Elbows

It seems all my photos have pictures of Rick's elbow.  it happens most at tables with food but it seems that his elbows show up in other places as well. I thought I might share his elbows with you.

 

Madrid

We arrived in Madrid in time for Sangria, wine and Tapas. An outdoor cafe provided a perfect setting for eating, drinking and people watching.

Madrid is a perfect combination of old and new. Beautiful old buildings with statues adorning the roof tops. Next door is a modern building with new architecture. It makes the city a perfect place to visit and we think very livable.   We traveled around on a city bus that was free...to everyone. It's a very walkable city but for long hauls it was nice to take the clean electric buses.

The last time we were in Madrid, graffiti covered every building. This time, the city was free of most graffiti at least in the Central District where we stayed. I think they have made a concerted effort to clean up the city.  It's working.  Madrid was clean, friendly and safe.

It's all about the food and drink for us.  We went to several places and had wine, tapas and Vermut .  Vermut (the Spanish pronunciation) is a fortified wine that tastes somewhat sweet and goes down very smooth. It's very good!

Every bar and restaurant serves tapas, some complimentary and some you purchase.  Since the Spaniards don't eat dinner until 9 pm or later, tapas and cocktails fulfill the time between 3-7.  It is a very social time and a great time to sample local food that is served in small portions.  We ate Tapas and drank every afternoon-evening and that was typically our dinner since eating at 9 pm is not for us.

We also found a specialty chocolate store and had to buy a brick of dark chocolate.

We found this lovely fountain for our selfie in Madrid.

Seville

 

The streets of Seville (old town) are similar to other ancient city streets...narrow, cobblestone, and lovely.  Seville is a beautiful city with many parks, the Quadalquivir River and spectacular ancient buildings with beautiful tile on both the facade and interiors.

Spanish architecture has arched doorways and windows and ornate buildings. It also has lots of fancy iron works on windows and patios.

In contrast, they have built a huge wooden structure that they call Setas ("The Mushrooms") right in the middle of the old part of town.  It's a perfect shady park spot surrounded by old, fancy buildings.

Night view of Seville.

We embraced the Spanish way of life.  Siesta in the afternoon, dinner at 9 pm and then a walk around. Seville was very hot while we were there so the siesta was a welcomed way to get out of the heat.  The evenings were beautiful and full of life.  Everyone is out in the town.  There is dancing in the park, children playing in the streets, bustling restaurants...it's when the Spanish culture comes alive.

Of course the food is fabulous. It seems there is no bad food in Seville and we tried to sample it all. We even blundered in to a Michelin restaurant for lunch that was really a great surprise.