Day 9 - Madrid.

After dropping bags off at the hotel, I learn that it being a Sunday the street parking is free, except in the very core of the city. I find a spot just outside the core, by the park.

As I go to lock the car, it doesn't respond. I try to start it and it says no key detected. Great. Some fussing with it does not help. So I use the mechanical key to lock the car, and go walking around anyway.

It is sunny but cold, just above freezing. Pretty good weather for walking actually.

Madrid has the biggest-city feel of all the places I've visited on the trip. The wide open spaces and scale of the parks, squares and buildings are impressive but also cold and not particularly inviting. Designed to impress and intimidate rather than to welcome.

A quick espresso at a sidewalk cafe to warm up and get my bearings, then onward.

Entering the city core the streets get narrow, and I now feel more like a participant in the city rather than just a visitor.

I have no specific destinations except for one - restaurant Botin, supposedly the oldest continously operating restaurant in the world. Since 1725. It doesn't open until 1 PM, for another hour, so I just take some photos and make a plan to come back later.

There is a scale model of the restaurant in one of the windows, impressively detailed.

Then more walking around.

There is a central square that reminds me a bit of St Marco's square in Venice - minus the lagoon, of course.

The Temple of Debod is an ancient Egyptian structure and is a stark contrast to the ornate architecture prevalent in the city. There is a long line to get in so I decide to skip it and only take some people-free pix outside, which takes a bit of effort.

Then a walk back to the restaurant.

I arrive a few minutes after they open and ask to be seated. They ask if I have a reservation. Nope. So I'm directed to the basement, which turns out to be the coolest part. Probably lucky I got a seat at all - it pays to be early.

I ended up being seated next to the wine cellar entrance, and got to check it out.

Of course these are not the wines they serve - they'd be gone in a day, and then they'd be gone forever.

The wine they do serve is quite nice, and prices are reasonable. I order the suckling pig, which is one of their specialties. Tasty. Another 'experience meal', since the Zone bars have been keeping me fueled all along.

Then a walk back to the car, wondering if the key will work.

The key is still dead so I unlock the car mechanically. It doesn't want to start. But after opening and closing doors, pushing some buttons, and removing/reinstalling the key battery, it finally starts.

It's a short drive to the hotel and I'm tired. It's been quite a trip. Much to process, literally thousands of photos to go through.

The somewhat sterile but nice hotel room feels like a logical conclusion before the long flights home tomorrow.

In the morning the car starts fine, the return is uneventful, as are the flights. I even get a full row to sleep in on the transatlantic leg. Close enough to biz class.