Very central hotel within walking distance to Prado Museum, Royal Palace and Plaza Mayor.

Tapas dinner at Vinitus also on Gran Via accompanied with a bottle of white wine made from Albillo Real from the Madrid wine region

Weather extremely warm becoming hot in the coming days so first up shopping for lighter clothes.

Puertas del Sol is under construction but still got a photo of King Carlos lll

Kilometre zero marks the centre of Spain (supposedly)

Magnificent architecture compares well with other major European cities

First stop a restaurant owned by a church foundation that specialises in classic tapas.

One of the rooms

Gazpacho, croquette with ham, red pepper with seafood cream and tortilla de patata

A Rioja crianza from Cune

A Ribera del Duero full bodied wine

Another restaurant specialising in cod, fried and croquettes

A ham restaurant

With legs on display

Even hanging from the ceiling

Different Iberian hams which are much better quality than plain Serrano ham

Tasting plate of salami, loin, chorizo, blood sausage and three top grade Iberico hams. Melt in the mouth stuff!

To finish churros with chocolate

Our new US friends on the tour

Teatro Real in Plaza Isabel ll

Mercado de San Miguel

Not a real market anymore but eating venue mostly tourists

Walking to our next tapas venue

Discussing the Champions League final no doubt. Royal guards on break

Our route passed through Plaza Espana which has recently been ‘pedestrianised’ with car parking underneath, trees and open spaces.

Plaza Espana

A glimpse of the Royal Palace from the back. Closed this week as the King is hosting the Emir of Qatar!

This led to a detour.

Familiar statues in the Plaza

The Don and his sidekick

Entering the Palace grounds from the back

Inside the grounds

Spring roses

Side view

The Palace from the cathedral lookout

Panorama

The front from the back!

Great views

Madrid view

Statues of the apostles

Exterior statues

The interior of this modern cathedral

The ceiling modern art?

Different

Interior rich decor

One of the doors

Walking to the museum we passed magnificent buildings with elaborate facades. 20 minute walk from our hotel.

Mostly official buildings including Madrid City Council and Bank of Spain buildings

Plaza Cibeles with a classical chariot fountain, but difficult to access due to incessant high volume of traffic

Scene where many of the Real Madrid victories are celebrated. Hope they won’t be celebrating at the end of this month when they play Liverpool in the Champions League final!

Monument to the Fallen

Paseo del Prado, part of the UNESCO Heritage Listed neighbourhood.

Carmensita the Spanish senorita waiting to enter the Prado

One of the five entries. Pays to have pre bought tickets although not too busy. Lots of school students some as young as Rocco.

Not able to use camera inside so these will have to do. Lots of rooms, halls, works of art. Exhausting even just looking at the scope of what awaits you.

One of the most important Spanish painters, late 18th early 19th centuries. His Black Paintings in the Prado are one of the highlights. Macabre but fascinating.

Facade with support for Ukrainian galleries

St Jeronimo el Real next to the Prado

Parque de El Retiro

Three in the afternoon with temperatures in the thirties! Heat wave has arrived in Madrid!

Puerta de Alcala’

Goya ‘Witches Sabbath’

www.http://thegeographicalcure.com

Collected our Opel Crossland from Avis at the nearby railway station

Just over an hour’s drive to Segovia to see the Roman aqueduct. Still in very good condition despite nothing used to build it other than stones.

A close inspection revealed no flaws!

Who can remember the Segovia jug mama brought back from Spain?

The Alcazar built 800 years ago

Internal courtyard

Hall with wooden gilded ceiling

View from the Alcazar

Fairytale castle. Some say Disney used it as inspiration for Cinderella castle

Internal maze hedge

Armoury flags

Ramparts built on solid rock

Lunch in Segovia. Had to be the local suckling pig cochinillo di Segovia. Sorry babe!

One of the gates leading to the old town. This one St Mary because it leads directly to the amazing gothic cathedral dedicated to the Virgin Mary

River flowing through the town

Attractive walkway along the river full of locals as we were leaving

First glimpse of the cathedral

Facade

Centenary plaque

One of the entrances

Cloisters

Amazing golden staircase with nun busy cleaning the silver carriage. Going out on the weekend no doubt!

Amazing relief throughout the cathedral

Just one of the many side chapels

The wrought iron gold plated balustrade

A few photos of Burgos

Cute shop front

Photo shoot

Main drag into town

Looking surprisingly good after a full day

Finally made it to Rioja! Bring me wine

And Iberico ham!

Santo Domingo de la Calzada was established to cater for the pilgrims doing the Camino. It is a quaint old town

The seashell sign showing the Way of the Camino

The main plaza in town

Walkway much frequented in the evenings by the locals

The cathedral

First stop Barrio de la Estacion in Haro where 9 of the best wineries in Rioja are within walking distance of each other

Bodegas Muga a well known producer

Premium wine tasting

Top of their range wines

Prado Enea Gran Reserva 2015. Magnificent

Low profile modern winery over 6 levels!

The glass viewing deck

Spectacular views of the Sierra de Cantabria mountain range

3000 barrels of maturing wine

Restaurant with external and internal views

The range of wines including Albariño from their newly acquired winery in arias Baixas Galicia

Old metal sign

One of several gates into the town

A tower

A typical street

Some typical locals

A pintxos bar all set to go!

Sunday morning, drink and tapas before lunch

Where’s my tapas?

Really old houses with strange doors

More like stable doors. Half expected to see a horse having a look outside

The hotel entrance, part of the wine estate

The founder. Still going strong at 87 years. This is only a statue!

Extensive gardens

And vineyards

The wine shop

Spectacular views of the mountain background

Tour of the extensive cellars

You can rent space in the cellar and store your wine. Clever!

The barrel room, approx 4,000 of them

Old vats

YSIOS winery is in the heart of Rioja Alavesa and sits in the mountain foothills

An avant-garde boutique winery in harmony with the surrounding landscape

Amazing

View from the tasting room upstairs

Then there is the Marques de Riscal Luxury Hotel and winery

Designed by Frank Gehry who also designed the Bilbao Guggenheim Museum

From the back

Inside the shop. Not just wines!

Lots of Camino signs showing the route

A sculpture in Logrogno dedicated to the pilgrims.

Stopped at Najera, a former capital of Navarre, to see the Monastry of Santa Maria la Real. No luck! There are renovations under way and it is closed on Mondays.

Navarrete a municipality in La Rioja, located between Najera and Logrogno is surrounded by wineries but also has the Iglesia Nuestra Senora de la Asuncion. Located in the middle of town the altar piece alone is worth a visit.

The church tower

The impressive gold plated altar piece

Says what I just said!

Local Parliament House

Concatedral de Santa Maria de la Redonda

Detail from the facade

Street view. Balconies are popular in this part of Spain. Not all of them are as attractive as these.

Iglesias de Santiago el Real. A stop for pilgrims. 16th century build. Saint James is shown in the two statues on the facade. One wearing a pilgrim’s habit. The other as Santiago Matamoros (the Moor-slayer)

Crossing the Iron Bridge on the Ebro

As opposed to the Stone Bridge

A typical small square

The famous Calle Laurel, centre of the tapas bar scene. As many as 50 tapas bars in the area!

About to hit the Calle for lunch

Near the entrance

The corridor

One of the staircases

Beautiful stained glass window

The Palace and Paradore entrance

Santa Maria la Real, right next to the palace, gothic style church built between the 12th and 14 th centuries

Ornate facade based on the Notre Dame de Paris

One of the gates to town

Town square

Wall temperature gauge in the square

A typical town street

Typical building

The Royal Gallery looking out to the gardens

One of the many towers

And another

Our bedroom window the last on the right

The entrance to the Paradore

On the ramparts

The Castillo de Ygay was bought in 1872 and the estate has become one of the Rioja landmarks.

The entrance to the tasting room. The winery specialises in producing Reserva and Gran Reserva wines (aged wines)

Tasting a couple of superb wines at what has been described as one of the Rioja aristocracy and without doubt one of the best wineries in the world.

The white is the Capellania Reserva 2017 (great structure and complexity)

The red the Dalmau 2015. Harmonious and intense, elegant and powerful.

If only all my wines were this good!

Huncal showing us the different varieties grown in their vineyards. These include native varieties hardly grown by anyone

Tempranillo blends

The interesting mono varietals - maturana tinta, maturana blanca, graciano, Tempranillo Blanca

One of their many plots on higher ground in Fitero approx 500m

Old vines in excess of 100 years, garnacha

Xabier one of 3 brothers involved with running this winery. His enthusiasm for their project to resuscitate old varieties is amazing

Concrete eggs for aging wine

Part of the barrel room

Their range of wine

And more…

Zorzal means thrush

Excellent rose’, a style historically very popular in Navarra, made from garnacha

Basilica de Nuestra Senora del Pilar, one of the most important churches in Spain

The Holy Chapel

Close up of the Holy Chapel

The Main Altar

The Holy Chapel’s dome

External view

Internal courtyard

Alabaster decoration

Twin towers

Wall decoration

The floors

The ceilings

Next to the Plaza de Toros

One of the entrances

Lovely old fashioned cafe in the main square Plaza de Castillo

Plaza de Castillo

Pamplona street view. Just imagine all the bulls charging at you here!

The church in the background

Pretty building with pretty flowers

Inside the Cathedral de Santa Maria la Real de Pamplona

Inside the cathedral

Mausoleum of King Carlos lll and his wife Dona Leonor

Yet another imposing building

And another, this time a local government office

Straight into the octopus. No time to waste!

Pamplona! No prizes for guessing the theme of this sculpture

The Town Hall

The port area

Entering the old part

The Church dedicated to Santa Maria like most of the other churches we have seen!

With the modern sculpture

A pintxo bar

Another church

With a dancing Christ!

San Telmo Museo

A bridge with spectacular lights

Plaza de la Constitution

A band stand in the park

A modern pintxo bar

The sea front at night with beautiful lights

Fish soup

Sardines with red piquillo peppers

Pork loin

Hake

The lightest apple tart ever!

Local teak oil rose’. Never knew there was such a wine considering most txakoli is white!

Wide beaches full of kids on Saturday morning playing soccer and visitors during the day sunning themselves.

Walking towards the funicular that takes you to the top of the hill

Queen Isabella’s residence in San Sebastián where she lived while having sea water treatment for her skin condition, putting the town on the ‘must visit’ list. To this day it is a playground for the well-to-do

View from the Queen’s front garden

The view from the Queen’s house

The back verandah

A bridge over the river near the old town

Lovely beach, much quieter than San Sebastián up the road

Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No it’s a hang glider!

The equivalent of the Loch Ness monster but this time on the beach at Zarautz

Pretty place with lots of small boats

A beach on both sides of town make it a popular place

Old houses covered in fishing nets?.? Not sure why. Perhaps flaking paint

Family restaurant

And another

Enjoying the view

Getting the massive charcoal grill going for Sunday lunch

The old town with a more modest grill

Really old church

As you can see by the worn side door facade

Lovely setting for the entrance

The foreground

One of the religious buildings

The main entry

The facade of the Sanctuary. Beautiful inside but mass was on so no photos

Picasso in exile in Paris was shocked by the massacre and painted his Guernica in 3 weeks depicting the devastation of the town and its inhabitants. He insisted the painting not be returned to Spain until Franco was dead. It is now in Madrid. This mural in Guernica.

Busy Sunday scene outside street full of bars. Stopped for some pintxos, as you do!

The Peace Museum with lots of banners painted by school kids from around the world.

Details of some of the banners

Another old church

Teatro Campos Eliseos Antzokia just around the corner from our hotel

Azkuna Zentroa Cultural Centre, an old wine warehouse converted by a Philippe Starck design

Interior

40 individually design columns

Another classy building

Train station with stained glass window

Pedestrian bridge

Ministry of Public Health building

Underground train entry and exit

Ribera Market

Cathedral in Old Town

Ribera Market on the river

Museum of Fine Arts facade

MOFA side glass

Tribute to a Maestro

The famous Guggenheim, opened in 1997 designed by Frank Gehry

Puppy 1992 work by Jeff Koons. Thank god it’s spring. Not sure what he looks like in summer or winter!

Bridge near the museum that existed before the museum but was added to to fit with the museum. The red section was used to hide the old bridge columns and the section on the right to complement the museum building

Massive spider on the river bank, Maman by Louise Bourgeois

Close up of the titanium structure

Had to take a selfie with Puppy! Soooo cute!

Back of the building showing the detailed titanium shell

Special effects photo

Titanium’s ability to reflect colours

The amazing interior. Lots of individually shaped stainless steel beams and special glass reflecting UV light without tinting

Over 30 metres high

Lots of internal light through glass sides and ceiling

Maman the spider like a scene from War of the Worlds

And again

At dusk

Tulips also by Jeff Koons

Tall Tree and The Eye by Amish Kapolei

The Spider by Louise Bourgeois

Jenny Holzer Installation for Bilbao

Remembering the languages outlawed by Franco during his dictatorship

Spanish on the public side, regional languages on the inside

The Matter of Time by Richard Serra, my favourite art work in the museum.

Amazing massive steel plates 4cms thick normally used to construct ships in special geometric patterns that produce different effects on the movement and perception of the viewer.

Getting these into the museum was a feat in itself. The original ‘snake’ was lowered in place even before the museum was roofed

Seemingly defying gravity the plates form interesting patterns which can play havoc with the viewer.

An art piece of immense proportions

Yvette Klein Large Blue Anthropometry. Naked women rolling in blue paint apparently

Mark Rothko Untitled. Expressing basic human emotions. This one must represent happiness and laughter. All the way to the bank, I suspect.

Anselm Kiefer The Renowned Orders of the Night.

This one over nine metres high is a steel and marble sculpture

Side view Plaza Mayor

Plaza Mayor

Setting up for the book fair

Fountain just off Plaza Mayor

Comparing phones?

Typical street in Old Town

Cathedral of Valladolid

Interior showing alter piece

Cervantes

The University. Looks like a church

Back ofCathedral

Teatro Calderon

Old building

Nice balconies

Not the Salvator in Lija!

Yet another church.

Cheesecake

Rice pudding served cold

Wine tasting room at Melel restaurant in front of the cathedral. The region has five DOC wine classifications and is an important scene in Spanish wine. Rueda, Ribeira del Douro and Toro are top quality wines!

Outside view

Great view from the cathedral terrace

Main staircase

One of the many ante rooms with tapestries, painted ceilings and great furniture and works of art

Sculptures galore

It was not allowed to photograph the main official rooms. A very impressive palace but can’t seem to enjoy looking at these examples of Royal indulgence thinking who the f*** did these people think they were to deserve to squander the wealth of the ordinary people.

Is it any wonder we had revolutions and executions of royalty. They deserved nothing less!

We need to continue to guard against royals, dictators and other ‘entitled’ assholes.