The capital of Spain, located in the heart of the peninsula and right in the center of the Castillian plain 646 meters above sea level, has a population of over three million.  Modern Madrid is one of Spain's most popular destinations, and ranks as one of the important cities in Europe.  It is well known for the quantity of cultural related attractions and monuments that the city has embraced....Most impressively, it is one of the only cities in the world where you'll experience a traffic jam at 4am, and able to see street vendors selling chinese food from a cardboard box.

Spain is a meat-eaters paradise.  Various types of dead animal products -notably jamon iberico, serrano, and chorizo - hang from tapas bars' windows

The sights from Plaza Mayor, Madrid's central meeting place.

Sightseeing can be quite exhausting.  (From top left, clockwise) Taking a break at the Sofia. 

Getting ready for our first night on the town in Madrid (below).  Who's that handsome guy in the middle? 

Tapas hopping.

Palacio del Comunicaciones

At museo del Prado  

The romance of taking the train is lost...especially when the cabin is hot, sticky and smelly.  After an hour of trying, it was time to give up sleeping and stay awake.

Barcelona fans celebrate the teams victory over Arsenal in the Champions League Cup.

Howard goes into the crowd.

BARCELONA

Barcelona has boomed since the early 1990s, when preparations for the Olympic Games wrenched it into modernity, and today it remains well in the vanguard of other Spanish cities  in terms of prosperity, stability and cultural activity.

Above: La Pedrera - This is one of the main Gaudí residential buildings and one of the most imaginative houses in architecture history.

Left: Parc Guell -

Commisioned by Count Eusebio de Güell, the park displays Gaudi’s creativity and imagination through the various tiled objects.

This is not what it looks like.  I entered by accident....

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