Hola!

Jill and I have been in Madrid for about two days now and we have finally stopped moving long enough for me to give a quick update. First, if you've never been to Spain drop what you're doing and go immediately to the airport. You'll love it! Second, tapas are pretty much the best thing ever!  We've been seeing most of the sights and museums over the past couple of days and have really enjoyed mixing with the locals at a sangria bar as well as a sherry bar.

On Friday we visited the Jamon Museum for a quick ham tasting and as you can imagine it was delicious. They say that the best ham comes from black Iberian pigs, or those with a black hoof. It was a bit rainy on Friday so we visited the Prado Museum and were amazed by the El Greco paintings that it houses. We also enjoyed seeing the works by Goya and Velazquez. Next, we started the evening with a pitcher of Sangria followed by some tasty tapas.
 

Saturday's activities began with churros for breakfast. We stopped by our local churro restaurant and got a quick bite of this delicious goodness along with a cafe con leche. I think it's safe to say we'll be having churros again while in Spain. Following our chocolate fortification we took a self guided walking tour that included various destinations throughout the city.

 In the Puerta del Sol Jill poses with Spain's kilometer zero mark. Below she poses with the Templo de Debod. It was a gift by the Egyptians to Spain for their help in building the Aswan dam. It is one of very few examples of Egyptian architecture that can be seen outside of Egypt.

Following our visit to the temple we took a 2.5 km teleferico ride over Madrid's biggest park Casa de Campo that offered great views of the city. Don't worry, we were never more that 40 meters above the ground. Our tour of the city concluded in Plaza Mayor which hosted bullfights as well as executions in the past. Today the Plaza is a meeting place for locals and tourists alike. Our photo shows King Phillip III in front of a beautifully painted building.