Monday, September 10, 2012

So you think you're royal?



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. 
Lower left shows the picture of the camera and the flash.
 
 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!!

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