just amazing...


Just amazing some of the architecture in Madrid... just stunning, new, old, contemporary....

The Edificio Metropolis


Risked life, limb, camera, and mad maniacal Madrid drivers to get this shot.  Paul just standing on the side walk thinking *good grief* Just a terrific building built in 1905, how Parisian in style is it!

Parque Del Retiro

An awesome park in the middle of Bourbon Madrid, heaps to see and do, including a great rose garden, a boating lake, and a crystal palace....












back to Spain for a bit... Don Quixote



Outside the Edificio Espana (that cool building), is a park Torre de Madrid, which has in the centre a stone obelisk with a statue of Cervantes, and below to bronzes of Don Quixote and Sancho Panza.   Awesome.

Seville Cathedral and La Giralda...


Seville's cathedral was built over and incorporates a great mosque built by the Almohads in the 12th Century.  So the architecture is a mix of Moorish and Christendom influence, really spectacular.  The tower was built as a minaret in 1198, and the was changed over time to include the new belfry by 1568.  The staircase inside was built so that the priest could ride his horse up to the top of the minaret.   



Now whilst travelling it can be very easy just to look around and see whats in front of you... occasionally I have been know to look up... and look at ceilings... occasionally you come across some awesome imagery.  Again, like in New York, the guards tend not to like you laying on the ground taking pics... oh well :D

A ceiling in the Real Alcazar....

more to come...

Granada and the Alhambra and the Generalife


A panoroma of the Alhambra and Generalife in Granada, Spain, whislt we are watching the sunset and having dinner... awesome.

The Alhambra was build under Ismail I, Yusuf I and Muhammand V, caliphs when the Nasrid dynasty ruled Granada. Spectacular and magical use of space, light, water and decoration... you will be amazed... but thats the last of the trip panoramas... but never fear... more to come....

Palacio Real

Madrid has a great lavish Royal Palace set high over the Rio Manaznares and is still used for state occasions.  Two quick panoramas from the side and the front for you.




Parque del Retiro Part I





This series of panoramas are from the rose garden in the Parque del Retiro in Madrid.  I'll have a series of images of some of the individual rose in an upcoming post.  Awesome garden... though it was soooo hot to wander around in.