Barcelona and Madrid

Spain Section of Year 2000 Trip

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I took the morning train from Montpellier, France to Barcelona. The evening of that same day I took the night train to Madrid. After one day there I took another night train to Lisbon, Portugal.
It was only a taste of Spain but I received a good impression and took a few photos.

	Barcelona is famous for its architecture. The wonderful thing there is not great concepts as much as the great details. The first two photos are of the 'Sacred Family' shrine and a facade detail.
	Some more details from Barcelona streets.
	The stores were closed but the streets were crowded with people. It was Easter Sunday but it was also the big Catalan holiday -- Dia San Jiordi or St. George's Day. The celebration -- as I understand it -- consisted of a lot of red rose and book sales. These girls were giving away Internet CDs and Red Roses. The book tables were a perfect location to take candid photos of the local people.
	The day ended with a night train to Madrid.

Just one day in Madrid and most museums are closed on Monday. So I missed the Prado (which I really wanted to see). I visited the Modern Art Museum but no photos were allowed and security was tight. (I still think that Picasso is over valued).
I visited the Royal Palace but it was closed due to a reception.
I visited some stores but they are closed in the afternoon.
(Are you sensing a trend here?)
These gentlemen were guarding something or other. I really need a guide to world uniforms. Army uniforms in some countries resemble the uniforms of private security guards in other locations. In a countries, such as Russia or China, where any bureaucrat requires a uniform all this flash and glitter just makes things confusing for visitors.
Some of the best world uniforms were worn by men flashing sub-machine guns and flack jackets. I never tried for photos of those guys...
Madrid uniforms

Rather than just take photos of McDonald's, in Madrid I actually stopped and ate a Big Mac. The Madrid location on the Grand Via was the fanciest fast food place east of New York's Broadway.
The thing that I find so strange about McDonald's is not its utter ubiquity but its lack of serious rivals. In USA there are many other fast food choices. KFC is common in East Asia but otherwise, in most countries, there are no serious rivals to Mickie D.
Madrid