La Noche es Joven

The night is young.

Even at night, the city seems to be full of energy. Even more as compared to during the day. So much more people thronged the Puerta de Sol, the one with the Madrid bear. I got intimidated to even walk through them to get to the other side.

Somehow this photo gave a menacing and unwelcoming feeling, might be the white light, instead of the normal yellowish warm light. Might also be the perspective of this photo.

The winged goddess Victoria on the Metropolis building looked much different during the night.


After taking our dinner around 8pm, we started our 5-hour-long journey back to Oviedo. We were tired from the walking, but satisfied and hoped for another trip, hopefully during spring or summer.

Royal Palace, Madrid

The Royal Palace seemed very familiar when we first arrived here. Only after some goggling, that I found out that it was loosely based on the famous Palace of Versailles in France. One word, "HUGE"! I did not change my lenses and so was not able to get a full view of the palace. Anyway with the 18-55mm I will still not be able to shoot the whole building in one frame.

The Plaza of the East in front of the palace boasts of many statues of the kings who once resided in the Palace. Currently the palace is used for official functions and not for residing anymore.


The palace was fully built with limestone and granite, to make it fireproof. This came after the fire which burnt down the Royal Fortress which used to stand at the same site. Talk about once burnt twice shy.

The equestrian statue of King Phillip IV in the Plaza of the east. At the background is only a small part of the palace building.

Hope to have another chance to visit the interior of the palace. I heard that it is really something worth waiting up for. However for this trip, we ran short of time and do not have the luxury for it.

Plaza Mayor, Madrid

Plaza Mayor is a popular must-visit place for tourists. Its a square where you can enjoy a drink with tapas (bite size snacks served with your drinks, some tapas are free at this place). It is surrounded by symmetrical buildings around the square plaza.

At the center of the square is a bronze statue of King Philips III on horseback.

A marketplace was set up in the middle of the square, selling lots of carnival items. Might be for Christmas when everyone can enjoy themselves. It added lots of colour to the plaza, with wigs of different vibrant colours...

And various masks as well.

We then took a walk around after a short while in the energetic and vibrant Plaza. Took a photo of this person, don't know who he is, trying to take a closer look at the lion statue.

"This is MY ball, you punny human.. Roarrrrr.." "Nice kitty, nice kitty..."

Now this shifted my paradigm with "street painters". He literally painted on the streets. I wonder what happens after he finishes it. I had seen such photos on forwarded mails, not in real life and on the street, literally.

Numerous souvenir shops can be seen around this area. This one is one that I like a lot, however, it was too expensive and heavy to be brought back.