Templo de Debod
After the visit to Iglesia de San Gines, we walked along Calle de San Martin and took a left onto Gran Via. There were plenty of theaters, retail shops, tall buildings, hotels and pollution. It reminded me of Times Square minus the lights. Perhaps it’s the New Yorker in me but New York City does it better.
At the very end of Gran Via is the Plaza de Espana. Located in central Madrid it is a large square and a popular place for tourists to come and lounge around. It’s also a short walk from the Palacio Real. Plaza de Espana has a beautiful fountain, common in many parts of Madrid, and a statue dedicated to the Madrid’s beloved Spanish writer, Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra. Cervantes wrote the famous story of Don Quixote de la Mancha and his antics with his mule Sancho Panza. The Plaza de Espana was no comparison to the Plaza Mayor but it’s still a very relaxing place to visit during the day. You just have to close your eyes and pretend you can’t hear the traffic. I thought the highlight of my day was the Plaza Mayor but that was until JC and I discovered the Parque de la Montana.
The Parque de la Montana is located northwest of Plaza de Espana. An Egpytian temple, Templo de Debod, is hidden in the park. The view from the park overlooks the teleferico (cable cars) and the Catedral de Nuestra Senior de la Almudena. The temple was saved from the rising waters of Lake Nasser in southern Egypt and was sent block by block to Spain as a gesture of gratitude to Spanish archaeologists in the UNESCO team that worked to save the monument. It’s a beautiful park to get away from the masses and the view is quite exquisite, especially around 9PM because that’s when the sun sets. JC and I sat in the park for an hour or so to rest our sore and worn feet. After a long day of walking, we were ready to feast.
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=4e3f9996-4079-4701-aebf-f7c6f45f0e15)
