I just got back from Madrid, Spain. We had an awesome time!
A few interesting observations about Madrid:
Madrid is a desert! There's no other way to put it. Crops just don't grow in that area of Spain unless they are irrigated. That being said there are several very large parks right inside the city of Madrid that are full of lush green grass and forests (but they are all irrigated).
When I went to Toledo (a very old, small city, outside of Madrid), the entire city was just rocks and cement. There was no green at all - it was actually a little depressing. So I was very glad to see Madrid had lots of irrigated green space. I found out that they water the parks with dirty water rather than city water which is good. I hope Spain will continue to have enough water to maintain its beautiful parks and cities. (click to make the pics below bigger).
The other observation of Madrid was how lively the people are. I was so impressed by how many people were out doing things during the day. In Parque Retiro, there was so much going on. Every few steps I walked, people would be doing interesting and different things. In one section there was a large collection of various "monkey bars" that many men were doing all sorts of exercises on (chinups, situps, etc). Then I walked to a long and wide asphalt strip in the park where there must have been 100 people learning or practicing how to roller blade. Then I walked to a large lake in the middle of the park where there were many people practicing some strange game that seems to be a combination of kayaking and water polo. I just love to see people out there, doing things with their lives.
Despite the meat centered cultural diet, we were able to find several great vegetarian restaurants.
We went during late July, so it was hot! One day I saw the temperature was 38 degrees and I image most other days were about that too. However, its a very dry heat, so it wasn't as bad as it sounds - the humidity during a hot day really does make a huge difference.
You can find all my pics here:
And Toledo pics here:
1 comment:
Benny,
Glad you enjoyed Madrid, that's where Julia and I went on our honeymoon (as well as Barcelona). Beautiful isn't it?
We struggled with trying to eat as late as the native Madrillenos, did you? As far as I'm concerned they are all bloody mental for eating that late.
Glad you had a good time, like the pics.
Scott Crowther
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