Thursday, October 6, 2016

El Centro de Madrid and the Osos First Practice Under Coach Sánchez's Leadership


Wednesday, 5 October, 2016:

After a good night's sleep, I headed back into the central part of Madrid to continue to try to see something new, i.e., a museum or church that I had not visited on past trips to the Capital.

I got off the Metro's Red Line at the Banco de España stop wanting to eventually visit El Museo del Ejercito, a.k.a., the Army Museum.

It seemed only fair after visiting the Naval Museum on Sunday.

 I was somewhat close

A good Military Band kept
up the spirits of many passers-by

No, they were definitely not playing John Phillip Souza style marching tunes.

One of Madrid's
8,000,000,000 Fountains

The XXVIII Autumn Old and
Ancient Book Fair

It was in FULL swing today with dozens of booksellers at work!

Time for El Desayuno de Campeones

Cafe con Leche and Tortilla Española, YUM!

A Jai Alai themed restaurant

Maybe Laurie will want to accompany me to this spot next month.

Nice Knocker

One Shot Hotel?

Art or Vandalism?

You decide.

This looked military in nature

But it was not the Army Museum but . . .

. . . it definitely had a military bearing

I found it!

It was just where my Rick Steves Guide Book said the Museo del Ejercito would be.

Just one problem I was told at the door.

The museum had been moved to Toledo a few years.

Oh well . . .

. . . on to the Royal Botanic Garden

Brown or Dead Flowers?

Angel? Jesús?

It was neither Clemente brother of Murcia Cobra fame it turned out.

Instead, it was a statue of one Simón de Rojas Clemente y Rubio (1777-1827) who was in charge of the Gardens in the early 1800s.

Peaceful Gardens

King Carlos III

These Royal Gardens were his idea.

Royal Gardens Exhibit Hall

Let's see what Carmen Varela
has to offer

Lots of cool flower paintings

Fun Statues
  
I like her orange

Fuchsia is good too

 What the . . .

Relax already

Lean on me

 More orange

Maybe I should buy this
for Mary?

Sleep where and when you can

I want it!

As it turned out, I loved all of Carmen Varela's work but it was time to continue my . . .

. . . walk in the garden

Serene

Sunflowers are BIG in España

Flowers in the Sun

Exiting the relaxing Garden, I was now off to the Atocha Train Station to buy my Target Dorada.

The Tarjeta Dorada is a discount card for Senior Citizens that allows for greatly discounted train tickets all throughout Spain.

Across the street from Atocha

Atocha's Rotunda

Cervantes and Don Quixote

Yankee Imperialist Dogs!

I needed to hustle back to gather all of my belongings as Jesús Sánchez and I were going to move into our new digs in the suburb of Arganda del Rey.

GRACIAS again to Daniel and Vanessa Vilches for being wonderful hosts during my first week in Madrid.

You meet such great people when you travel.

Our new apartment, La Casa Grande, is huge!

More on La Casa Grande tomorrow.

I helped the Osos' Juniors from 7:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. and then from 8:05 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. it was time for the Senior team's first practice under new Head Coach Jesús Sánchez.

He ran a well organized, high tempo practice that emphasized discipline but still had room for fun. The players responded in an extremely positive fashion!

Osos Starting Offensive Line

While I was pleased with all of them tonight, one can not help but notice our Left Tackle on the right of the picture.

This human mountain, known simply as Turco, is part man, part myth and part legend.

His size was impressive, but so was his footwork and attention to detail.

These two months are going to fun on the field!

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