Entry 5 from Madrid

Hola!

Well, since the last post we have been very busy! We have visited the zoo/aquarium in Madrid, and I have been hanging out with my new friend, Sergio Martinez, a fantastic flamenco percussionist. We also took a day trip to Toledo on Friday, went to the Reina Sofia modern art museum on Saturday, and tonight we go to a Real Madrid Fútbol Club match! Whew! Tomorrow we fly to Barcelona for four days which should be a real adventure. I'll be away from email while we are there and I will post a new entry when we return. Here are a couple of pictures from the zoo - the exhibits there are pretty amazing. Very little bars and cages, most of the animals are only separated from the zoo-goers by moats. It feels very exposed!
The kids enjoyed the dolphin show.

















Nativity scences are everywhere in Madrid,
even in the shark exhibit!














Maddy loved the pandas - a gift to the queen of Spain by China:














This is my friend Sergio Martinez, flamenco percussionist and very cool guy!




























Toledo was fascinating. The history of that city and the change in power from Germanic tribes, to Visigoths, to the Moors, to the Spanish spans over 2,000 years. The city, a walled city on a rock, is surrounded on 3 sides by the Tajo River, so it was well-protected. The tiny, winding streets were wild to walk on. We got lost several times! Also, cars are allowed in the city (supposedly changing next year) so we were constantly pressing ourselves against walls to avoid them...that got a little tiring!



































The cathedral was enormous and beautiful:














































I loved the Reina Sofia - lots of Picasso, Dalí, and Miró. A couple of Calders as well. Picasso's Guernica was incredibly powerful - his reaction to the German's bombing of the Basque town Guernica. Franco gave Hitler permission to test his new air force resulting in the first ever saturation bombing in 1937. Picasso captured the horror as only he could:
Well...time to leave for our Real Madrid match - more after Barcelona! Hasta luego!