Rain in Spain, but not on the plain

This iPad has a mind of its own. The previous blog entry should have said, "no interior photos", not "terror photos"!

It was a beautiful day at El Escorial! When we returned from El Escorial at 2:00, about an hour's drive from Madrid, it was raining. We were at the Plaza Espana where Margie and I stayed in 1959. The hotel was there, but closed for restoration. Because it was raining, I could not take a picture. Fortunately I had my umbrella and Bob had his rain jacket. We started walking down Gran Via, looking for a restaurant. The first few tapa bars were packed, loud and noisy, but soon we found a lovely Italian restaurant, Di Bocca, where we had a tasty pasta lunch. By then the rain had stopped and we walked on, shopped, walked to Puerta del Sol, shopped and then walked on Calle San Geronimo to our hotel.

At Puerta del Sol, there were many, many people as it was a holiday. Mimes and groups of musicians entertained the crowd. A police car with siren screaming drove down the pedestrianized street and through the square. We took a picture of a statue of Bourbon King Carlos III who started the building of the Royal Palace.

The police car came down the street between the two buildings.

 

 

After Bob had a siesta, we started out to look for a tapas bar that we had read about, but it had started to rain again. We decided to stay in and go to the bar in the hotel. They immediately gave us two glasses of champagne as they were celebrating their 100th birthday. There was obviously a huge celebration which we decided was a wedding reception. It had taken over most of the dining rotunda as well as several of the private dining rooms. The Spanish do not use baby sitters and children of all ages were here, from one month on up. Two little boys came tearing through the bar, chasing each other, into the lobby, around the corner into the lobby of the private dining rooms. Young mothers were busy corralling pre-schoolers who were investigating every niche they saw. Grandparents were tending to toddlers, sometimes effectively, sometimes with a little difficulty as the children tired. It was fun to see the ladies in their beautiful clothes, many in formals. Some wore a small hat or flower on a band like the English wore at William and Kate's wedding called a fascinator. The little girls were precious in their frilly little dresses. The bride wore a fairly simple off-white dress with a slight train, adorned with rose petals. It had gold embroidery or braiding around the midriff area, very attractive, somewhat with a Grecian look. After a light snack, we headed up to bed.

 

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