Calle de Cuchilleros

Madrid: backblip 1 of 3

The Road of the Knifemakers

Where to start?! I had a wonderful time in Madrid: what a city! We were so lucky with the weather: it was hot and sunny for the whole long weekend.
There were 8 of us (family and friends) and none of us had visited Madrid before. In the end we spent the three days exploring and enjoying the local fare, but didn't enter the museums or galleries (or botanic gardens); I definitely want to return to visit some of them, but I'm glad for the way it panned out because we enjoyed the weather and I think we all got a great feel for the city and what it has to offer.

This is the Calle de Cuchilleros in twilight: we spent much of the first day in this area as there is the fantastic Mercado de San Miguel at the top (an old covered market with amazing atmosphere), the historic Plaza Mayor is just behind it (accessible through the dramatic Arco de Cuchilleros), and Restaurant Botín is near the bottom. Restaurant Botín is regarded by the Guinness Book of Records as the oldest restaurant in the world, having been founded in 1725, and we had supper there which was wonderful. It is built over 4 floors, two of which are vaulted cellars!

This is my 400th Blip. Hum, it feels slightly sad because I'd been intending to blip my D200 reflected to make 400, but that obviously didn't pan out... I've since just held on to the fact that this blipday is falling halfway between my ordering the D800 and its arriving (half of D800 would be ?)...
On the day (actually the 13th chronologically), I totally forget that I was meant to be looking for a 400.

Anyway, I'm now using my blipday to trick people into looking at my back blips of Madrid (ha!). I'm not sure what I can add to my 365th's commentary; I'm still finding Blip hugely positive, and I have no intention of addressing my blipping habit. I'm so grateful for everyone's comments and feedback. I feel compelled to reiterate that I find constructive criticism very helpful; I've found it very valuable thus far, and would appreciate it if/when anything springs to mind... Please do tell me if you think "I'd have done this..." or "I don't like x, perhaps y would have been better..." or "have you tried...?" &c.