Day 3 - Palacio Real

Today I had to get up early to meet my tour by 8:30...it started at 8:45. I had a voucher to turn in and it recommended being there early. So I left at 8:00...I was told it would be a 15 minute walk. Well I found the Plaza Oriente that I needed to get to BUT I couldn´t find the terminal. Finally, I asked a lady...Yup couldn´t find it because it was two floors below. So I got to the terminal and the guy asked me if I wanted the tour in English and I was like NO. The tour was with a great lady named Sofia and then along in the tour was an older couple from Valencia. Sofia helped me if I needed help with words. She was a lot of fun. We walked around outside the Palace first. Then we were able to go inside...unfortunately we could not take pictures. It was beautiful! The rooms had so many gorgeous items in them. I was inn awe of it all...of course it wouldn´t be a tour without me being me. So in Spanish...when we were in the room with the chairs where the King and Queen would great people...I was like OH its like my house. They laughed. Then when we were looking at this coffee set I said, ¨Hmm No fueron a Starbucks?¨They didn´t go to Starbucks? The room I kept my mouth shut was the bathroom. No Kohler fixtures back in the day...instead the whole room was porcelien. How cool? In the Plaza Oriente there were many statues ... these were taken off the top of the building. Amazing!

After that Sofia took us to the bus for the tour. A different lady was the tour guide. No good. She was like on the left is this, and the right this. Well I could have looked in a map for that. The traffic was not good....Rush hour at noon let me tell you. We did make a stop at the Hard Rock Cafe where we got a free refresco and I got my mom and I our pins.

I started to see images of home: Starbucks, McDonalds and Burger King.

After the tour I walked around. I ended up on some interesting streets....One that reminded me of the girls back home. It was very colorful to say the least. Eventually...I made it back and took my siesta. I have been doing so much walking and I feel it at night BUT it isn´t mindless walking. There is so much to take in and observe. Everyday I am noticing more. Like today...there are a lot of ladies with fur coats.

After the siesta I walked around the street I´m on Calle de Toledo. I went further North this time and ended up at the Plaza Mayor. There are many lights up for Christmas and so much activity. I walked around here and did some people watching. It was awesome. I also was amazed at the people who just bought bread....they didn´t put butter on it. Craziness!!

I start using the Madrid card tomorrow. I plan two museums for sure: Prado y La Reina Sofia.

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