First Days Walking Madrid

Two days into our first trip to Madrid and we've done quite a bit of exploring. Started near the Metropolis building and the Neptune fountain, past the Prado — the Goya statue outside sits over a carved pedestal with the Maja reclining at its base — then through the big iron gates into Retiro, where the rose garden still had blooms going in October.

Today we crossed the old center the other way: Plaza Mayor with Felipe III on his horse, then down past the Teatro Real and the Royal Palace to San Francisco el Grande in La Latina. That church was the surprise of the trip so far. Plain enough from the street, but the dome inside is the largest in Spain — 33 meters across, 58 high — painted edge to edge, with stained glass set into the drum. There are Goya and Zurbarán paintings in there too, and supposedly the site goes back to a chapel founded by Saint Francis of Assisi himself in the 1200s.

The food and the people have been the other half of it. Everyone we've dealt with has been generous with us, and we have not had a bad meal yet.