Sometimes I get so caught up in work, and life, and … work, that I forget to be happy. I forget what makes me happy. This day overflowed with happy.

It was hard to get up. Thankfully, hotel breakfasts run to a much later hour in Madrid (10:30!) than most of the other places I travel. Breakfast in Seoul was over at 9:00 and I was always juggling calls and rushing to get food in before the restaurant closed. Well, not today.

I reminded that wherever I may be geographically located, I am still me. Two cups of coffee and a Spanish Omelette later, I was back in our room cross-referencing a map and a to-do list, followed by a teeny bit of colour-coding. We were ready to begin the day!

Exiting the hotel doors, we headed west, by way of a bit of north and bit of east, on our way to the Catedral De La Almudena.

The streets were quiet; hardly anyone out at the early hour of 11:00 a.m. There were beautiful buildings, fun street art and a shop selling “jamon” on almost every block. Seriously.

Our intention was to start at Catedral de la Almudena, and we were very happy to see it appearing in front of us. It was beautiful inside, filled with amazing art and figurines, all glorifying God and the Virgin Mary.

Except… we could not locate the medieval statue of the Virgin Mary, the patroness of Madrid? And there was a growing crowd of well-dressed people gathering in front for a wedding. I was always of the impression that only the wealthy and famous were married in large impressive cathedrals filled with holy artifacts like the statue of Almudena.

Ooops – wrong church. We were actually in San Francisco El Grande. The building was erected on a plot previously occupied by a primitive Franciscan convent, then demolished by Charles III as he intended to build a new convent on the site. The minor basilica that stands there today was finally built in the second half of the 18th century.

The Cathedral of Almudena is located just next store, about 200m away. Pretty amazing to have two edifices of such grandeur, though two different eras, in such close proximity.

Madrid became the capital of Spain in 1561; it had previously been Toledo. The seat of the Church remained in Toledo, and Madrid had no cathedral. In the 16th century, plans were finally made for a cathedral dedicated to the Virgin Mary.

Spain built more than 40 cities overseas during that century, as well as cathedrals and fortresses. This all resulted in the postponement of the construction of Madrid’s cathedral; expansion of the Spanish Empire was the priority.

The Almudena foundation stone was finally laid in 1883, on the site of an ancient mosque destroyed in 1083. Construction was interrupted by the Spanish Civil War and the site was abandoned until 1950. The cathedral was finally completed and consecrated in 1993.

In spite of first appearances, it is a very new cathedral. We loved the beautiful ceiling mosaics and the very simple stained glass.

Our next stop was the Royal Palace. The entry lines were very long, so we wandered around the square and took a few photos. I think Ken, Cathy and Rick will go back during the week while I am working.

The square outside the Royal Palace was the second place we heard street musicians playing “Time to Say Good-bye”. Over the course of the morning we probably heard it played a half dozen times on accordion, guitar, harp and violin or combinations thereof. It’s a pretty song and I will hear it in my head whenever I think if Madrid.

Next stop – The Plaza de Espana. It contains a beautiful monument by Cervantes, complete with a statue of Don Quixote and Sancho Panza overlooking a large rectangular pond.  Sadly, we had trouble finding it as the pond no longer exists, and the statue is slightly hidden by a wall of fencing and overgrown weeds.

Sadly, this scene of neglect did not have the same effect as in 2017 when Rick and I saw it for the very first time. Here are my then and now photos. The pond was so much more poetic.

This was the last stop on our tour of historically interesting sites. Plaza de Espana marks the beginning of the Gran Via, where restaurants and stores abound. Man was it crowded!

Suffice it to say that many of our 21,000 steps were spent there exploring tiny streets and hunting down multiple Desigual store where Cathy and I each ended up purchasing a dress. We popped into dozens of shoe stores (zapateria) scouting handbags and boots.

Rick and Ken were very patient, stopping at cafes and bars to enjoy multiple coffees, beer and sangria. Eventually we tracked them down and also enjoyed a fruity refreshment. This was the “small” sangria. Fortunately, when the going got tough, we had our trusty husbands to help us polish off the glass. Whoever decided to use a straw for sangria was really thinking….

We had occasion to compare multiple versions of sangria over the course of the day, with variable sweetness and quality. Having missed my breakfast fruit – sangria served as a pleasant substitute. There was an element of risk with a fuzzy head, a credit card, and surrounded by such inspiring Spanish fashion. People generally dress very well here.

Many steps later we had crisscrossed the centre of Madrid to arrive at the Circulo de Belles Artes. We waited a bit to take the elevator up to the rooftop bar. The vibe was young and the music was techno, which basically sounds like the same song on repeat to me.

We wandered about the rooftop for a while, trying to find a table. Many were reserved, but all were very busy. Ken eventually returned with 4 sangria, perhaps the 3rd of the day? I have been fortunate to be able to share mine with Rick; without him I would never be able to consume a full glass of sangria. Though he always wants the fruit, which I share with some small modicum of reluctance.

We had snagged 4 chairs near the railing and had a great view as the sun was beginning to sink – golden hour :0)

Dinner was tapas again at a cute little place we tripped on while walking back to the hotel. It was aptly named “Tapa Tapa” and was very busy even though it was only about 8:30. We had our first patatas bravas, which Cathy really enjoyed, and our best paella so far though the giant prawns kept me at a safe distance as we had stopped being friends a year or two ago.

I think we were both ready for sleep by the time we reached the hotel. Except that sleep was soooo hard to come by. Perhaps that was because we were going to bed at what would have been midday at home. Our bodies simply would not let go enough to fall asleep.

We both tossed and turned: too hot, too cold, too noisy, too many sirens, open the window, close the window… you get the picture. I imagine we dropped off at some point because I was awakened in the morning by the rude sound of my alarm ringing.

Another adventure awaits!

Just a few more bits and bobs: