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Published: August 12th 2009
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Aranjuez Palace
again, you can´t take pictures inside. But it was neat. Aranjuez...the last full day
After much debate on what to do we decided on Aranjuez for the last day. It is neat because you just grab a
Cercanías train.
Before getting into Aranjuez...A light I have discovered: You have the Metro, that takes you within the city.
Renfe Cercanías is essentially a glorified metro that takes you to different cities close by (within the hour), and
Renfe is the train system that takes you further distances. It is actually pretty neat.
That being said, we grabbed a ticked via the
Cercanías station. What is great is you can purchase it much the same way you grab a metro ticket. There are little ticket booths. You don´t have to talk to a single person...which has its pros and cons.
We hopped on the train and headed south for about 45 minutes. What is crazy, we felt like we were going through Northern Virginia at times. That part of Spain is more suburbia than southern Spain. It was surreal.
We then headed to Aranjuez. There are maps all over the place, and if you follow the signs that say ¨zona monumental¨you will head to the Palace.
The
Aranjuez Palace
there are gardens all over the place. Palace was neat...but if you know Spanish, I say go for the guided tour. They were actually really good. This time the Audio guides only gave you a little information. I will say the guards take their job seriously, and do not listen to your questions. I had one lady yell at me to go to the exit and I hadn´t even made it through the museum yet. SO annoying. Had she just listened. Oh well, just stand your ground and ask the question again.
The Palace rooms were cool, but if you had to choose between that or the one in Madrid, I say the one in Madrid. What is neat about Aranjuez though is it was the summer Palace for years. It is green all over the place because it is surrounded by rivers. The porcelein room is AMAZING. you have things to search for in there. You get to see the queen´s bedroom and chambers which are neat as well. What I thought was really neat was the museum in which has the every day royal family stuff, from bassonets to clothing that they wore. All the females in the current family have their wedding gowns
Aranjuez Palace
again, you can see the neat gardens. displayed here. That was cool.
One thing I would advise would be to do the palace during siesta time because the city is dead. We did the Palace first thinking it would only take a little bit...but it took longer than we thought. By the time we were finished the siesta was taking place and most places were closed. There is a market their that would be fun and some cute shops. It is a different town in that it looks more like a summer town and is a little more upscale. It is sweet and worth walking around.
We headed back, did a little shopping (only bought a book for school because i am a dweeb) and bought our last meal at a cerveceria...Spanish Tortilla Sandwich (Bocadillo de tortilla española) ... SO good. Now we are back...with exactly 5euro left for breakfast tomorrow. Needless to say, souvenir shopping didnt happen as was planned. But that is fine, I have pictures! 😊
We leave tomorrow at 1135...but have to be at the airport 3 hours early...bah. With a 30 minute metro ride, it will be an interesting day by the time we make it home 20 hours
Aranjuez
gardens...just outside the castle. It is free to go here. later.
Thanks for all the comments and support! Hope you guys have enjoyed. I will post one last blog to let you know I am home. It has been a blast and I want to come back...enjoy!
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