Madrid

Arrived in Madrid yesterday after a long, tiring flight from Durban, via Dubai.
After checking in at my hotel I went to discover Madrid.
What a fantastic place.
My hotel is a nice quiet, clean hotel in a suburb called Barrio de la Conception, so all the street names are of some virgin or another .
There is a busstop right outside the door and the number 53 bus takes you right into the centre of town.
I couldn´t believe what I saw - the streets were full of people strolling, skateboarbing, cycling, walking their dogs, eating, drinking, making out, etc till late in the evening.
What a wonderful life, no having to look over one´s shoulder all the time to see who´s following you.
I was amazed at how many old ladies there are in Madrid, and they are all out dressed up and walking, talking, smoking, and just experiencing life.

Today I spent the day sight-seeing. There are great tourist buses that you can jump on and off.
I did the complete tours before deciding where to get off.
There are 2 separate tours, Madrid historical and Madrid modern.
What a laugh, I met 2 separate South African couples on the tours. One couple from Sasolburg (mother and daughter), and 2 ladies from Pretoria. Come to Spain and speak Afrikaans - lol.
They had been down in Granada for a conference and were spending a day in Madrid before flying back to SA.

I spent most of my time in the parks and the botanical gardens.
Madrid has the most wonderful parks, so big and so well tended.
The Real (Royal) Botanical Garden is a true botanical garden in the true sense of the word, not just a motley collection of plants like Durban has.

It was very hot here today. At 16:30 it was still 36C.
In fact, on the TV they were reporting on how hot it was all over Spain today.

Tomorrow morning I catch the train to Pamplona, and begin my Camino proper.