Madrid

Picasso paintings at the Madrid Barajas Airport were photo-bombed by Emily and Elaiza upon arrival. Our Los Angeles-Chicago-Madrid on Iberia Airlines had been cancelled; we were rerouted direct LAX-MAD, however, our luggage had been sent to London after the long flight delay in Los Angeles. 

In Madrid we picked up a Toyota Advance 1.8 rental car and Mailyn drove us to Hotel Senator on Gran Via downtown Madrid. We walked around Plaza del Sol. Early the next morning we walked along Gran Via to the Plaza Major and the Prado to visit with Goya, Velazquez, Bosch.

I posed by the statue of Cervantes for a photo; Don Quixote is one of my favorite novels. Years ago, a friend gave me the book in original Spanish and told me that when I could understand it, I could understand Spain.

We passed the hotel where I used to stay when in Madrid.  Barack Obama had been staying there, well-guarded by many police on motorcycles.

The girls took a tour to El Escorial, Valley of the Fallen (Valle de los Caidos) and Franco’s Tomb. When I lived in Spain, I was told that Spaniards liked to preserve Franco’s tomb “So when we stand on his grave we are sure that he is dead.”

Our luggage had finally arrived and Mailyn could change her high heels for walking shoes. We went shopping on Gran Via—bought a red leather jacket and blue spandex jacket for her. 
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Back at the hotel a huge celebration passed in the street below our window, the largest LGBTQ parade in Europe, over 2 million revelers. Emily hung their multi-colored flag from our window.
We went out for tapas at Txapela, our favorite bar in Madrid, with Rioja vino tinto.