We woke up this morning feeling … tired. Sadly, jet lag doesn’t get easier with practice – it just gets harder with age. We weren’t sure what we wanted to do, but we knew it couldn’t be anything too taxing. After a bit of discussion/negotiation/delegation we came up with a rough plan for the day. First stop was the Atocha train station, because of its beautiful architecture and the fact we are considering a side trip to Toledo.

And then, we headed back to the Botanical Gardens because, lovely as Madrid is, the noise and bustle was wearing on our jet lagged bodies. Late October isn’t exactly peak season for plants in Madrid, but we were treated to an amazing array of colour. I’m going to apologize up front for the number of photos, but they were so beautiful that I couldn’t resist. Just be thankful it wasn’t peak season…

I’ll begin with what I think is a plantain flower. At the top of the long stalk there was a small cluster of plantains. I assume that earlier in the season there had been many more plantains, all along the long straight stalk. It looks otherworldly, like something out of Invasion of the Body Snatchers.

I love this picture because it makes me wonder exactly why the tree follow this tortured path to the sky. I don’t have answers, so I’ll leave it to you to ponder.

This tree was loaded with fruit. We live in a much colder climate, so all I can say is “it isn’t fair”.

Next up, a series of plants that are still flowering near the end of October. I love the range of colours.

And finally, there was a surprising amount of new growth.

One of the buildings was hosting an art exhibit, and on a whim we decided to have a look. Good plan. It had an amazing collection of pencil and pen drawings with incredible detail. To give you an idea of the scale of the drawings, this picture was at least 6 feet (2 meters) high.

The gardens have plants from a wide range of climates. This is one from the small, but impressive, collection of succulents.

As we were getting ready to leave, Jan spotted the Bonsai collection. It was amazing, with 61 plants, ranging from 50 to 100 years old, and none more than a meter high.

One of the things that amazed me was that even though the trees were very small, several had full sized fruit.

The shape of the Bonsai trees was amazing, with many contorted like this one.

It’s hard to judge the scale in this picture, but if you pull back just a bit you can see the pot that holds the tree.

By the time we finished in the gardens we were refreshed, and ready for a late lunch. Of course, we enjoyed local produce and local wine.

We did manage to see some of the architecture of Madrid as well.

Tomorrow will likely be a visit to a museum.