matched, he copied dad's walk, his posture, even looked at the same things. He seemed to be trying to see the world through his father's eyes. Dad had that easy going yet formal air, a natural elegance. My heart glowed, watching them meander through dappled light below the rustling trees.

Madrid was just a landing pad this time, we were soon on the high-speed train for Barcelona.

On the way, I snacked with Coke Light, ham flavored Ruffles and a Euro Kit Kat while trying to translate the Spanish daily papers, then giving up and asking for the English version.

Next: Ola, Barcelona!