even though we got here today and took a small nap before going out, we walked a lot – around the royal palace, along the gran via (known as the spanish broadway), in the atocha neighborhood where we are based, and finally in el retiro park which belonged to the spanish monarchy until 1868 and where everything is blooming. stunning architecture everywhere, tons of greenery and open community spaces, perfect weather and good food, but what i loved most were the peacocks at el retiro. i’ve seen gorgeous peacocks before (most memorably in choa saidan shah in pakistan and at jardim da estrela in lisbon), but this was something else. a full-on soap opera with screeching matches between male peacocks vying for the same female and some surprisingly aggressive shaking of feathers and hot pursuit. nature is bizarre and remarkable at the same time. found these secondhand booksellers close to el retiro and one of them talked at length with my daughter in spanish (so proud!). for dinner went to KA restaurant 6 min’s walk from our hotel for some reliable thai – the food was next level delish. it was a good day 🙂