Ray and I have made it to Madrid! We traveled on Iberian Airlines from LAX with another of the tour participants, and the trip went quite smoothly from start to finish. Ray and I had chosen aisle seats across from each other, which was very comfortable and gave easy access for walking around from time to time to stretch our legs. We left at 5:50 Pacific Time yesterday and arrived today at 1:50 pm Madrid time, which is nine hours ahead.

Given that 1:50 pm was really 4:50 am for us, by the time we made it to the hotel via Uber, we were both bleary-eyed. We slept for several hours, then went out to explore our new neighborhood and buy a few groceries. We are now back in bed, it’s currently 11:23 pm, and I am starting to feel really tired again. Tomorrow, we start our day by heading to the Reina Sophia Museum, where Picasso’s Guernica is displayed. That visit should be quite exciting.

Our hotel is also only a five-minute walk from the Prado Museum, which will be our destination on Sunday morning.

Here are a few photos I quickly snapped tonight. These are from the street where our hotel, the Catalonia-Atocha, is located.

I like the feel of Madrid, vibrant yet quite homey. Very nice.

Good night.

A church down the way

A Plaque from the above church

A cool restaurant that might merit a visit

At a nearby market