Day 14: Madrid

On our last day in Europe, we slept in a little later than we anticipated. We take the metro downtown and grab lunch at a cute little cafe. We took it easy that day and wandered by the botanical gardens and got discount student tickets into the Prado. There was a lot of baroque-era art including many portraits of wealthy families. Most of the figures (men and women) looked just like George Washington!

We stopped by the Park of the Pleasant Retreat which includes the Crystal Palace - a one-room building made entirely of windows (see picture). We wandered in, and they had some speakers set up playing random sound effects: animal calls, pings, drips, and other unrecognizable sounds. I suppose it was to demonstrate how it echoes. Also, they didn't let us take pictures from inside the building. We spent some nice time sitting on the grass and watching people and wildlife (including magpies) go by.

In the evening, we got all packed up and set out looking for a sandwich place to get food for the next day. Why are sandwiches so hard to find? We finally found a tiny fresh/organic cafe that sold everything from bagels and lox to curry chicken wraps. We grabbed some food and some quiche and put it in the fridge for the next day.

We went to our favorite little restaurant one last time to enjoy the delicious and very well-priced meal and went to bed. Early the next morning, we got up, went to the airport, and said our goodbyes.