Garden v1.

I lifted, moved and dealt with one metric tonne of dirt today. Hell yeah.

It's all in an attempt to get my front garden, aka the pebble pit,...

...into something worth looking at. The plan is to build a raised garden and plant some pretty things in it. After today's labors, this is where I am:

This is where I hope to be:

And, as an added bonus... For those who recall my previous post about my crazy neighbor, you might be interested to know I had to deal with him today, too. Unfortunately, Andrew (said neighbor) chose to approach me about 3/4 of the way into my garden excavation. Needless to say - as I was up to my eyes in sweat and manure-laden top soil - I was not at my most welcoming. So, in spite of his gifts of conspicuously ripped-off library DVDs, I did not give him the £10 to fix his gas leak problems. I would have, however, paid him £10 to vacate my front steps which he happily occupied for a merry, yet awkward, 20 minutes. [sigh]

Bad wife.

I should be a better wife and not doubt my husband so much. Or so publicly, anyway... Despite my doubts on Smyth Time, we did make it to Reina Sofia.

We did see Guernica.

It looked a lot like I thought it would (thank you Google), with the pleasant addition of people for atmosphere. Thank goodness the painting is so big!

I should probably try to be a better appreciator of art, as well.

Mad about Madrid.

Our last day of vacation.

It started off dubiously with a trip to The Rastro - Madrid's weekly flea market. I always think I'll enjoy flea markets, but as I need neither cheap sunglasses, broken chairs, nor dead watches, I rarely do.

We managed to navigate our way out of there and over to Santa Ana square for lunch. We didn't particularly mean to end up there, but it was a nice square with two playgrounds and countless cafes. We parked ourselves at a table and stayed for a leisurely two hours eating, drinking, sunning ourselves, playing, people watching and dancing. It was a really great way to spend a Sunday afternoon...

...Especially as this Sunday was a holiday and meant that everything was closed. FYI, if planning a trip to Spain in April count on at least 90% of that time being devoted to a national or religious holiday thus resulting in nearly all shopping opportunities closing down. For the remaining 10% count on shops being closed for no apparent reason.

We unfortunately also missed the museum opening times. Our hotel is right across the street from The Prado and up the road from Reina Sofia. We hope to make it to the Reina Sofia tomorrow before leaving, but my money is on Smyth Tardiness and I'm guessing this is the only way I'll be seeing Picasso's Guernica.

That's okay. I'm not really a museum person anyway. 


Hasta luego, España.