Spain and Morocco - 1, Madrid

Hi, In late October and early November of 2016 my wife, Ruthe, and I took a Road Scholar trip to Spain and Portugal. We did a lot of bus riding on this trip, especially in Morocco. Our first stop was in Madrid.

We began our first morning with a bus tour of the city. We passed the statue of Cibeles, an Anatolian goddess and

stopped at the Plaza d'Espana to view a statue of  Don Quixote with his trusty sidekick Sancho Panza. A statue of the author, Cervantes, overlooks the pair.

The next stop was the Royal Palace (above and below). While tours were available they were not included in our program.

Here is a detail of the facade above the Prince's Gate.

This is a view from the plaza in front of the palace.

A statue of Felipe IV stands across from the palace in the Plaza de Oriente.

Also in the Plaza de Oriente are statues of Gothic kings.

We passed the Alcala Gate, a triumphal arch, during our bus tour.

This seemed a typical street scene.

In the evening we went to a club featuring Flamenco dancing. First the performers talked about Flamenco music and dance.

Then there were a number of dance performances (above and below).

The next morning we took Spain's version of a high speed train to Seville.

Thanks for looking.