On Explore

I set out on the bus from Madrid in thick fog. I started my walk thinking I had a one in ten chance of emerging through the mirk! So was overjoyed when I did!

Estadio Santiago Bernabéu, Real Madrid Football Club.

On a walk yesterday. Vallehermoso, Madrid.

Built in 1980 by Francisco González Valdés and destined to be the Head Offices of the Spanish Medical Council. But the Medical Council couldn't adapt to the circular design and so they declined to use the building. Instead it was occupied by the court / tribunal dealing with constitutional affairs and disputes, and therefore an important institution in Spanish politics. This building is often seen on the news. Unlike most such places, this is some way away from the political centre, being on the edge of the vast Universitaria complex.

Pine tree near the old centre of Madrid.

Instituto Homeopático y Hospital de San José. I hold absolutely no truck with the snake-oil fraud that is homeopathy - but this, the first homeopathy institution in Spain, is an intriguing architectoral edifice, built by architect José Segundo de Lema in 1877. It became very derelict until rebuilt in 2008. Sadly, it is still a school for that awful pseudo-science that should have been made criminal decades ago, no matter what Prince Charles thinks..

Cornish granite at Logan Rock, near Porthcurno, at high tide. This also looks good at low tide with a fabulous beach here!

Convento Monasterio de San Antonio y San Julian. Pico de La Miel. Granite country.

Saint Day, Cornwall. Best on black (z).

A hydraulic turbine of some kind, I presume. In the Jardín Nuevos Ministerios, Madrid. José Gafarot has helpfully provided the answer below.

From my sister´s home. Valderray, Algete, Madrid Province. Perhaps on 'black' or 'z'

La Sierra de La Cabrera - fabulous walking country. Midsummer; but in reality late spring in the mountains.

From another side. I type this as news filters through that Real Madrid's greatest rivals, Barcelona have just been astonishingly flattened 8:2 by Bayern Munich in the European Cup quarter-finals. The cheers could be heard all through the Madrid evening air as every Bayern goal went in!

Basset Cove, Cornwall, coastal erosion.

Parque del Oeste, Madrid

My local park, and they change the volume, force and aspect of these water fountains every few hours. At this juncture, they look very swan-like! Also, the pink paving slabs; granite, so typical of the Mountains of Madrid nearby, fit in well in these settings.

This has crumbled into the sea. It had ceased to be the coast path some years before this shot (it was moved some way inland). My last visit here (2018) and this would have been impossible to take a shot of. It had all gone!

Nuevos Ministerios. Garden entrance / exit.