Madrid de los Austrias #HogsAbroad

Madrid de los Austrias was a gem hidden near El Sol (like the Beale street of Madrid). I’ve been several times to El Sol, but I never went far enough to see these places. I learned that the bear and the tree is a symbol of Madrid. I was wondering why everyone would take pictures with the statue of the bear and the tree. I also learned that Madrid has rivers that run underneath the city.

Plaza Mayor is the center of the city. Historically, parts of the Plaza Mayor was a bread factory. The buildings are now used for tourist information. The place between the buildings in the main square was a place for bullfights. This used to be a place where people who were not Catholic were murdered. On Sunday the plaza mayor is a place to buy stamps collection. During Christmas the plaza mayor is full of places by the Christmas decorations.

We passed by the restaurant, El restaurante Sobrino de Botin Horno de Azar, which is the oldest restaurant in the world. I had no idea that Madrid hosted the oldest restaurant in the world. I would not eat there, because it’s too expensive.

The General Capital is where most the most important people of the city work. It houses the military, religious and Government leaders. It seems that this is a bad idea because if someone wanted to do damage to all the leaders of the city, then all they would have to do is hit the building.

I had fun watching these very important Madrid sites. I can’t wait to see the interior of the Royal Palace next week.

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Read more from Autumn at https://autumnabroadblog.wordpress.com/blog/
Find out more about the U of A Spanish in Madrid program at http://studyabroad.uark.edu/madrid