My first night in Madrid, despite a full day of exploring, I was still energized to keep walking the streets and taking in as many sights as I could. At one point, I was in the Cortes neighborhood, which is just south of the famous Calle Gran Via, and walking along Calle de Alcala. This … Read more
On my first night in Madrid, I wandered the streets for hours, taking in as much as I could. While I was in the neighborhood of Gran Via, I was wandering side streets in addition to the famous Gran Via thoroughfare, and when I was on Calle de la Montera, this mural caught my eye. … Read more
I was strolling down Calle Gran Via in Madrid last October, checking out what is known as “Spanish Broadway,” in the sense of it being the Madrid counterpart to New York City’s Broadway. This stretch of street is a prime shopping areas, with a large number of hotels, high end stores, and various other shops. … Read more
On one of my days in Barcelona last fall, I was walking down Passeig de Gràcia, and decided to step into an antiques mall called “Bulevard Dels Antiquaris,” just to take a look around. While the mall area (hallways between stores) was open, the actual individual antiques dealers and their various shops were all closed, … Read more
Unfortunately, I cannot say that I ever had a chance to try any gelato at Eccolo Gelato in Madrid, as they were always closed when I walked by, but they certainly had great street art on their pull-down metal shutter gates. I think I am often like this boy, above; daydreaming about a good scoop … Read more
Puerta del Sol, which means “Gate of the Sun,” is a central public square in Madrid. This bear sculpture is located in Puerta del Sol, and the bear is reaching up to what is described as a strawberry tree, but what is the significance of this imagery in relation to Spain? It’s not just seen … Read more
One day when I was walking around Madrid, I saw this bullfighter’s vest in the front window of a store north of the Royal Palace of Madrid. I loved the style and details on it, but wondered: is there any significance to the designs or elements of a bullfighter’s vest? I learned that the bullfighter’s … Read more
On my trip to Spain in October, 2024, my first two days were in Madrid, but then on day 3, I took a day trip to Toledo for a change of scenery. The distance from Madrid to Toledo is approximately 45 miles, but the high-speed train got me there in 35 minutes, so it left … Read more
One of the first things I noticed as I arrived in Madrid and started exploring the city was the abundance of beautiful, old wooden doors. Not just regular wood doors, but elaborately designed doors, such as the one on the Filmoteca Española as you can see above. The Filmoteca Española is Spain’s national film archive, … Read more
I saw this street art while walking the streets of Barcelona at night, not far from the Picasso Museum in the “La Ribera” neighborhood. I’ve always been a fan of Spiderman and read the comics as a kid, but what grabbed my attention here is the depiction of his face. As you can see, the … Read more