Tired Coyotes Wandering the Streets of Madrid

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After arriving at our quaint apartment last night, we settled in and then went out to explore our neighbourhood. It turns out that we are in the perfect location! We are in Sol which neighbours onto the Plaza Mayor. This is very reminiscent of the Piazzo Navona in Rome with it's cobblestone square punctuated on the periphery by numerous outdoor restaurants. We found a small place to have something to eat on one of the side streets and then headed back for some much needed rest.

We finally managed to pull ourselves out of bed at 10:00 am and then puttered around until noon. Our bodies are definitely suffering from lack of sleep. Heading out, we wallked through the Plaza Mayor which is even busier during the day. It is a massive square housing a number of tourists, but far fewer than we would see later in the season. Soon we came to Mercado de San Miguel. We fell instantly in love with this enclosed market. Shanks of proscuitto hung from the ceiling while wine and tapas bars were everywhere. People stand at the bars having a wine or a beer, chatting with friends. We enjoyed a glass of wine and a small pizza at a table with a kind German couple where Curtis amazed me with his German. They spoke no English but it was quite amazing that I could understand much of what they were saying. They kindly corrected any mistakes Curtis made and told us about their family. After a while we bid them "Auf Wiedersehen". Soon after we wandered the streets and came upon the Plaza De La Villa which is enclosed on three sides by beautiful baroque architecture. Travelling further along we came to the Catedral de Nuestra Senora de la Almudena, the beauiful cathedral that is just before the royal palace. The inside was quite spectacular with its incredible architecture, statues, and stunning altar. We wandered in silence, marvelling at the beauty. We then headed to the royal palace, the Palacio Real. We were amazed at the sheer size of the palace. After taking some exterior photos we decided to return at 4:00 so we could see the inside for free! Who would pay 22 euros when you could get in for nothing!!! To put in a couple of hours we walked further on to the Plaza Oriente which houses the Madrid Opera House. Central to this plaza was a statue of Felipe IV on his horse. In the garden surrounding this statue are 20 marble statues of ancient monarchs which, according to local legend, get down off their pedestals at night to stretch their legs. Sounds like an episode of Supernatural to me! I'm sure in the spring the gardens are beautiful with greenery and flowers. Leaves are just beginning to come out on the bushes. We then headed down to the Sabatini Gardens lined where a maze of bushes outlined a long, rectangular pool. We sat and rested a while, taking in the sunshine and the peaceful silence. Next we walked on to the Templo Debod which sits on a hilltop in the gardens of Principe Pio. This magnificently simple structure dates back to over 2200 years and was presented to Spain from Egypt in 1968. It was not open when we arrived but we will go back tomorrow for sure.

We then backtracked to Plaza de Espana on our way to the Palacio Real ( for free entry! ). Glad to see that we are not the only people looking for a deal! When we arrived back at the palace the line was quite extensive! We quickly joined the end and watched as it steadily grew and snaked its way through the square.

At 4:00 pm on the dot the doors opened and we headed inside. We put our bags through the scanner and then got to the ticket ladies. As luck would have it they wanted photo ID. Now I don't like to carry our passports (have you seen our luck?) however, I did happen to put in my driver's license. My husband, nothing! We stood there as I fished out my ID and Curtis looked to see if he, by chance, had his in his RDIF protected wallet. Nope! Finally the lady must have just felt sorry for us and gave us a ticket! Gracias!!! We journeyed into the royal palace with its more than 2800 rooms! I thought our house was time consuming to clean!!! We toured through the royal rooms and were enthralled by the dozens of intricately detailed tapestries that hung from every wall. The sheer majesty of the rooms permeated our senses. We tried to imagine what it was like to live in those historical times. I sure wouldn't want to have been the one to have worked on those tapestries!! We then went through an area which was housing "The Portrait in the Royal Collections". These numerous rooms were home to dozens of portraitures (a genre of paintings) by some of the finest painters from the 15th century to present day who painted Spanish monarchs and other members of royalty through the years. They were amazing but at the same time we had a few chuckles at them! They seemed to have very small heads or maybe just very poofy clothes!!

Next we went to the Royal Armoury where Game of Thrones came to life. Okay seriously, Hollywood glorifies the magnificent battles with knights! I don't know who could even move in those outifits!! To top it all off these suits of armour do not take into account those of stature or with girth! We also saw the biggest musket ever!!!

We returned to our apartment where we napped for a couple of hours as, apparently, our bodies have yet to adjust to the time change.Around 9:00 we went back to Mercado San Miguel where we enjoyed delicious sangria and and variety of tapas. We met a kind couple from Edinburgh and chatted with them about numerous topics, the most interesting was that Scotland pays for the university education of its young people!!! Seriously? Countries invest in their young people? Novel idea.

Tomorrow we plan to explore a few different neighbourhoods of Madrid.

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