Madrid is a fascinating city, with lots of things to see. Some, like the Prado, are well-known, but there are other places to visit if you have the time. The Atocha railway station, for example, was rebuilt and now contains trees and sculptures. (Unfortunately, it was the scene of a terrorist attack in 2004.) And the Hobbitt bought a cape at Casa Seseña, the same store that made the capes worn by Picasso and the most famous bullfighters. We happened on this little store by accident, on an out of the way street.

The grandest sight in Madrid is probably the royal palace. It's a huge place, full of treasures and one of the few palaces still in use. The inside is beautifully preserved and a tour of the palace and the church across the courtyard would probably take the better part of a day.

This angel is from a fresco on the ceiling in one of the many rooms of the palace. It was pretty dark and, since using a flash is frowned upon, I used the infrared option on my digital camera. The result, unfortunately, was a grainy, green image that looked severely underexposed.

But it's amazing what you can accomplish, given a computer, a few tools, and some patience. Since getting a camera with infrared, I had worked out a technique for pulling the original colors out of what appeared as green muck. Then I ran it through a process to remove some of the detail and give it a more impressionistic look.

The last step would be to adjust the brightness, contrast, and color balance and saturation. This is a rewarding process, as you see the finished picture emerging as you tweak the various settings. In a way, it's like seeing a print developing in a darkroom, as it slowly emerges and reaches its final form.