Saturday was almost like a repeat day of Sunday. I revisited
the Palace and the Cathedral except this time with different people. We also
took a tour of the Palace which I did not do on Sunday with Gloria and my
roommate Gayti. The main purpose of this day was for Zach to take pictures
since his mom kept complaining he did not have any to show her even though his
dad bought him a new fancy camera just for Spain! We could not have asked for a
more beautiful day weather wise. The sun was shining bright with a slight
breeze. The palace was our first stop. Tickets to tour the palace are usually
10 euro but since we are students we received a 5 euro deduction. Boy did that
feel good. Once we got past security and walked through the doors to the front
courtyard it was like setting dogs loose. The open space was so tempting to
just run freely through. The “royal lampposts” were breath taking, at about 30
ft high and detailed with gold and black paint.
Foyer Ceiling |
After roaming around the plaza
inside the gates like little kids who haven’t had playtime in days, we worked
our way inside. Being the tourist that we are, we had our cameras in hand ready
to snap at whatever exciting sites popped out to us. We made our way through
the front door of the mansion and noticed a sign of what actions are prohibited
inside the Palace. One of them had a camera with a line through it. However,
this camera had a HUGEEEE flash on it so the three of us thought it meant no
flash photography. Of course we had to learn the hard way. At least I had the
opportunity to snap a shot of the intricately detailed ceiling in the foyer. The
entire palace seemed extremely fake. The amount of time that artists and architects
put into building such a monster must have taken a lot of time, money, and
effort. The rooms were the size of a
small house alone in the suburbs. I wish I could take pictures but there were security
guards stationed all over. The palace still has original paintings, furniture,
clocks, tapestries, and tiles. One room had walls completely made of porcelain.
Every room was a different color; pink, blue, green, white, red, yellow… you
name it. Zach kept wondering where the “man cave” was. Sure enough we got to
the billiards room, the smoking room and the card playing room. BUTTT!!!! It was
the girls’ recreation rooms, not the boys. This was pretty funny because we
were all stunned especially Zach when his reaction was, “Ahhhhhh so this is
where the man cave is at!” Then Emily and I told him, “yes except for the
girls.” The public is only allowed to view a small section of the Palace so
after walking through about 6 HUGE rooms, we wandered over to the armory part
of the Palace where the knives, shields, muskets, and everything else of that
nature is displayed. I, being the photo savvy
traveler I am, snagged two pictures of this room when the security woman was
yelling at someone else for taking a picture.
The Cathedral was the same as the
first time I saw it but still breathtaking. For lunch we went to 100 Mondatitos
which is a tapas chain throughout Madrid. We actually tried eating at a few other places
first but they were all closed for Ciesta or way too expensive. But all in all,
100 Mondatitos was a great pick because the sandwiches were 1 euro and change
each - definitely going back to that place for lunch some other time. The sandwich
options they have goes into the 100’s hence the name. You should go try it out too sometime if you
have the chance!!
What a fun day!!
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