Madrid, July 17 and 18 and home July 19

 After doing the River Walk on Wednesday, I thought I would check out the location of Joanne´s (very very fine) hotel.  Just as was approaching, a taxi pulled up and who should emerge but Joanne!  She had stuff to do, so I walked around, returned later for snacks provided by the (very very fine) hotel, and then we went on a tour of the Royal Palace, where, among much opulence there was quite a finely framed mirror:

I was most impressed by the fabrics on the walls, and most unimpressed by the fact that the Palace owns two Stradivarius violins and one viola, which are played rarely,  at the most special of occasions.  That just seems not to be the best use for such precious instruments...IMO.  OTOH it was an experience to see the instruments up close. They were beautiful.  And I was most amused by the account (true) of King Juan Carlos who was forced to abdicate in 2020 due to his having done some illegal elephant hunting and for having been involved in shady business deals in Saudi Arabia while Spain was having a fiscal crisis.  So off he went to live in Abu Dhabi, sustained by his almost 2 billion euro personal fortune and perhaps to continue indulging in more shady business deals.

This morning I walked hither and thither yon and returned to the Retiro, a good place to be on a hot day.  

There I learned something:  Lilies of the Nile:

also come in white:

There were ten little dicky birds sitting on a fence:

and, no, one did not fly away.  I just could fit number 10 into the frame since the guy on the left wouldn´t move over.

Speaking of birds.  Where were the peacocks?   By and by I came upon a peahen:

And finally Mr. Peacock

One must not neglect to notice the lovely little tuft on its head:

At noon I met Joanne at the Reina Sofia Museum of Contemporary Art.  The building itself is impressive and an unusual space for an art museum. That is because in its former life, it had been a hospital.

Some of the art was pretty whacky, but not all!  

A few favorites were this Miro:

A beautiful Spanish woman, artist not named:

And a woman who had a challah like affair on her head:

because where else are you going to put it?

We spent the whole afternoon there and then it was time to go!

The trip home was made eventful but the massive computer issue that affected many parts of the world.  Luckily, my flight was delayed only two hours, and Joanne´s somewhat less.  Then driver who was to pick me up at JFK was held up by traffic and went to the wrong terminal.  The point of these details is to communicate this:  Pacing back and forth when your flight and driver are delayed  can allow you to get over ten miles of walking in for the day, which is better than nothing.