50th Anniversary Trip

To Spain and Portugal

(plus a few hours in France)
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Madrid
May 13-17, 2009

Our flight to Madrid had a Northwest trip number but they were KLM airplanes with a short layover in Amsterdam.  On arrival we took  a taxi to Hotel Ópera, which had an ideal location right behind the Teatro Real and a couple of blocks from the palace.  The photo below was taken from in front of the hotel, looking toward the palace.
Street level view toward palace.
The hotel was a short walk to everything, including the Plaza Mayor, the Prado Museum, and the Retiro Park.

The Plaza Mayor in Madrid   Prado Museum.   Retiro Park
We were in Madrid during the annual fiesta in honor of the city's patron saint, San Isidro.  There were street entertainments everywhere and people in costumes.

Vendors setting up for the fiesta.    People in costume.

"Gigante" characters    Galician folk dancers
In celebration of our fiftieth wedding anniversary in April, we had a fine dinner of roast suckling pig--courtesy of our children--at the restaurant Sobrino de Botín, which appropriately enough is said by Guinness to be the world's oldest restaurant.

Carole & John at table in restaurant.
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