Day 9 Madrid

Even though we had nothing planned for the day I got up fairly early and went down to the local bakery for a baguette to take back to the apartment. I got there a bit too early as they were in the process of making them. Not a problem, I just stood in front of the window watching three bakers making baguettes. They must have thought I was some hungry homeless man just staring in the window. When they were done making a couple hundred, they started on other breads. It seems as though they make the pastries first so I missed that, but I'll be back earlier tomorrow to watch that. A fascinating morning, can't wait till tomorrow. By the way the baguette was terrific, had it with butter and a smear of Camembert. I reluctantly left some for Sylvia, she doesn't like the Camembert.

Just before noon we decided to visit the Madrid Botanical Gardens. It was a nice 20 minute walk down past the Prado. I was surprised, after seeing pictures I thought it was small enough that we could walk it in an hour or two. Well, we walked around for less than that but we weren't close to seeing everything. It's 20 acres and contains 90,000 plants and flowers and 1,500 trees all well marked. I don't know how many beds there were but each one was lined with small box hedges. An unbelievable amount of work goes into this garden. There wasn't much in bloom, but I could imagine what it's like in the blooming season. I don't think you could walk all the paths in one day. It would be fun to see it five or six time a year. (Double click on the picture to enlarge it)

Botanical Gardens

We took the long way back and stopped for lunch at La Gustava in the Lavapies section of town. Again all the outside tables were full so we ate inside by the window. We had an omelette with onions and cheese, and ham croquettes, both of which are Spanish staples and served everywhere. They're very good, neither of which I could duplicate. We then marched back to the apartment for a few hours.

We did the 7:30 routine and went out for a before dinner drink at the Plaza de Chueca, but this time we managed to commandeer an outside table. The waiter gave us chips, olives, and nuts. They customarily give you one, but not all three. By nine o'clock we weren't very hungry so we got ice cream and went back to the apartment and I fell asleep early...again.