A very rainy day in Madrid, which is too bad because it is a public holiday celebrating the 1808 uprising against Napoleonic forces. There are concerts, reenactments and cultural activities. In the Puerta del Sol, the square near our hotel, there was a celebration with dignitaries in attendance and entertainment. Unfortunately it poured during some parts of it, but it didn’t seem to dampen anyone’s spirits!
After a surprisingly good and reasonably priced brek at the all-you-can-eat place right by the hotel, we tried to decide what to do, given the weather. There was a break in the rain so I decided to chance going out to find some of the sculptures I had read about in Atlas Obscura. I love finding these quirky things in the places we visit. I was after two rooftop sculptures, both by the same artist - Air Crash - an angel that has landed face-first on to the top of a five storey building - and Fallen Angel - another sculpture depicting Lucifer’s fall from grace, again on a rooftop on busy Gran Via.
Returned to the hotel and convinced Irv that he should see the Albumena Cathedral since it was indoors. Unfortunately half way there it started pouring - so glad we packed those umbrellas!! One serendipitous thing - on our way we passed by another Atlas Obscura sculpture that I had wanted to see - the Curious Neighbour Stayed at the cathedral long enough for the rain to stop, then made our way over to the famous San Gines Chocolateria for some churros y chocolata. Needless to say they were delish!
Back to the hotel for a little siesta for Irv and a little blogging for me before we were to meet our tour group and go for dinner. Our tour leader, Luis, seems like a good sort. Not all of the group chose to come to the meet and greet because they have been with Luis on their Portugal tour. But we did meet most of them: a couple from Camrose, a couple from St, Albert (brothers and their wives), two young women from Melbourne, one of whom is a chef, a man from Vermont and two couples from Colorado. The rest we will meet on the orientation tour tomorrow. Luis took us to a restaurant for paella, which was most delish. On our way out of the restaurant we came upon a very impressive military performance with marching bands and horsemen and women in full regalia. It was part of the 2nd of May celebrations I mentioned previously. On the way back we HAD to stop for some helado to end another wonderful day here in Madrid.