Puerta del Sol & Kilometer Zero

Travels of Adam? Travels of a wombat. Wombat Wednesday is a photo series of Mr. Wombat in places all around the world.

I’ve been on the road three full weeks now. (My thoughts on my first week abroad still ring true.) Day one of my year-long RTW trip began at 0 KM in Madrid. Seemed as fitting a place as any to start a year of adventure.

Puerta del Sol

I wrote briefly yesterday about how much I love the plazas in Spain (I’ve got more to say on this subject, for sure). Puerta del Sol is one of the most important and most popular plazas in Madrid.

The clock tower’s bells mark the beginning of each New Year (you’re supposed to eat a grape on every toll of the bell on New Year’s Eve—seems a bit challenging). Many of the biggest rallies and protests have occurred here. One tour guide even said that a protest against the war in Iraq was the largest in the world. And it happened right here in the center of Madrid.

Kilometer Zero

The plaque (which this wombat so lovingly sits on) is where distances are measured across Spain (think mile markers on the highways). It’s just a simple plaque buried in the ground in front of a government building. The Spanish people can be so modest, don’t you think?