Madrid

In this photo, diners snack on tapas in the Mercado de San Miguel. The market is constructed of mainly iron and glass and can be found off the Plaza Mayor in Madrid. Bring your appetite because you can find anything from stuffed olives to sushi.

Ahhh- Spain and it's famous capital, Madrid. The Spanish capital is geographically located in the center of the Iberian Peninsula and is the highest capital in Western Europe. Because of it's location, Madrid is known for very dry and warm summers as well as cool winters. I have been in Madrid in each of it's seasons and can attest to the need for scarves and hats in the winter, umbrellas in the Spring, as well as tank tops and fans in the summer. Autumn is my favorite time to visit Madrid and stroll throughout her many neighborhoods to try a tapa in the Plaza de San Angel, enjoy a chocolate con churros at San Gines, shop in the Salamanca district, or just meandar around the Buen Retiro Park  gazing at the variety of shrubbery, monuments such at the Crystal Palace or view the statue of the Fallen Angel. I often stop to ponder this statue because it is said to be one of two statues in the world depiciting Lucifer and is homage to Milton's Paradise Lost.  In all her splendor, it is difficult to give pointers on what one must see when visiting Madrid. Of course there is the Prado and Reina Sofia museums for the art lovers. This past Spring I was able to set my eyes on the earliest copy of Leonardo da Vinci's the Mona Lisa

The original Mona Lisa on the left.

which is housed in the Prado museum. I listened to the history behind Picasso's "Guernica" in the Reina Sofia museum (which incidentally used to be a hospital for the mentally ill and is thought to be haunted!).