Madrid, the city

I went to Madrid today for the first time. IT was breathtaking. I have been to big cities before but there was nothing to prepare me for what was to come. The life and hustle of New York, but the beauty and culture of London (?) We just walked one street, La Gran Via and saw centuries of architecture, So much life and style and grandeur was captured in a little strip of the city walk. The lower floors have gathered soot and grit from the streets giving them a gray tint. This in result created a scale of brightness with the dull parts of buildings at the bottom growing brighter and taller as you look up, causing your eyes to constantly be lifted to the skies. The daylight was great and the nice warm air was inviting to naked hands and eager glances. It grew dusk but the masses of pasearos grew larger. We walked through two plazas, great big open areas surrounded by stores and shopping. Along the way though, Madrid mixes the beauties of the nature and the city all into one great wonderful experience. There are fountains placed in middle of intersections, we passed through one park with two fountains and a olive grove with huge statues. The best part was they were free to be climbed on and sat and used- kids and tourists taking pictures adorned the marble base like birds nested on a telephone line.
We went into small panaderia by the Puerta de Sol. It was almost like a fast food restaurant but with fifteen servers behind the counter all waiting to serve you immediately with what you want. People would stay right there by the counter, standing up, to eat their sweet treasures.
We also went into a few shoe shops- i really love madrid shoes and have come to the conclusion that i want to buy some.
By eight o clock we all met back at the train station, I was exhausted. It had been a physically demanding day. I don't know how I stayed awake on the half hour train ride home. Tia made green beans with oil and garlic, amazing deviled eggs with tuna and tomate. I also finished off my bag of peanut brittle.