Madrid two

After all morning in Toledo, we only had time for a snatched lunch, after which we did a bus tour around Madrid. It was similar to our trip yesterday, but this time in sunshine. This huge city has a population of more than 4 million and is the epicentre for all roads crossing Spain, with many immigrants coming from Romania, Morocco, Ecuador and Colombia. Apparently Romanian pickpockets are a huge problem - they are often well dressed young girls or businessmen in suits and ties! One of our tour group of 41 was jostled yesterday! The Prado area has 3 beautiful fountains, dedicated to Neptune, Apollo and Sybille; the neo-classical Prado and Sophia museums , the most famous Spanish artists being Picasso, Dali and Velazquez. The modern Atocha train station is amazing and almost a gallery itself.In the posh Salamanca district it apparently costs 4-5 million euros to buy an apartment here! No problem? Las Ventas Bull ring was magnificent and can hold 23,000, with bull fights every Sunday from May to October(see photo). There are very few high buildings in the city , which is apparently also built over a hidden river. The Real Madrid soccer stadium can hold 85,000.We saw throngs going to a soccer match last night. Madrid has lots of lovely trees and boulevards which are important for stemming pollution, which is apparently a huge problem in Madrid. The beautiful botanic gardens have over 15,000 trees.Margaret and I decided to give the museums a miss and came back to the hotel for a quiet sangria, as we have a long day tomorrow. We have to get up at 6.30 and we will travel to Salamanca, near where Wellington routed Napoleon's army in 1812, ending up in Coimbra in Portugal.