Our first full day in Spain did not dawn early. In fact it was still pitch black when Doug woke me up a little bit after 8 AM. He had said we didn’t need an alarm so I didn’t set one. He woke up on his own, I did not which doesn’t surprise me at all. I was so tired last night. I probably could have slept several more hours.
Daylight was burning though and Sam was meeting us for breakfast at 8:30. She’d had to get up much earlier to get her breathing treatments done. Such is the life of somebody with CF. She was actually over at our room earlier than the allotted time. She figured that if she was late, she would never hear the end of it. She was absolutely correct 🙂
Breakfast was fine. I had hoped they would have porridge or oatmeal but no such luck. I ate scrambled eggs instead which aren’t the best choice for my cholesterol level but it is what it is. I didn’t eat too many. Sam ate more for breakfast than I have ever seen her eat. She is like me and is not much of a breakfast person.
After running back to the room and grabbing our stuff for the day, we headed out. Today we were making our way to the Palacio Real or the Royal Palace which we had gotten a look at yesterday. Today we were doing the tour. Our tour time was 11:30 but we were going to walk some of the streets and explore first. Some times it is fun to amble along with no real objective in mind.
By now we were old hands at the metro. We made it to the station and found the correct platform much easier than we had yesterday. I wasn’t wearing my boot so the stairs were easier to navigate. On the train we donned our masks. You still have to wear them here on public transportation. Most people were compliant but not everybody. One man was wearing a mask but under his nose, only covering his mouth and chin. Then when he started coughing, he pulled the mask all of the way down. Oh, good heavens! I was very glad the three of us were wearing our really good masks!
Today we got off at Plaza de España which was a new spot for us. Since we weren’t in any rush, we strolled just enjoying the quiet, cool morning air. Very few people were out and about. We had the plaza all to ourselves which was lovely. Although rain had been forecast for all day, the sun was actually trying to break through the clouds and we spotted some sunny skies.
We also spotted a tall monument over in a green public area. We decided to check it out. It was very tall and looked like statues of women reading at the top with a globe behind them. At the bottom of this obelisk-type monument was a woman sitting on a chair. No plaque of any type identified who she was. As we walked around it seeking some type of sign, we noticed that every side was different. The next side had a man reading at the top and what looked like a bunch of musketeers at the bottom. I’m sure they weren’t musketeers but that’s what they reminded me of. Maybe they were Spanish explorers? The third side was easier. Both a man and a topless lady were reading at the top (strange, I know. What man is going to be reading if he is sitting next to a bare-breasted woman?). At the bottom was a man with a ruffled collar sitting on a chair. What gave it away on this side were the two statues near ground level. One was a man on a horse holding a long pole. Beside him on a donkey rode a short, stout man with a shield-type object on his back. All three of us knew at a glance that this was Don Quixote and Sancho his faithful companion. The fourth side had women working at the bottom. I can’t remember what was up top and I failed to take a picture.
Although nothing ever said what this monument was, we knew it had something to do with Miguel Cervantes. Sam googled it tonight and discovered that it was the Cervantes monument. It was inaugurated in 1929 but wasn’t finished for many, many years. Several more pieces were added to it as times passed. The monument depicts the universality of Cervantes’ works by showing people from five continents reading his books. On the side of the monument with Quixote and Sancho, the seated figure is Cervantes himself. Aldonsa is to the right. Dulcinea is also there but whether she is the other female figure on the opposite side, I do not know.
I am a big fan of “Man of La Mancha” both the movie and the musical. Sam is, too. In fact, one of her favorite songs as a four year-old was from the musical which we had seen with my parents at The Point Theater in Ingram, Texas. It was a local production but very well done. Sam went around for years singing, “One pair of arms is like another. I don’t know why or whose to blame….” She had no clue as to what the song was about. She just liked it. She liked the musical so much that when we were living in Hawaii and a professional production of it came to Honolulu, we took her to see it. She still didn’t have a clue :-). We watched the movie just a few days before we left on the trip and she caught all of those things she had missed as a child. We really enjoyed seeing this monument.
From there we strolled through the green public space to an open area close to the Royal Palace. It must have been the local dog park area because there were several owners out with their dogs enjoying their morning walk. Some dogs were fetching balls, others playing with each other. A chow and another dog got into a fight. It was the other dog that started it. The chow was the victim. Fortunately its hair was so thick that I don’t think it actually gotten bitten although the other dog had it by the throat.
We kept a sharp look out for a basset but didn’t see one. We saw several beagles though as well as Pomeranians, collies, and labs. There were some of the tiny furry dogs as well. They were all enjoying having a romp in the fresh air. I was enjoying just watching them.
Gradually we wended our way down to the bottom of the hill to where we believed the entrance to the Royal Palace was located. We had stunning views of this seat of royalty. It was massive. King Philip V who was enamored with Versailles built it when the old wooden palace built by Philip II burned down. He wanted to make it his own personal Versailles. Being born in France and at Versailles, that makes perfect. Philip V was actually the grandson of King Louis XIV.
Philip V is the father of Charles III. Charles added an Italian flair to the inside of the palace because he had spent his young years in Italy. He was not the last king to make changes. All of his successors did their level best to make the Spanish palace a true showcase for how sophisticated Spain had become.
These days the palace has 2,800 rooms. They have more tapestries than they know what to do with, hordes of spectacular chandeliers, priceless porcelain, bronze decor covered with gold leaf, a fabulous collection of armor, and a vast amount of history. The Royal family doesn’t live there anymore, however. They live in a mansion a few miles away. I’m sure this place is way too cold and drafty to live in. It does get dusted off and put on display for special events and formal state receptions. Mostly it is now a museum that harkens back to a piece of Spanish legacy.
Even though we were a little over an hour early, we decided to try and get in. The young lady scanned our tickets and didn’t blink an eye. Yes! We started out in a vast courtyard (Plaza de la Ameria) between two magnificent buildings. The building opposite the palace with the bell towers in the center was the Almudena Cathedral. That was a shocker. We had seen the other side of that church yesterday after we ate lunch. I had no idea it was so close to the Royal Palace.
The Royal Palace itself did remind me of Versailles, not that I’ve been there. I have seen pictures. It has straight lines and heavy columns. I believe they said it was French-Italian Baroque style. It was quite impressive with a balustrade roof. It is made almost entirely of stone. They didn’t want another palace to burn to the ground.
As we entered into the Grand Foyer, we immediately saw the Grand Staircase. The staircase itself wasn’t impressive but what it led up to was. At the top on a narrow balcony was an imposing statue of Charles III dressed as a Roman. Beneath him on the balcony wall was the coat of arms of the new king, Felipe VI. If that wasn’t impressive enough, the ceiling was decorated with beautiful frescoes. I about broke my neck trying to admire them all.
For we tourists the stairs today were just plain. However, when dignitaries come, they roll a special carpet down the stairs for them to walk on. And the steps were built to be shallow so when you walked up them, you had to do it slowly and in a dignified manner. Somehow I don’t think I was very dignified clomping my way up. I had to laugh though when I saw the bust of Philip V before we entered the first room. He had long curly hair. I think he was trying to be Louie XIV!
The tour only covered a small portion of the rooms in the palace. It would take forever to tour all 2800 of them. Plus the logistics would be mind-boggling. So you see just a small part. Then after a few months they change around the rooms on the tour. Technically, you could visit the palace many times and never see the same rooms. That’s not a bad way to do it.
Our tour today started in the Hall of Halberdiers who were the royal guard. Charles III’s portrait was over the tiny fireplace. We knew it was him because he had a very narrow face and a large nose. He is also in the fresco on the ceiling where he is in the guise of Aeneas the hero. I guess when you are paying the artist, you can get them to paint anything. On the left wall was a huge painting of the current royal family. The artist began this painting well before Felipe’s father abdicated the throne to him and well before Felipe met his wife. So the portrait shows Juan Carlos I and Sophia, the current king’s mother and father as well as his two sisters. There were some rumors floating around about why Felipe appeared to be standing away from his family. I personally think it was just the angle the painting was done at.
My favorite part of the room, however, were the fake doors. They looked real. I thought they were real. They were painted with minute attention to detail. From the way the doors gapped away from each other at the bottom to the realistic wood look, I was gob-smacked. Why go to all of the trouble to pain false doors? The architects wanted to give the room more symmetry.
From here we exited into the Hall of Columns which was formerly the Banqueting Hall until 1879. This is where the royal family held important state ceremonies such as the abdications of HM King Juan Carlos I in 2014. These days small concerts are held here as well. All of the walls were draped in fabulous tapestries. One of them was based on a cartoon by Raphael. The ceiling fresco was The Birth of the Sun by Jaquinto. According to Rick Steves, this fresco was suppose to demonstrate that the king of Spain drove the chariot of state as smoothly as Apollo did his chariot. The crystal chandelier hanging in the center of the room was gorgeous.
These two rooms also functioned as waiting rooms for people who came to talk with the king. The impressive surroundings were meant to make them nervous. We were able to take photos of the Grand Foyer and Staircase plus the first several rooms. I was happy about that. However, no photos were allowed in the remainder of the interior. I had my camcorder around my neck because we had to check our bags. The lady at the door of the Drawing Room made me show her that the lens cover was on it and that it was shut off. They were serious about the no photos or video! We saw them stop people who were taking photos with their phones. They were nice but firm.
I’m assuming we couldn’t take photos because the next set of rooms were the living quarters for Charles III. First up was the Drawing Room. The ceiling in here depicted Trajan who was a Roman Caesar who was actually born in Spain. I didn’t know that. I’ve seen temples and memorials to him all over the world. I shouldn’t have been surprised to find him here in Spain. The walls here were adorned in red and gold. As befitting a king, it was sumptuous.
We flowed from the Drawing Room into the Antechamber. Who would have thought that the Antechamber would also be a dining room? The room featured portraits of Charles IV who was Charles III’s son. Rick Steves said he looked like a dim-witted George Washington. I have to admit, he did! Whenever I hear his name now, that’s what I think of. That and the fact that he was henpecked by his wife who was toothless. I am rapidly losing all of my illusions about royal families 🙂
Anyway, there were four portraits of poor Charles IV and his wife Maria. These paintings were done by Goya who is one of the few Spanish artists that I’ve heard of. He made copies of these portraits which hang in the Prado Museum. Another famous painting called Las Meninas by Velasquez use to adorn a wall in here as well. It is now a prominent piece in the Prado.
The Gasparini Room was a feast for the eyes. Lots of stucco was used in here to create the Rococo style with curlicues everywhere as well as birds and vines, and fruits…..It was an overload for my retinas! I wasn’t surprised when I found out that it took sixty people three years to repair the rotted silk on the walls. They replaced the silk and had to hand embroider the design back on using the original thread. I did enjoy the stucco figures of Chinese people in the corners. They were an unexpected treat. The marble floor was an impressive mosaic of marble from all over Spain. I can only imagine how much work it took to create it. The table in the middle of the room was a work of art. The top was a mini-mosaic with tiny stones and glass. The chandelier hanging over it was the largest in the palace. Somehow that seemed fitting.
Charles’ Salon was his bedroom. He died here in 1788. This room had a blue theme as well as portraits of III. The ceiling fresco shows him in his armor kneeling as he established his order of monks. Even his son and heir appears in the fresco as a baby
We saw the Porcelain Room in which the walls were paneled with porcelain. If you looked closely, you could see the screws that held the panels in the wall. By now I was hitting ornate overload and was more interested to learn that the entire room was disassembled during the Spanish Civil War to protect it.
I have to admit that the Gala Dining Room was impressive. And massive. I loved the parquet floor but it was the size of the room that was astonishing. I guess it shouldn’t have been so surprising that it was big because up to twelve times a year the king had to entertain up to 144 guests. The huge table could actually be extended to run the complete length of the room. It was only half of that for us. The king and queen sit in the middle on either side of the table. Their chairs are just slightly taller than everybody else’s. Today they were pulled out from the table so we could see which ones they were. Across the ceiling were 15 chandeliers. It’s good to be king 🙂
The next couple of rooms truly didn’t interest me. I am not into silver, crystal, or porcelain. The next couple of rooms were dedicated to silver, crystal, and porcelain. The pieces were beautiful. I couldn’t believe how many porcelain sets had survived the centuries. That was the most interesting thing about it all to me.
We took a peek at the courtyard where King Felipe married his wife. She is a commoner who is a journalist. They held their reception here. Then it was on to the Royal Chapel. It was fancy but not as fancy as some of the Rococo chapels we saw in Sicily. Although the royal family does not attend church here, it is where all royal funerals are held. And this is where the deceased lies in state until the actual burial.
I did enjoy the Stradivarius Room. Charles III had quite a collection of these prized instruments. I believe there was one cello, two violins, and a viola. Just one of the violins was worth $15 million. Sam about died when she found that out. It is crazy what these violins are worth but there are only 300 of his instruments left today so I can kind of understand it. Stradivarius was the premier violin maker of all times.
Finally we got to see the “Crown Jewels” room. It was nowhere near as extensive as the Crown Jewels in England. Here we saw the wooden military baton used by Juan Carlos I. There was also the scepter used by Charles II who was the last Spanish Habsburg king. It is along side Charles III’s crown. Those items were nifty but seeing the actual documents of Juan Carlos’ abdication and his son’s acceptance were interesting. It was modern history.
We saw a couple more swanky rooms where people waited for the king to see them. They were all very ornate and designed to intimidate the ambassador or whoever was waiting. These days the new king is trying to be a more down-to-earth kind of ruler. He and his wife are very approachable.
Finally we reached the Throne Room. Of course it was one of the most opulent rooms in the palace. It was designed to showcase the power and might of the Spanish empire. The thrones, on a raised platform, were beneath a a gilded canopy. Above the thrones was the coat of arms. Each king usually has his own throne made so the one we saw only dates back to 2014 when Felipe VI was crowned. He went for a simpler look and instead of a gilded portrait on the back, he had them put a crown. He also stands on the floor when greeting people who come to see him rather than from the throne.
The chandeliers in here were made on Murano Island in Venice so they are priceless. There are lions and black bronze statues that date back to the old fortress that use to be in this location before 1734. Even the ceiling fresco which was painted by Tiepolo, dates back to 1764. The room is a living piece of history. For that alone I had to admire it.
The throne room completed our tour; however, Doug wanted to take a walk through the armory. So we crossed over from the palace to the building containing the medieval uniforms of war. The armory contained a fabulous collection of armor from that for young princes to horses. There was even armor for dogs! I felt sorry for the horses that not only had to wear armor themselves but also support the weight of their knight in all of his armor. They had to be so strong. And some had long skirts on as well. How they managed to not get tangled up in that dangling material I will never figure out.
It was interesting to stroll through and see all of the different design and decorations. Some were etched with extricate designs. Others had spikes protruding everywhere. Sam’s eyes got really wide at one cod piece that was, let’s just say it was very large :-). Most of the armor on display had belonged to either Charles V and Philip II. I was amazed at how much of this had been preserved.
As we walked away from the Palace, I noticed that the horse guards were out now. They hadn’t been when we entered. I didn’t want to disturb them as they were working, so I sneaked a few shots. Thank goodness for zoom cameras! Now I have Spanish horse guards as well as English horse guards.
Done with the tour, it was time for lunch. We grabbed a quick sandwich at the cafeteria at the palace before continuing our day. Our next adventure was the City Tours bus. We had to walk a bit to get to the stop. Along the way we noticed a man playing the theme from “Titanic.” His instrument—glasses of water! It was amazing the beautiful sound he managed to produce. Sam and I were mesmerized. I could have stood there for hours listening to him play.
Doug was ready to head on after a couple of minutes so we continued on our way. Once we made it to the correct street, we had to figure out exactly where the bus stop was. In Cape Town the stops were clearly labeled. Here, not so much. We were waiting at a stop when one of the buses drove passed us and stopped a block away. Doug ran to hold it while I hobbled along as fast as I could, Sam keeping me company. We shouldn’t have bothered. They stopped but only let a couple of people on. That was a bummer but at least we knew where the stop was.
We had to wait a good while before the next bus stopped. He only let 9 of us on. The top was full so we had to sit on the first level where there really weren’t very many seats. Now I could understand why they were only letting a few people on. And I knew why everybody wanted upstairs. You couldn’t see much from where we were. Plus the windows had designs on them which further blocked your view. So far I wasn’t impressed.
We were doing both the historic and the modern routes today. The first one was the modern tour. The audio was mostly music with a little bit of information tossed in. I’ll be honest, I didn’t see much and remember very little of what they said because I was too busy trying to see what the audio was talking about. Sam and I always seemed to be on the wrong side of the bus as well.
The situation did improve. Around our fifth stop or so, a bunch of people came down from the top level so we moved up and found three seats. Two were together and Doug had to sit a bit in front of us. The bus wasn’t as open up top as I hopped. We still had windows although the top covering had been pulled back. I still couldn’t see very well.
The best I can say about the Hop On, Hop Off was that we saw a good deal of beautiful architecture from it. We passed by several embassies and museums such as the Prado and the Reina Sophia which we are visiting tomorrow. I did enjoy seeing the Biblioteca National. It was a beautiful building and I would have loved going inside for a few moments. It wasn’t one of our stops though.
It seemed like we had just gotten comfortable up top when Doug said we were getting off at the next stop. I worried that we would have the same issue getting on the bus for the historic tour as we did this one. I shouldn’t have worried. We got right on and found three spaces up top. This bus was better. It was truly open air. That allowed a bit better visibility. The commentary on this tour was worse, however, than on the first bus. It was mostly music. We heard opera music around the Royal Theater.
I was very disappointed when the audio talked about The Temple of Debod. All I could see were trees. This was an ancient Egyptian temple that had been dismantle and reconstructed here. They were trying to save the monuments of Nubia. It sounded really neat but I could only see bits and bobs through the trees. Oh, well….
The audio on this tour seemed out of sync with what we were seeing which didn’t help matters. I never could find what the lady in the audio was talking about. I finally stopped worrying about it and just enjoyed seeing the scenery. Madrid has a plethora of beautiful buildings. The architecture around here is truly amazing. They use red brick a good deal because that was cheaper than quarrying marble.
I know we passed the Palacio de Cibeles which was the former post office headquarters. Now it is a cultural center. We also drove by the National Archaeological Museum, and the Naval Museum. The buildings themselves were works of art. We swept around the famous Prado Museum as well as the Reina Sophia Museum, both of which we would be visiting tomorrow. The Prado building was impressively large. I have a feeling that you could spend a great deal of time in there and still not see everything.
Our ride ended when we reached the Gran Via. We were walking it and then calling it a day. And this was the perfect street to walk. It rather reminded me of Fifth Avenue in New York City. Everybody comes here to walk and shop. Stores lined the streets in beautiful old buildings. The street itself was built between 1910 and 1930. It was also the theater district. We saw the theaters where they were doing “Mama Mia” as well as “The Lion King” and “Tina Turner.” That was fun to see. I felt like I was back on Broadway. It made me itch to see a show even though it would be in Spanish.
The Four Seasons Hotel building was my favorite. It came to a point in front and had such wonderful details. It was just lovely. Up at the top was a cupola with a wrought iron balcony. Just beneath the balcony was a clock with two gold ladies sitting next to it. It was very fanciful and appealed to me.
Another fanciful thing here were the pedestrian walk/don’t walk signs. In an effort to be more inclusive, the city has changed them from the walking man, stop man. Now you can see a man and a woman holding hands or two men holdings hands. There is even two women holdings hands. It reminded me of the pedestrian signals in New Zealand. There we saw a sumo wrestler, the woman who was instrumental in getting women the vote, and even a drag queen!
Doug pointed out one street known for prostitution—Calle de la Montreal. It had an interesting neon sign across the road with lemurs. I couldn’t resist taking a picture but I had no clue what lemurs had to do with the oldest profession.
There was definitely a Roman vibe on some of the buildings as well. Across the street from where we stood, I snapped a photo of what appeared to be a wolf statue on top of a building. It wasn’t too far from a statue of somebody driving a chariot. The wolf actually turned out to be the wolf mother of Romulus and Remus.
From the corner we could also see the Telefonica “skyscraper” which was one of the first in Madrid. It is 300 feet tall and it was built on the highest point of land in the area. At one time it was the tallest building in Spain.
As we walked down the Gran Via we were amazed at the high-end stores as well as stores we had never heard of before such as Stradivarius which is a clothing store. We walked into one shop that use to be a theater. The entryway still had the theater glitz and glamour. However, the rest of the store was just a store. I had to take a picture though of the portion that kept the facade of the theater. What a shame they didn’t keep it throughout the store.
We walked all of the way down to the Schweppes Building which was an interesting construction with a huge neon sign at the top (I assume it was neon and would light up when it got dark). It was built like ovals stacked on top of each other, each layer getting progressively smaller. It was different. Other buildings reminded me of weddings cakes as they were so ornate. I’m surprised I didn’t fall and bust my other foot as I was too busy ogling the architecture to watch where I was going 🙂
We finished off our day by walking back to Puerto del Sol and finding La Casa del Abuelo. We had seen this place both on “Feed Phil” and “Rich Steves.” The garlic shrimp had looked delish so we wanted to try it. There were actually three Casa Abuelos very near each other. Two were just across a narrow street from each other. We sat at the one with a table and chairs outside and ordered beer, jamon, and garlic shrimp. Oh, my! What a taste treat it was! We scarfed down our shrimp as well as the jamon in record time. the beer—La Casa del Abuelo cream ale—went down smoothly as well. Even the olives they brought us with the bread were good and I don’t like olives. Shoot, even Sam ate olives and she never eats them!
While we ate we were serenaded by a group of young men across the way at the other Casa del Abuelo. They were having a jolly old time. Then the restaurant servers got them chanting the restaurant chant. It was entertaining. We also got to watch the cars drive by as we were very close to the street. It all made for a wonderfully unique dining experience. If we are ever back in Madrid, you can bet we will be visiting the House of Grandfather again.
Full of food and wonderful experiences, we made our way back to the hotel via the subway. We stopped at the supermarket in the basement of the department store next to the hotel and splurged on some Magnum bars. Just a little dessert to end the day with. We actually found a box with just three bars which was perfect.
We are going to appreciate art tomorrow at the Prado and the Reina Sophia Museums. I will be overflowing with art knowledge this time tomorrow. Be warned!
Tales from the Trail 