We arrived in Madrid at about 10:00 on the morning of August 25. The flights themselves were OK, but the waiting at JFK International was a bit much - you'd think they do this often enough that they'd have figured out how to manage peak departure times, but we were still subjected to a two hour wait on the tarmac - gotta stay strapped in, no standing!

Found our hotel with little difficulty after a confusing metro ride (lots of line closures) and crashed out for 6 hours. The Hostal La Macarena was recommended by Lonely Planet as a reasonable place in a great location. It was just great, right outside the Plaza Mayor, along a nice narrow stone street. Feels I guess like how I thought it might. The little alleys and brightly painted apartment buildings with old wooden window shutters were picturesque, the weather was warm and sunny, and we felt we were off to a great start. People were out strolling and talking, and there was a very pleasant atmosphere. So far Madrid had a really nice, romantic feel, at least here in the old part of town.

But we needed to get some euros before we could do much else, a task which soaked up the better part of an afternoon and served as a crash course in Spanish pay phones. We had planned on getting a quick credit card cash advance until my next direct deposit into the bank back home, something we don't make a regular habit of and had thus forgotten the PIN. So we sped off on a quest to get some cash. Barely made it to the tourist office before the onset of the afternoon siesta, but to no avail. Found several internet cafes but they were all closed for siesta. Finally figured out how to acquire and then use a calling card in the public pay phones, and called the customer service line for our card - only to find that they would only mail us a new PIN through the U.S. postal service! Luckily we had a backup card whose customer service was actually helpful, and soon were in business. All of this afforded us a hectic walk through much of central Madrid, and once we comfortably had some cash in our pockets I could think about snapping some photos...

We only planned a couple of days in Madrid, so we really only had time to check out a couple of big sites. First was the Prado art museum, which I was eager to see after studying some of the artists in Spanish classes during high school. It was indeed fascinating: astonishing realism of early renaissance painters, culminating in master works by Velasquez. Overload on pain, suffering, and penance themes though, mostly Christ on the cross, and various saints doing their best to resist temptation, plus a smattering of other mythologies. And lots of royal portraits. For me the real draw was to see Goya's transformation from cartoonist to dissident to bleak agony-stricken recluse. His "dark period" paintings are, in my view, the most impressive features of the museum, adding that touch of grim reality missing from the religious works. Saturno and the Colossus were amazing and disturbing, as were his "fight to the death" painting, and the eerie grey work of a dog's head poking up over a hill, curious about some unkown shape just out of view. Lots of mutated characters and bloody scenes... And of course the Reina Sofia was a must-see. This year marked the 25th anniversary of the return of Picasso's Guernica to Spain (it was kept by the MOMA until Franco's rule had ended). So we joined the crowd of people staring at the energetic cubist depiction of wartime hell.

One of the things I love most about southern Europe is the outdoor restaurants and cafes. In Spain they call them terrazas, and they were all over the place: some wonderfully located with beautiful views, most just at random street corners. Sitting at a terraza watching a beautiful sunset over a nice view of the surrounding hills was a great way to slide into vacation mode - especially with a glass of good red wine and some yummy olives! Your shoulders soon start feeling less cramped, and the stress of daily California life oozes away. The retreat of the sun (around 9:00 in the evening) brought about the beginning of the tapas scene, something that we were also eager to experience...

The tapas experience: holy cow! In retrospect we should have just walked into the first place we saw and we would have enjoyed it just fine. But then we wouldn't have known whether we were missing other places that are just so much better! So we wandered around for a while scoping out the scene. The scene is endless. Alley after alley of people, young and old, laughing, talking, drinking, eating, some inside the taverns, most outside. Overwhelming. And very cool! An open, friendly atmosphere with good food and drink. Well, after taking in "the scene" for longer than we really should have, we dove in at one of the first places we had noted way back where we started. Strange psychology lesson in there I suppose... Oh yeah, if you don't like ham you may not appreciate tapas in Madrid, as the food in central Spain revolves around the pig. Looking back, I think that while Italy and Greece may take the prize for great food, Spain takes the prize for the sheer enjoyment of the eating experience. And the sangria was really refreshing...