More photos

Here's looking in one direction from the top of the Segovia alcázar tower. That's the cathedral in the distance and the wall around the city is centuries old. The highest mountain--covered with snow and off to the right--is said to look like a dead woman. Why not a sleeping woman? The Spanish perspective is a little dark.

...and here's from the other direction (over the top of the rest of it). This is apparently the castle that inspired Walt Disney's Cinderella castle. We went down in the "basement" and saw where the Romans started the construction of it. Over the centuries it was added onto any number of times. It...well, I could write about it for awhile, but I'll spare you the history and descriptions, no matter how fascinating. And this was just ONE of the castles we toured!

I seem to have lost the photo where I got all of the building, but you can still tell that Madrid's city hall is a lot more impressive than Seattle's.

This is in Sol, in the center of Madrid. Lots of people, as you can see. Every time I was in Sol--day or night--there were lots of people. Yes, it's crowded, but it didn't drive me crazy. Maybe it's because I wasn't trying to get anywhere in a hurry, just on vacation. Everyone is with a group or at least another person. Everyone's talking. There's a kind of energy, a sort of buzz. It's alive.