The construction of Catedral de la Almudena was begun in 1879 but was not completed until 1993 making it an extremely modern cathedral by European standards.  Its construction was slowed by the Spanish Civil War, involved multiple architects and I’ll bet the contractor was changed along the way also.  It must be interesting to span the evolving building technologies over a century plus.  In any case, in the Catholic cathedral tradition it turned out to be quite beautiful.

After a few stops at closed sites where the actual hours did not match those in the guide book, out Madrid exploration for the day included walking the Calle Mayor, Calle de Alcala and the Gran Via and then a walk through the La Latina area.  The architecture in Madrid is quite grand.

Lunch at the pricey Restaurante El Schotis on Cava Baja and dinner at La Camarilla, also on Cava Baja, where both staffs were helpful in guiding us through these crazy tapas.