Spain Photos, March, 2002 Click on a thumbnail to see a larger version of an image Click here to go back to the narrative.
Leganes The hotel was a surprise. It was fairly nice, and connected to an enormous shopping mall.
	Madrid We took a bus tour of Madrid. The first stop was the Palace. The Spanish version of Versailles. First we were below, looking up.
		The Royal Palace Then we were driven around to the top where we took a (long, weary) walking tour.
	The Royal Palace More Palace.
Palace Palace, palace, palace.
		Plaza Mayor At last, a break. Irish beer in a Madrid tavern. I use my Spanish on the bartender. "Perfecto!" I said. "Si," He replied.
	More Plaza Mayor This is a famous old place with a statue in the middle. To the left, Rita poses in front of the horsey. Then, to the right, you can see she has tricked me into posing at the other end.
Madrid Street Scenes I'm not sure why I took these pictures. Famous guy on a horse, I suppose.
	The Madrid Bull Ring Bull fight season starts after Easter, so we were a week early. To the left is the famous Madrid bull ring. To a bull fighter it's like Carnegie Hall. To the right I pose with the bullfigher statue out front.
		Madrid Bus Tour Funny looking architecture in Madrid.
	Modern Madrid Buildings Architecture.
Toledo We drive to Toledo (pronounced toe-lay-doe), an hour south of Madrid. This is a walled fortress city, the historical capital of Spain (until 1561). Before that it was the Visigoth capital, in 554.	The ancient gates of the city from just outside. Right is the steeple of the Cathedral. Later we saw postcards with virtually the same shot.
		The Streets of Toledo Far left is a section called Santo Tome. Left is me in front of the Bar Santo Tome.
	More Streets of Toledo Left is another shot of Santo Tome, with cobbled streets and open-air shops. Right is another of the narrow streets. We saw a full-sized cement truck drive down here on the way to a construction job.
On the Road to Segovia We drove to Segovia, an hour northwest of Madrid. Center is a little mountain town we stopped in just to take this shrouded picture. Right is a public water trough in another little town, Caslas.
		Caslas Caslas is not marked on the map, but it looked so old and strange from the road that we stopped in to look around. Far left is our car parked in Caslas. Center is an inscribed doorway, dated 1768, I think.
	Caslas Left is probably a pumphouse. Right are the gates to the cemetary.
Still on the Road to Segovia This little town, Monte Bene, had an old church with the traditional stork nests on top. Right, Rita horsing around.
		The Old Church in Monte Bene Far left is the church from the town square. Center, storks on the steeple.
	Segovia Left, stone fences surrounding little pastures on the way to Segovia. Right, Rita in front of the Roman aqueduct.
The Roman Aqueduct Two thousand years old, and still used for backup plumbing.
		More Roman Aqueduct To get a sense of the scale -- that's Rita standing in the little arch of the center photo.
	The Far End of Segovia Left, a birds eye view of the Vera Cruz Church, built by the Knights Templar in the 13th century and housing a piece of the "true cross". Right, Alcazar, a rebuilt castle "of little importance historically".
Segovia The Segovia skyline, towards evening on a cloudy day.		This space intenionally left blank.
		The Prado, in Madrid The Prado holds more than 3,000 canvasses, with entire rooms devoted to Velasquez, Goya, El Greco, Ruebens, and guys like that. Far left, the Prado from outside. Center, a hallway in the Prado.
	The Prado Flash photography is not allowed in the Prado. So I bought a CD. These images are borrowed from there. Gracias to Acta, Madrid.

History: 23Mar02; 13Jul02
Contact: bslator@qwest.net