Diario de mi viaje a España 2012 - Introduction

I could rave about España forever...and we haven't even left Madrid yet. We've been getting up around 7-7:30 and walking the calles and plazas in the early morning light, just to breath the cool morning air and witness the explosion of color on the centuries old facades against a pristine, deep-blue sky.

It blows me away...to feel the cobbles under my feet...the same cobbles that really were tread upon by the likes of Goya and Santiago, and Cervantes and Veracruz.....and also the least revered among Spaniards, Torquemada and the Fascist, Franco.

España's history is as passionate (and tortured at times) as any.

 We have sat in the hot mid-day sun enjoying the same venues made famous by the likes of Hemingway and Washington Irving, refreshing our pallet with a tapas bar's unique recipe of Sangria  before succumbing to the heat and joining in siesta until sundown. Most Madrid businesses close down for siesta...it's an amazing cultural phenomena in which to participate!

Plaza Santa Ana

Late afternoon it's up for a quick, cold shower, jump into a cool linen shirt, walking shorts and stroll to Plaza Santa Anna to sequester the perfect patio table from where we watch evening paseo...the multitude of families and graceful Spanish ladies...strutting their stuff and driving my imagination crazy!

What a beginning  to my one month stay and introduction to Spain!





 American ladies could learn a lot about grace, dignity and femininity if they could spend an evening or two at the edge of a plaza here, observing a traditional paseo. It is very refreshing...and a treat for any gentleman's eye!