Further Explorations in Madrid

Madrid's Plaza Mayor and New Pedestrian Bridge Over the Rio Manzanares

Day Two continued to mix the old and new. Rainy weather allowed a shortened visit to the Reina Sophia Museum, home to outstanding contemporary art (including Picasso's Guernica); most of the group was impressed to go back in evening.  A walk throught the Old City presented Madrid's primary historical plaza, Mayor, and then down the hills to the Manzanares River.  Madaid has embarked onto extensive remodeling of its unnavigable river with 10 kilometers of improvements to both banksides with gardens, sports grounds, and new pedestrian bridges, all mixed with Neo-Classical dams, locks and bridges.

Three Urban Rooms: Reina Sophia, Plaza Mayor and Manzanares Bridge