June 10th:
Today is our last day in Spain. At 9:30 am we met for a tour of the Royal
Palace and Plaza Mayor near the center of Madrid. The weather was much cooler, in fact the
coolest we have had, and there was a light drizzle. We drove to the Palace grounds and had a
guided walking tour of 26 of the 2,800 rooms in the Palace. Photography was only permitted outside and in
the grand staircase areas.
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| Royal Palace |
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| Fresco Ceiling |
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| Grand Stairway |
The rooms are all highly decorated and
very elaborate. The grand stairway is a
statement of imperial power and leads to the royal apartments, dining room, and
eventually the throne room, which is decorated in crimson-velvet. The Porcelain Room is designed with Retiro
porcelain that is screwed to the wall.
There is extravagance everywhere and lavish chandeliers from France and
Italy. The king and family do not live
in the Palace, but it is used on occasions for state functions.
Once the tour was finished, we could
visit the Royal Armory with weapons and suits of armor from the 16th
and 17th centuries.
We then proceeded to the Plaza Mayor in
the heart of the city.
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| Street Actor in Plaza Mayor |
The Plaza has a
very rich history – sight of bull fights, burnings at the stake, hangings,
condemnations of heretics during the Spanish Inquisition, etc. Much of the history is depicted in carvings
on the circular seats beneath the lamp posts.
It is now surrounded by shops and the old Royal Bakery is covered in
frescoes.
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| Royal Bakery |
We walked from the Plaza to
the streets surrounding the Plaza that contain shops and to the cave restaurants on a lower
street. These restaurants are below the
Plaza.
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| Ham Shop |
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| Cave Restaurant |
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| Street Below/Behind Plaza Mayor |
When the others returned to the hotel
or went to museums, we walked to the shopping area and while Bev shopped I
walked back to the hotel through the old sections of Madrid and to the Avenida
del Mediterraneo on which the hotel is located. It was a very nice 50 minute walk.
At 7:30 pm we met for our 2nd
and last farewell dinner at La Barraca, which specializes in paella and classic
Spanish cuisine. In addition to salad, we had two paellas -- mixed and vegetable -- and a chocolate mousse. The food was excellent and we all had a great time.
Tomorrow we leave from the hotel at 9 am for our return trip to Birmingham. We have certainly had a great two weeks in Spain.
Tomorrow we leave from the hotel at 9 am for our return trip to Birmingham. We have certainly had a great two weeks in Spain.
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