Spain

             

TRAVELS

OF

FLAT STANLEY

in

MADRID

and

Extremadura

SPAIN

Hello everyone. I have arrived safely here in Madrid! The mailman dropped me off at Jake Mendaro's house and it was sure good to get out of that envelope! I went out with Jake's mom, Pam, and his sister, Amanda, yesterday to see some sights and will be traveling around a bit this next week. We will be sending pictures and having fun!

Stanley is visitng a farm in Extremadura, Spain, close to a town called Navalmoral De La Mata.

Here he is standing next to a very large cork tree. The cork trees are stripped of their bark once every 9 years. They can live to be up to 500 years old.


You can see where the cork was stripped away about three years ago, (the dark cork) and how it is getting thick again. It will be ready to harvest in another 6 years.

The mountains seen behind Flat Stanley is part of the Sierra of Gredos mountain range. It belongs to a larger range called the Sierra Central. This is a photo of the highest peak in the range and it is called El Pico de Almazor, 8604 ft.

This is Bribon. He is a Pure Spanish Horse. The Spanish horse is known and respected throughout the world for their beauty, strength and agility. Bribon is from a very elegant breed and learns difficult moves very quickly.

Stanley leaves the countryside and heads to the great city of Madrid.  Here he visits the Piruli or Tower of Communications televisión tower. The national television channels are broadcast from here. It was built in 1982 for the FIFA World Cup.

There are 1208 steps to the top!  Oh my!              

El Edificio Metrópolis is an office building in Madrid at the corner of Calle Alcala and Gran Via. It was built in 1911.  Stanley views the wonderful street scene from the front seat of the car.

La Gran Via, (the Great Way) is an upscale shopping street. It is one of the most important shopping areas with many hotels and theatres. It is a showcase for modern architecture. It just celebrated 100 years.

After walking all over the city of Madrid- we stopped at the only KFC in town.

Homesick!

At the en dog Gran Via is the Plaza de España.

It is a large square that features a monument to Miguel Cervantes. It is bordered by the Palacio Real. It is a tourist destination and normally holds street markets with handcrafted things.

These bronze statues represent Don Quijote and Sancho Panza, the most noteable Spanish adventurers in Spanish literature. Right behind them is the monument to Miguel Cervantes featured in the next photo.

In the center of Plaza de España is the Miguel Cervantes Monument. Cervantes was the author of “Don Quijote”. The monument was erected in 1915 on the 300th year anniversary of the Quijote publication. 

Construction began in1738 on the Palacio Real and its gardens. Previously, that area was the countryside where the royalty hunted, strolled, and rode on horseback. Now it is in the center of Madrid.

The Palacio Real is the official residence of the King of Spain but is now used only for State Ceremonies.

The building benind Stanley with the green roof is Torre de Colon (the Columbus Towers). The strange thing about them is that they began the construction at roof level. They made two enormous concrete pillars and an upper platform and then began to work their way down to the ground.

The Plaza de Castilla is in the northern part of Madrid. It is a place where there is a lot of movement, as it is a place where the subways, city buses all meet. It is the second largest in Madrid.

The obelisk of Calatrava (the golden pole) was a gift from one of the banks. The Kio Towers can be seen all over Madrid and they have a 15% inclination.

In the distance you can see the Cuatro Torres Buisness Center. It was just recently built.

The Atocha Train Station is the largest in Spain. It was built in 1851 and accomodates the commuter trains and the high speed trains, (AVE)  Atocha station Memorial was built in June 2004 after the 11-M terrorist train bombing in which 191 people were killed. It is a subterranean shrine with thousands of messages of condolence inscribed on its interior wall.

Well, I’m off on another adventure!

Me despido de mis amigos espanoles con un fuerte abrazo.  CON DOS GOTAS DE SANGRE Y UN RAYO DE SOL,DIOS HIZO UNA BANDERA Y SE LA DIO A UN ESPAÑOL

Your friend, Stanley