#madrid Archives • Folksy Travel by Bill Smale

May 13, 2026May 13, 2026

Madrid Segovia Cuenca

late last year I went to Madrid to see my friends who you can see below. I spent some time there in Spain before going to Germany to see the Rod Stewart concert. I wish I was able to spend more time in Spain since I was just getting back up to speed with Spanish.

Madrid

visiting friends who are professional musicians and also play for the national Orchestra of Spain.

Famous musicians Madrid Segovia Cuenca — Having a little wine with Sergio and Omar before there Venezuelan music group Jim session. Omar is a well-known flute master and Sergio is a well-known guitarist. They grew up in Venezuela and Argentina respectively but now reside in Spain as professional musicians.

Venezuela musicians Madrid Segovia Cuenca — Venezuelans playing tunes they remember and created

Sergio and Omar playing Madrid Segovia Cuenca — Sergio and Omar playing

Cured ham Madrid Segovia Cuenca — So many places sell cured ham by the leg

Beautiful lake Bill Smale — Proof I was there at the beautiful lake in the center of the city

Nice time of year Bill Smale — It was a nice time of year

Street musician Bill Smale — And of course there was a very good Street musician

Gremlin fountain — The interesting fountain with figurines that look like gremlins

JardineS park — This is the large park in the center of Madrid

Green birds — The beautiful green birds gathered together

Beautiful day — It was a very beautiful day and seeing the birds was a real treat

I just took a few pictures of the colors because they were so striking. This was in October

Park explanation — The explanation of the park

Took took — They have duk duk also in Spain

Restaurant menu — Screenshot

the above was a menu for some things which I ordered

Tapas — These were just little things to fill up on

Pamplona

Reference to Hemmingway — In the city Hemmingway is very famous

Tapas — Some more little cup to fill up on

Segovia

Segovia Palace — These photos are of the palace in Segovia

Small chapel altar — The altar in the small chapel

Ornate object objects — Very ordinate objects

Palace entrance — The palace at the entrance

It’s a very beautiful building

Alcazar — The palace is called Alcazar

Inner courtyard — The inner courtyard

Protection for a knight — Very good protection for a knight and his horse

Reception room — The royal Reception room

Ornate ceiling — Incredibly ornate ceiling

Beautiful view — Beautiful views of the surrounding area. What do you see in the distance is the Mirador de la Vera Cruz

Ornate ceiling — Again a very ornate ceiling

Receiving room — The receiving room

Beautiful views — Such beautiful views

Guard weapons — Weapons for the guards

City view — Looking back into the city

Palace courtyard — Looking down under the courtyard

Jewish quarter — Entering the Jewish quarter

Café bar — This café bar was not open

Old garden walkway — Walking down to an old garden

Beautiful photo — I just thought this was a beautiful photo

To a cemetery — The Jewish cemetery is way on the other side of the road and the graves are inside caverns

Cuenca

Fortress town — This is an old fortress town which is a lot of fun to walk up and down

Nice view — Beautiful views

A tourist restaurant — This was a menu in one of the restaurants. I don’t recommend eating up there since it’s fairly expensive and it’s tourist food

Museum — This is the monastery and now a museum

The Lord of La Mancha — Maybe this will remind you of the Lord of La Mancha, Don Quijote

November 27, 2025November 27, 2025

walk around Madrid

as you walk around Madrid you’ll find some very interesting things so keep your eyes peeled.

Proof taking a walk around Madrid — Proof I was here

Old stairs walk around Madrid — The old Hostel stairs indicate they have been used for a long time

Duk duk — There are even duk duks in Madrid, not just in Thailand

Famous guy — Some famous guy

Beautiful park — Beautiful and huge park near the Prado museum

Walking around the park — It’s a nice walk around especially during the fall

Orange flower — Beautiful completely orange flower

Beautiful berries — I love the color of these berries

Beautiful colors — Look at the colors

Many olive trees walking around Madrid — Of course there are many olive trees in the garden

Tall trees — Majestic tall trees

Old Vespa — Of course there needs to be an old Vespa sitting around

Beautiful front door walking around Madrid — Beautiful front door

Interesting statue

Excellent musician — Of course I gave him a tip for his excellent performance

Beautiful lake — Beautiful lake in the park

Various influences — It seems to me there is some Islamic, Roman and French or Gaulic influences

Beautiful building — A beautiful building across from the park

Fluffy tree — Of course someone needs to have their photo taken as they touch the fluffy tree

Long row of building — A long row of building

Something going on — Something was going on at the parliament building but I was not going to wait around to see what it was

Goya statue — Of course the famous artist outside the Prado museum

Political comment — These political comments can be seen in various places

Madrid breakfast — A very typical Madrid breakfast of fresh bread, olive oil oil and a mashed up tomato with a few pieces of raw garlic which I didn’t quite know what to do with

Smoothies are everywhere

Beautiful vegetables — Look at these beautiful tomatoes and the huge red bell peppers

Manga inspired restaurant — A manga inspired Japanese restaurant probably not created by someone from Japan. There are many of these around Spain and Portugal as a chain business

Drink menu — The passport to the drink menu

Main menu — The main menu were very reasonable prices

Wakame salad — Wakame salad which was not exactly Japanese style with lettuce on the bottom but it was very tasty

Miso Ramen — The Ramen was a good quality but seemed more like Chinese style noodles with a very mild miso flavor

Fortune cookie — And a fortune cookie. This is indicative of Chinese restaurants but actually the first fortune cookie was developed by a Japanese chef in San Francisco to give the children a treat so it’s kind of interesting to have it in this Japanese style restaurant

Sol plaza — plaza del sol

Character entertainment — I did not check if these characters were aggressively looking for tips but it’s obvious they welcome them since they have their tip cups in front of them. But it’s entertaining for kids

Mickey Mouse — Of course you need to have Mickey and Minnie mouse

Gelato — They could just write “gelato” but instead they explain it in Spanish

Plaza — Here is the plaza in a Broadview

Mahou beer — This is the new famous beer of Spain and it is pronounced “MAO” which is also the Thai word for “drunk” Which I found interesting

Kawaii — The “cute“ restaurant かわいい

November 18, 2025November 18, 2025

Visit the Prado museum

when you are in Madrid make sure to visit the Prado museum since it is the premier national classical art museum. What you will be saying is about 95% paintings many of them by very famous artists and in about 5% statues and figurines.

Museum front — The front of the museum on the Goya side

Goya statue Prado Museum — Obviously the national art hero

Mona Lisa version Prado museum — This was very interesting. It is one of the initial versions of the Mona Lisa by da Vinci. The explanation is the background was changed and some other things were modified. It’s interesting to know that there is more than one complete version.

Nun Prodo museum — This nun is obviously to be obeyed completely

Painting — Woman with a Dove
1610-20. Oil on canvas
This painting displays the same stylistic characteristics as works by an anonymous painter who worked in Rome in Caravaggio’s circle and whose activity is documented between I6ro and 1620. Woman with a Dove forms a pair with Man with a Rabbit (Madrid, Palacio Real) by
the same artist.

Strozzi painting — Saint Veronica
1620-1625. Oil on camess
Veronica dried Christ’s face on the way to Calvary, and the impression remained on her cloth. Strozzi was a Capuchin friar and painted this work in his native city of Genoa before his permanent move to Venice in a632.
The painting entered the collection of Isabella Famese. wife of Philip V, as by Velázquez. by Bernardo Strozzi

In the next few paintings you will see people with beautiful eyes looking up. We all know what this means but I find it very interesting that humans are so enamored with the sky and what they did not know at this time.

Looking up

Painting looking up — Guido Reni (1575-1642). The Assumption and Coronation of the Virgin
c. 1602-3. Oil on panel
This scene, which Reni painted on other occasions between approximately 1596 and 1607, combines the subjects of the Assumption, Glorification and Coronation of the Virgin, the latter carried out by two angels. Other angels surround Mary, playing musical instruments in her honour and singing her praises. The physical types and earthy palette recall Reni’s master Annibale Carracci.

Looking up painting

You have to eat something. This food was delicious.

August 10, 2023August 10, 2023

Madrid

At a taco restaurant. The “spicy” sauce on the right of the small sauce tray of 4 was very spicy. We mixed them to suit our taste.

Musicians entertaining us. They are everywhere. Very nice to hear the more traditional music around town.

The lady you see chased me away before i could get in a better position. She set this up for money, of course.

This sunny day umbrella guy wouldn’t move. Maybe he was expecting rain to fall soon only on him.

This was an “all you can eat” buffet called ….. look at the napkin. The gazpacho was almost as good as my mothers so we visited 2 times.

August 9, 2023August 9, 2023

Madrid Royal Palace

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Palace_of_Madrid

A light with a soccer ball reference?

He was playing the brass rubbing instrument

There must have been lions in Spain

Juan Carlos, in the middle, abdicated for his son on the right.

A Stradivarius. There is even a Stradivarius bass on display