You guys have seen the amazing wedding I photographed in Africa last week. But there are so many other fun photos from my trip that I want to share with you! Today, I'm sharing some photos from Madrid, Spain. Our flight itinerary on the way to Africa left us in Madrid for 10 hours, so my sister and I took advantage of that and grabbed a taxi to city center. Thankfully, my friend Esther, who attended my first workshop ever back in 2008 in Ireland, and who lives in Spain, emailed me a full itinerary of must-see sights in Madrid complete with a walking map with a route on it, so we were well prepared to make the most of our short time there. THANKS ESTHER!!

My sister is fluent in Spanish and it has always been a dream of hers to go to Spain, so it was so amazing that this worked out. We had a lovely day walking around Madrid -- people-watching and taking in all of the exquisite architecture. And of course, I took a few photos:
The Puerta del Sol was like a European Times Square. The juxtaposition of the old buildings and the massive Calvin Klein underwear ad was somewhat jolting:
The Plaza Mayor was one of my favorite places to sit. It was grand, and gorgeous, and had little cafes like this one all around the edges -- one of which we sat at and ate Paella:
I could have just sat there all day. Here's my sister looking cute and European in her scarf she bought at a local shop in Madrid:
We also visited the Royal Palace, where I'm told no royalty lives, but many institutional happenings take place.
We sat at another cafe with this view of the palace gardens:
...and ate lemon gelato while sipping on vanilla tea. It was a tasty combo :).
We also visited the "Catedral de la Almudena," Madrid's cathedral. It is one of the prettiest I've ever seen. It took 120 years to build and was just finished a couple years ago. I'm in love with the blue-grey color on the outside of it and the arches and light on the inside:
The combo of the details and sheer size were astounding:
Check out the relief work on the doors. Amazing!!!
We walked around all day and I couldn't stop taking photos of the colorful buildings:
In the evening we sat up against a fountain in the Puerta del Sol and people watched. That might have been my favorite part. The night-life there is so vibrant and everyone is quite fashionable.

This group of protestors walked by numerous times. And although Natalie speaks Spanish, we still couldn't figure out what they were protesting. I think it had to do with something happening in Argentina.
What a fun bonus to see Madrid on our way to Angola!

Next week I'll be sharing more photos from our time in Africa. Stay tuned!
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