madrid 2011

11 days in spain; stayed mainly in the plain. we spent a banker's dozen dias exploring the art and culture of spain's capital, with a day trip to toledo. days in the museums, afternoons in the parks, and evenings in the plazas, absorbing the sights and sounds and tastes. very different from my previous trips.

the ceiling of the Catedral de Nuestra Señora de la Almudena
[ original ] 		the ceiling of the Catedral de Nuestra Señora de la Almudena
[ original ] 		chairs with the Chi-Rho in the Catedral de Nuestra Señora de la Almudena
[ original ] 		the front door of the cathedral
[ original ]
detail of mary on one of the side doors
[ original ] 		the exterior view of the Catedral de Nuestra Señora de la Almudena from the plaza under construction
[ original ] 		jesus!
[ original ] 		light from the stained glass
[ original ]
the ceiling in the nave of the Catedral de Nuestra Señora de la Almudena
[ original ] 		a shiney shrine
[ original ] 		the plaza del Ángel Caido, in the Retiro
[ original ] 		the fallen angel
[ original ]
the base of the fallen angel
[ original ] 		another version, in the real academia
[ original ] 		an altar to Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe, in our rental
[ original ] 		closeup of the altar
[ original ]
amaizeing
[ original ] 		the painting above the fireplace
[ original ] 		taking a dive
[ original ] 		no one can save you, now!
[ original ]
close it up
[ original ] 		i'll get you, my pretties!
[ original ] 		looking down the stairwell from tercero
[ original ] 		oh, that ken.
[ original ]
bloomin' artichoke in the real jardin
[ original ] 		atocha renfe seen from the reina sofia plaza
[ original ] 		atocha renfe seen from the expansion of the reina sofia
[ original ] 		the garden inside the station
[ original ]
ornate balcony work
[ original ] 		fancy bank building facade
[ original ] 		the light, and supporting elephant of the bank
[ original ] 		the bear and madroño, the emblem of madrid
[ original ]
the bear atop a roof
[ original ] 		a cute street to the south of our apartment
[ original ] 		the plaza across from the casa de campo, over time
[ original ] 		nicole and the lake in the casa de campo
[ original ]
looking back out over the lake from the western shore to the city and the palace
[ original ] 		looking north along the canal
[ original ] 		cañs in toledo while we wait for our train
[ original ] 		nicole leading our way to casa el greco
[ original ]
calle del amor de dios nueve, our home away from home
[ original ] 		the view out the balcony at night
[ original ] 		the view across the way
[ original ] 		looking north towards calle de las huertas
[ original ]
the tile street sign for calle del amor de dios, note the de ligature
[ original ] 		looking south towards calle de atocha
[ original ] 		a stand in mercado de la cebada
[ original ] 		the mercado de la cebada sign
[ original ]
the mostly-closed stalls in mercado de la cebada
[ original ] 		the cervantes monument
[ original ] 		don quixote and sancho panza
[ original ] 		cervantes himself, sat large
[ original ]
a plaque down the street from us in Barrio de las Letras
[ original ] 		cervantes guarding a gate in toldeo
[ original ] 		opening paragraph from don quixote, in the streets
[ original ] 		the more things change, the harder it is to stay current
[ original ]
chariots atop a bank building
[ original ] 		beware! our apartment was well defended against goats
[ original ] 		chocolate con churros at the chocolateria san gines
[ original ] 		the chocolate was thicker than it looked
[ original ]
local cinema near our apartment
[ original ] 		a clockwork that was clocking while we passed
[ original ] 		clouds! in madrid!
[ original ] 		there were clouds one day out of eleven
[ original ]
it was an astounding sight
[ original ] 		the main post office
[ original ] 		a dahlia in the real jardin
[ original ] 		my departure gate back to the states from barajas
[ original ]
goya graffiti, only in madrid
[ original ] 		monument to the dos de mayo uprising
[ original ] 		nicole shopping for fruit
[ original ] 		the last of the tasty meat snacks
[ original ]
galician gaiteiros in the plaza
[ original ] 		mind the gap
[ original ] 		goya outside the prado with a sculpture of his painting
[ original ] 		the gran via, after lópez garcía
[ original ]
a living wall we walked past
[ original ] 		tasty egg in the plaza
[ original ] 		hugh cooking mushrooms (photograph by nicole michaud)
[ original ] 		here piggy piggy piggy
[ original ]
the royal botanical gardens
[ original ] 		nice knockers
[ original ] 		looking out over la mancha, from the hill in toledo
[ original ] 		locked on target
[ original ]
graffiti down the street,
[ original ] 		magnolia next to the prado
[ original ] 		the plaza mayor from the shade
[ original ] 		we celebrated our one year anniversary in madrid with a lovely paella dinner in the plaza mayor. yes it was really that yellow (photograph by nicole michaud)
[ original ]
church seen through an arch
[ original ] 		the plaza mayor murals
[ original ] 		the plaza at dusk
[ original ] 		buildings lit up
[ original ]
shapes in the dark
[ original ] 		rosebud...
[ original ] 		stay in the shade
[ original ] 		get 'em while they're hot
[ original ]
Bosque de los Ausentes memorial to the madrid train bombing victims, in el Retiro
[ original ] 		pretty pastries at the market
[ original ] 		the metropolis building
[ original ] 		ook!
[ original ]
the moon seen from the apartment
[ original ] 		the moon seen reflected in the apartment
[ original ] 		a moorish plaza
[ original ] 		the moorish walls of the old city
[ original ]
the mural really opens up the space
[ original ] 		the museo sorolla
[ original ] 		nicole relaxing in toledo
[ original ] 		she is green, they're flowers
[ original ]
nicole and a giant baby head
[ original ] 		the guy in the shiney fake goat suit had been entertaining us for days
[ original ] 		nicole studying el greco in toledo
[ original ] 		hi!
[ original ]
outside the puerta del sol on our way up into toledo
[ original ] 		nicole and the spanish royal palace
[ original ] 		nicole in the plaza de la villa
[ original ] 		notes on the steps of the prado
[ original ]
on the shores of the estanque in the retiro
[ original ] 		relaxing and conjugating
[ original ] 		meat snacks in the shade
[ original ] 		we took the time to stop and smell the flowers
[ original ]
the delicious mercado de san miguel
[ original ] 		sketching boaters on the steps of the estanque
[ original ] 		color and value studying at the museo sorolla
[ original ] 		nicole in the light of the stairwell
[ original ]
portable painting in the courtyard
[ original ] 		no al pacto del euro
[ original ] 		i want to believe
[ original ] 		the unimposing outside of the very imposing el entierro del conde de orgaz
[ original ]
a light at the palace
[ original ] 		the retiro
[ original ] 		some kind of dog thing, tagged vegan
[ original ] 		raw pimentos
[ original ]
pimentos de padron at viva madrid
[ original ] 		we liked these quite a bit
[ original ] 		beware! yayoi kusama's polka-invasion
[ original ] 		the peppers didn't last long
[ original ]
protesters were out
[ original ] 		protesters in puerta del sol
[ original ] 		charles iii looks out over protesters
[ original ] 		pulpo a la plancha y setas, grilled octopus and wild mushrooms. nom nom nom
[ original ]
the museum of the royal academy
[ original ] 		viva madrid
[ original ] 		a fountain in the courtyard
[ original ] 		the reina sofia
[ original ]
yes, this is the line it turns out
[ original ] 		the city reflected in the expansion
[ original ] 		art in the courtyard
[ original ] 		the monument to alfonso xii
[ original ]
the monument to alfonso xii
[ original ] 		looking north along the estanque
[ original ] 		boaters a boating
[ original ] 		the gates of the park
[ original ]
the grounds
[ original ] 		some exciting topiary work
[ original ] 		the rose garden fountain
[ original ] 		walkways in the rose garden
[ original ]
a fountain at the jardin sabatini
[ original ] 		the reina sofia building was once a hospital
[ original ] 		the view from the Basilica de San Francisco el Grande
[ original ] 		the view of the basilica
[ original ]
a door to nowhere
[ original ] 		the chocolateria san gines
[ original ] 		awesomeness this way
[ original ] 		colors in the plaza
[ original ]
the mercado de san miguel, source of deliciousness
[ original ] 		the mercado at night
[ original ] 		the plaza de santa ana lit up at night
[ original ] 		the door of the museo de santa cruz
[ original ]
the courtyard of the museo de santa cruz
[ original ] 		the courtyard of the museo de santa cruz
[ original ] 		this statue was well-handled
[ original ] 		tiny bus for tiny streets
[ original ]
a wee siesta on our first day
[ original ] 		the great glass sofiavator
[ original ] 		the crowds off of puerta del sol
[ original ] 		sorolla's house
[ original ]
a bench in the courtyard
[ original ] 		fountains in the sorolla courtyard
[ original ] 		fountains in the sorolla courtyard
[ original ] 		fountains in the sorolla courtyard
[ original ]
sit, stay.
[ original ] 		the swing band
[ original ] 		we sat just outside the stage door
[ original ] 		the expansion of the thyssen-bornemisza museum
[ original ]
this stop: toledo
[ original ] 		a door of the massive cathedral in toledo
[ original ] 		a ceiling in casa el greco, which was not actually his house
[ original ] 		chains of freed crusaders on the walls of San Juan de los Reyes
[ original ]
the mysterious door
[ original ] 		doors within doors
[ original ] 		the gates of the city
[ original ] 		the alcazar and the city from the road into town
[ original ]
the puerta del sol in toledo
[ original ] 		the roof of the train station in toledo needs some weeding
[ original ] 		shade for the streets below in toledo
[ original ] 		a turret
[ original ]
the city walls
[ original ] 		the Plaza de Toros Monumental de las Ventas
[ original ] 		sculpture behind the ring
[ original ] 		no bull
[ original ]
you mess with the bull, you get the horns
[ original ] 		monument to bullfighters killed in the ring
[ original ] 		got you
[ original ] 		the front gates
[ original ]
one does not simply walk into ventas
[ original ] 		upcoming fights
[ original ] 		moo
[ original ] 		to arms
[ original ]
to the moon, alice
[ original ] 		statues
[ original ] 		unicorns at the reina sofia
[ original ] 		fine cuts
[ original ]
vaulted ceiling at almudena
[ original ] 		palace vaults
[ original ] 		palace vaults
[ original ] 		velázquez hanging out at the prado
[ original ]
the ventas metro stop
[ original ] 		viva madrid, where we first met pimentos de padron
[ original ]