After a leisurely morning, we left midday to walk through El Retiro, the large beautiful park of Madrid. It was another gorgeous day, Saturday, and families, senior citizens, couples, teenagers and young adults were all enjoying the park. Toddlers on wheel toys, babies learning to walk, mothers with strollers, bikers, young men on three-wheel scooter-type vehicles, people in rowboats on the lake, all enjoying the fresh air.
Monument to Alphonso XII
Children watching a puppet show
We left the park intending to walk to the Salamanca district, but in looking for a place for lunch, we walked back to the boulevard, Calle Alcala, and ate at a local cafe. Continued walking down the boulevard past Independence Plaza.
Walking on to Puerta del Sol we stopped for a cold drink and continued on. This plaza was as busy today as it was yesterday. It has a statue of a bear looking in the tree, a symbol of Madrid. Mickey and Minnie as well other entertainers were there also.
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Continuing on Calle Mayor to Plaza Mayor which we saw the first day. Very crowded with tables for drinks and tapas, etc., mimes, shops....... These mimes were amazing. We saw two pairs doing the same thing. One man is holding a stick/pole and the other man is seated in the air attached to the pole. How do they do it?
We walked down the back stairs to a lower area of many restaurants including Botin, the oldest restaurant in the world. They were not open for three more hours and were booked for the evening. The man showed me the oven, oldest in the world
Nearby we had a glass of wine, served with olives, at the Caves of Luis Candelas where Margie and I had Sangria in 1959.
Walked back to our hotel and ate some tapas at an outdoor cafe near there. We leave Madrid tomorrow morning to take the train to Barcelona.
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