On what should just be a one pic 'wordless Wednesday' - we'll begin with just one photo of me and then like
Khyra often does - hand over to Murray's Mom! Well, if I don't let her talk about Leonard for a few minutes - there'll be no walk later ....
" Clive - we'll be brief! We had a great weekend in Madrid - thanks especially to our nephew Brendan who lives there and was a fantastic tour guide! On Friday evening he took us up to the Templo de Debod - to watch the sun set over Madrid.
It was a beautiful spot - full of madrilenos taking an evening stroll and lots and lots of dogs around ...
this little guy trotted over to us to say 'hello'
When the sun finally set we walked past the Catedral de la Almudena and the Palacio Real - both were beautiful in the evening light ...
Saturday we spent in the Museo del Prado having enjoyed a few hours in the Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza museum the day before.
You would certainly need a lot more than a few hours but during a brief visit we managed to see some wonderful masterpieces including ...
Tiziano's -
Federico Gonzaga - good to see that dogs were just as important in 1529! One of the most popular paintings there is Diego Velazquez's -
Las meninas o La familia de Felipe IV - painted in 1656 - and another dog in the painting!
and finally to Leonard and the concert. Well, the concert began at 10pm (they do things much later in Spain) and finished at 1.20am! It was incredible - the atmosphere just as good as Dublin (if not better) and the audience loved him so much. Cohen's song 'Take this Waltz' is based on a poem by Federico Garcia Lorca so you can imagine how well that went down.
There was encore after encore and when Cohen was thanking all his crew at the end (and he does thank every single person involved in the tour) - there was a big cheer when he named one of his 'Irish' crew - we certainly weren't the only Irish people there!
In fact as we had been queuing to collect our tickets before the concert - we had heard Irish voices in front of us and when the couple turned around to us - we realised they were our old neighbours from 11 years ago when we had lived in Bray, Co Wicklow. We last saw them in 1998! It's a 'small world' as the not-so-little man would sing from Disneyland!
Sunday morning before we left - we went to the Parque del Retiro - full of locals enjoying the lovely warmth of early autumn .... 
and so many dogs everywhere ..... 
little ones - and big ones! 
Madrid was a lovely city to visit for a weekend - thanks Brendan for showing us so much and being such great company! Thanks also to Leonard Cohen for another memorable concert! We can't get enough! He's back in the US from next month - playing in Madison Square Garden, New York on the 23rd of October - Petey - would you like a visit???
- sincerely Murray's Mom and Dad!"
PS - don't worry Petey - they don't really mean it!! - Clive 
You would certainly need a lot more than a few hours but during a brief visit we managed to see some wonderful masterpieces including ...
In fact as we had been queuing to collect our tickets before the concert - we had heard Irish voices in front of us and when the couple turned around to us - we realised they were our old neighbours from 11 years ago when we had lived in Bray, Co Wicklow. We last saw them in 1998! It's a 'small world' as the not-so-little man would sing from Disneyland!
and so many dogs everywhere ..... 
little ones - and big ones! 
Madrid was a lovely city to visit for a weekend - thanks Brendan for showing us so much and being such great company! Thanks also to Leonard Cohen for another memorable concert! We can't get enough! He's back in the US from next month - playing in Madison Square Garden, New York on the 23rd of October - Petey - would you like a visit???
Sunday morning before we left - we went to the Parque del Retiro - full of locals enjoying the lovely warmth of early autumn ....
- sincerely Murray's Mom and Dad!"
PS - don't worry Petey - they don't really mean it!! - Clive