Days 6 and 7 in Madrid

Monday in our part of Madrid was so quiet especially after the bustle and hustle of Sunday where I am sure every single person in Madrid was out and about. In the morning, remembering that morning is late here (!) we went to Plaza De Oriente and to the royal palace - Palacio Real - where we enjoyed the gardens and the sunshine.

While we were there we saw the horses arrive and be unloaded and getting ready for something - no idea what and we could only look through the gate.

We wondered were they went because by the time we gt back up to the top they had disappeared but when we wandered back to our apartment, there they were in the Plaza De Ville all lined up with the band and rolled out carpets and a lot of ho ha so we waited to see what was causing the traffic dramas etc and along came the President of Mozambique - as a band member told us - 1 hour for 1 minute....

At night we went to Algarabia (La Rioja) Restaurant - opens at 9.30pm - for dinner.  This lovely restaurant is all about the food and wine from the north - the chef chatted to us which added to the enjoyment- one of the highlights was the grilled asparagus in a fine pastry.

Tuesday we didn't take any photos but we spent a long time exploring the art at the Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza - one of the largest (possibly the largest) private art collection in the world now owned by Spain- set out in chronological order and we enjoyed seeing the development and changes in art as we strolled around. It is tiring to see the entire collection and you always skip some things - be so much better to pop in from time to time.

To finish our lovely week off we went to la pizarra for dinner - www.lapizarrproject.com This was where we had lunch on Sunday and Ian wanted to try the pisto in real with the fried egg on top and I wanted to revisit the salad with goats cheese - both were yummy indeed. What we love about these sorts of restaurants and why we go to Cantina and Borelo in Perth is because the food is wonderful, the staff and fabulous and they care passionately about what they do. At la pizarra, our waiter from Sunday was the chef last night and he came out to chat to us, the waitress was so friendly and helpful and suggested she talk to us in Spanish (our brains would have been sore) and the owner, who is obviously very passionate about it all, talked to us as well. If you come to Madrid we would say - go there - just off the Calle Mayor.

So - it's farewell from us in Madrid and yes Doreen - you can relax - Ian has his beanie on. I hope you have enjoyed our little sojourn. Today we are off back to London, a very busy day tomorrow and then back to Perth on Friday. Ever hopeful of an upgrade. On Saturday we will be home and back to work - lots of orders so we will be busy- hopefully I have answered every email which has appeared in the in box -  in London I will reading emails etc but not blog. When we are back I will have some real photos as Ian has taken a few with his camera.