A view of Madrid

... from the balcony of our flat. It's a tiny loft space but very cleverly organised, flooded with light from one glass wall and two big rooflights. Being four floors up, it's nice and quiet too -- you wouldn't believe you were in the centre of Madrid. Go large to see the pigeon.

We caught the train in Narbonne at the civilised hour of 11:30 and thanks to the new high-speed line through the Pyrenees we were in Madrid just after 5 p.m. The weather deteriorated during the journey, but it made for some great views of dramatic skies from the train. In Madrid it is cool and cloudy, but we haven't actually been rained on yet.

It's currently the Fiesta de San Isidro (the patron saint of Madrid). In the evening, once we'd settled in, we went for a stroll and found our way to the Mercado de San Miguel -- a covered market which is basically a collection of tapas stalls. It looked lovely, but it was absolutely heaving with people. We decided to come back at a quieter time. Then we ended up back on the Calle de Cava Baja, which is lined with tapas bars. We decided to have one tapa in a popular Basque place called Txakolina. This was so packed that once you'd forced your way in, you literally couldn't move. It's not easy managing a plate and a glass of wine when your elbows are jammed against your sides.

From there we headed back to our street, just metres away from the bustle of Cava Baja, but quiet and peaceful. We had a lovely dinner at the Taberna Matritum, which had the added advantage of only being five doors away from home.