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Our apartment was called MetrĂ³polis and indeed from outside the front door we could see the MetrĂ³polis building and its statue. * |
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First destination was Plaza Mayor, in many ways the centre of Madrid. * |
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Nearby was the San Miguel market, with the usual displays of perfect produce. * |
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And the implements for cooking it. * |
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It was lunch time, and people were buying food and sitting at counters to eat. * |
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Nick had one of these small servings of Iberian ham, priced at €105 per kg. * |
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We visited Madrid Cathedral, completed around 1900, and with some striking modern decoration. * |
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Nearby was the Palacio Real (Royal Palace). It was very opulent inside, but no photos allowed. * |
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Next day we went off by Metro to the Mercado de Maravillas, to the north of the city centre. * |
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This was more everyday than the market near Plaza Mayor and was full of housewives buying food for their families. * |
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We visited the Reine Sophia art gallery, which has this striking sculpture in a courtyard. † |
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And much interesting art work, including a room full of Dali works. † |
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Mercado del Raine restaurant: tapas standing at the bar, bistro snacks at tables near the road, restaurant at rear. We ate at the restaurant. * |
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Next day, we went to the house of Joaquin Sorolla, a Spanish Impressionist painter who died in 1923. The house is much as he left it, and displays many of his paintings. † |
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One of the rooms has a painted frieze, including portraits of his wife ... * |
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and children. * |
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The temporary exhibition area upstairs was devoted to his portraits of his wife, Clotilde. * |
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The house is set in an attractive garden. * |
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Then across town to the Temple of Debod, which was given to Spain by Egypt in gratitude for Spain's assistance in saving monuments threatened by the Aswan Dam. † |
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City centre buildings seen over the temple's pool. * |
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The interior has carvings made some 4000 years ago. * |
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On our last night, we ate at this combined deli and shop. As we left, we bought a supply of assorted meats to have as lunch over the next few days. * |
Up fairly early the next morning to check out of the apartment and catch a train to Cadiz.