Adios Madrid and Spain

Leo and I spent our last day wandering through the Madrid neighbourhoods and doing some last minute shopping.

We dropped in at the Plaza Mayor, a very large square surrounded by arcaded buildings filled with restaurants and bars (and tourists).

We checked out the Malasena and Chueca districts, which are more residential than the Centro.  The streets are wider and many of the buildings are painted pink, so it has a lighter, airier feel.  Many of the storefronts have been decorated by graffiti artists.

We read that there was a building of note on Calle San Fernando, so we wandered down that way until we came upon this:

the Casa Longoria, built in flamboyant Spanish art nouveau style.  Contrast this to the comparatively severe art nouveau  architecture we saw in Helsinki last year:

and you get an idea of the difference in style between north and south.

We returned to the Parque Retiro, with its iconic topiary,

and revisited it's central pool, much less crowded with rowboats than on Sunday,

and the Palacio Crystal, currently closed while an artist was constructing an installation.

It has a small pool outside, planted with North American bald cypresses.

But no crocodiles.

Leo has been running through the park these last few mornings, and he showed me his favourite fountain,

decorated with water spouting gremlins.

Then there was nothing left to do but pack our bags and get a few hour's sleep before catching a taxi to the airport at 4 a.m. the next morning.