Madrid Day 2

What a day! I didn't sleep well even though I was so exhausted. I think my body still knows what time it is in Phoenix and just refused to sleep in the middle of the day. We woke up around 8am and had a fabulous breakfast. Our hosts prepared some delicious pastries with custard, coffee, orange juice, yogurt, toast with jelly, and even fresh cheese sandwiches. I never thought of a cheese sandwich for breakfast. We ate with some other guests that are here from the U.K.

We went straight to the Palacio Real and got there before the crowds. We bought a ticket that allowed us a one hour guided tour in English through 25 rooms, and self-guided tours of the Royal Armory and the Pharmacy. The tour didn't start until 10am, so we went to the Armory. They had probably a couple hundred separate suits of armor. There were all different kinds, even for horses and dogs. It was so hard for us to believe that people actually wore these. They looked so heavy and hot and claustrophobic. There were even tiny suits of armor for the young princes as young as 7 years old! The guided tour was fabulous. Our guide has been working there for over 20 years and she knew everything about the palace. The most interesting thing for me is that they still use the palace for state ceremonies. From June to September it is open for tours, but the rest of the year it is used as a royal palace. Our guide told us that even a major peace treaty for the Middle East was signed there. We saw 25 of the over 2800 rooms in the palace. Most of the furnishings are from the 1700s (or recreations/restorations of originals from that time). The throne room was one of our favorites. The walls were completely covered in red velvet with silver trim. It is still used today, though King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia prefer to stand on the same level as their guests rather than sit in a throne above them. Much of the palace has bronze accents, not gold. The original builder of the palace loved to collect clocks so there were many unique clocks. Daniel and my absolute favorite part of the palace was the room with Stratavarius instruments. The Spanish King had them built for him. There was a cello and two violins. They have a beautiful decorative trim and are excellent quality. The current Queen Sofia loves classical music, and she often invites musicians to come play in the palace. The musicians always play the Stratavarius instruments that we saw on display. As you can tell, we learned a lot at the palace and enjoyed the tour very much.

After the Palacio Real, we went to Plaza Mayor for lunch. I had artichoke hearts in vinaigrette, and Daniel had paella, a traditional Spanish dish. Then we walked to the Real Jardin Botanico, or Royal Botanical Gardens. There were many pretty flowers, but mostly it was uninteresting. I was getting very tired since I didn't sleep much last night. There was a beautiful bonzai exhibit that we enjoyed very much. We bought some flower seeds to plant in our yard and some seeds to plant a miniature bonzai in a pot for our kitchen.

bonzais at Real Jardin Botanico

lunch at Plaza Mayor

Plaza Mayor

Then we went right next door to the Parque del Retiro. We walked through a maze of benches and grass patches until we got to a large lake in front of a huge monument. There were lots of people in row boats on the lake and tons of people walking around.

There were also people selling souvenirs, ice cream, and tarot card readings. We got some ice cream and people watched for a while. Then we walked a little further into the park to the Crystal Palace. It was a big castle made of glass. Inside it felt like a greenhouse- it was so hot.

We left the Parque del Retiro and ended up at Plaza de Independencia. It was a huge arch.

Paseo de Prado

We walked down Paseo de Prado and passed many monuments and fountains. It was a beautiful street. When we reached Museo del Prado, there were a few vendors selling their artwork. We bought two paintings by a guy named Yunatan. It was so cool to buy paintings by a real artist in Madrid. And they will go in our house so well.

We got in a long line to get into the Prado. It was free again from 6-8pm so lots of people were there. This time we decided to get the audio guide to make it a bit more meaningful. The audio guide helped a lot. We learned so much and appreciated the paintings a lot more. I saw a lot of works that I studied in a class last fall. Madrilenos are especially fond of Goya and have many of his paintings on display. When the Prado closed at 8, we walked through Madrid to a restaurant that our host recommended, El Secreto. It was beautifully decorated in a lovely area of Madrid. We didn't really know what to order, so we picked things we recognized: queso (cheese) and pollo (chicken). Daniel also ordered us vino blanco (white wine). It was all delicioso! We finished with the house special, mojitos. Our waitress mixed them up for us right at the table. We were surprised at the large proportion of rum that she used.

Today was a great day! We enjoyed seeing more of Madrid and especially more of the Prado. We met more nice Madrilenos and bought some beautiful works of art to bring home.