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Spain, 2005 |
My niece Ashley spent the fall of her junior year in Spain. On November 5, Anita, Jim, Collin, and I descended on her for a few days.
All of the links below connect directly to photos. Photos average 200K - 700K in size.
As usual, the first shot is from the air:
 | The Cantabrian Mountains, as you approach from the Bay of Biscay |
Scenery
Madrid is beautiful, especially when the weather is good and you're on vacation!
| The Plaza de la Villa, a small square near the Plaza Mayor |
| Side street near the flea market |
| I have no idea where this is, but it's cute, isn't it? |
We went to a flea market near the Plaza Mayor on Sunday:
| Flea market |
| Mural near the flea market |
| Ashley and Anita, on the way to the flea market |
The Palacio Real, just a few steps from our hotel:
| The courtyard |
| The courtyard |
| The Catedral Ntra. Sra. De La Almudena, directly across the plaza |
| The Palacio and the Catedral, as seen from the Templo (one hill to the northwest) |
We spent one afternoon in the Parque del Buen Retiro, the main public park:
| The Alfonso XII monument |
| The Palacio De Cristal |
| The grounds of the Palacio |
| From within a small passage through a rock outcropping |
And within the classic Spanish Mediterranean architecture, a sudden jolt:
| The Templo de Debod, a real Egyptian temple given to Spain by Egypt |
| More of the Templo |
| More |
| More |
Various People Shots
| Jim and Collin |
| The Wessiers wait for the Metro late one night |
We spent one afternoon in Toledo, a one-hour bus ride to the south.
One afternoon is not NEARLY enough time to see this amazing town. By the time we got off the bus and hiked up the hill to the old part of town, there was barely enough time to see the Catedral and the central shopping district (mostly souvenir stores and clothing/executive toy boutiques) before it was already time to run back to catch the bus. I bolted from the group for a hour or so to explore the town:
Madrid night life
| My last night in Madrid, partying with Ashley, Collin, and Rob |
| I love my sister! |
We went to a flamenco club one night:
| Flamenco A |
| Flamenco B |
| Flamenco C |
| Flamenco D |
| Flamenco E |
The Festival of La Almudena, a public holiday—my last day in Madrid:
| The public brings offerings of flowers, and the workers arrange them on a huge display outside the Catedral |
| The crowd gathers for the parade |
| Though the streets comes the parade |
| Horse guards |
| Traditional costumes |
| More |
| More |
I could have stayed MUCH longer, as there was MUCH more...but, sadly, airplanes don't wait for parades. :(
This page last updated Monday, October 13, 2008
