We walked for several hours through Madrid, admiring the traditional architecture and window shopping the tourist junk and high end stores.
We ate traditional calamari sandwiches at an outdoor cafe and went to see Picasso's masterpiece Guernica at an art museum. Neither of us has much appreciation for Picasso's art, much we were pleased to learn about its place in Spanish history and its impact on the social and art world of its time.
Throughout Spain we see hordes of people sitting at outdoor cafes, having a coffee or a beer with a croissant or a pastry. Last night while we were having dinner, we watched a very old man, all dressed up in a suit and tie, carefully cut up his croissant with a knife and fork and then carefully dip each piece in his cup of thick hot chocolate. Every block has a bakery or gelato shop and they are busy all day long.
This guy was playing near the cafe where we had lunch and reminded me of my good friend Florence:
We will meet the other travelers in our tour this evening and begin the official tour tomorrow.
