A Lovely Sunday in Madrid!

Hola!  

 

We’ve been out most of the day, and have covered what feels like many, many miles.  Now back at the apartment, and in to stay for the night is my hope!  As the temperature climbs, I have to admit that it gets progressively more difficult to just “go” – although we seem to be managing!

 

Up this morning around 7-ish, with two small loads of laundry to do.  (The “rapido” cycle on the washing machine is amazingly efficient, but the instructions advise against overloading the machine…so, two small loads instead of one!)  Got everything hung up and spread out on the drying rack; if it gets up to 80 degrees today, I’m sure it will take minutes rather than hours for things to dry.  I also made my first attempt at ironing here in the apartment. 

I'm supposed to IRON on that?
 

First of all, in Cadiz, we had what looked like a small ironing board – set up on the counter in the kitchen, it worked just fine.  Here, however, what suffices as “board” is quite literally, about 16” long – and about 5” wide – I’d never seen anything like it, and honestly, what could one do on that I’d like to know?  So…plan B.  I found what looks like possibly a spare mattress cover – maybe for the sofa bed in the living room?  At any rate, with that folded over a couple of times, I was able get a fairly flat surface on the counter.  The iron works well, and I was successfully able to iron a couple of shirts that needed some work!  But if our Airbnb ironing “boards” continue to get any smaller, I’ll be ironing on a postage stamp soon.

 

So Fang, or Shuei?

Every room had ceilings like this!

Main stairway up which guests would come

Interesting figure in the courtyard

Front door of the Palace, in the middle!

Nothing ornate, right?

Beautiful courtyard entryway

Today was our day to tour the Royal Palace; our tickets were timed for 12:45 pm.  We took the Metro to Opera, which is the underground closest to the Palace, and walked from there.  As we had given ourselves plenty of time to get there, we were able to stop at a sidewalk café with a lovely view of the Palace, so that R could have a cup of coffee and I could have a Fanta Limon.  Still, we reached the entrance for ticketholders early, but had no problems getting in.  We were fortunate, I think, to schedule this for a Sunday, as fewer people were touring because 1) it’s Sunday, and 2) it’s Mother’s Day, at least here in Spain. 

 

To say the Palace is immense is truly an understatement.  According to Rick Steves, it has 2800 rooms, and is the third largest palace in Europe.  I can’t even wrap my head around the concept of that many rooms!  How could you even keep track??

 

We had chosen the unguided tour (although we had Rick Steves’ guide as an aide) and it worked out well.  Unfortunately, NO photos allowed once you begin the tour!  [If one wants pictures, buy them in the Gift Shop – for €10. – R] BUMMER!  The shear amount of carpet, fabric wall coverings, porcelain, crystal, china, silver, gold … the list goes on and on, is breathtaking.  And these had to be some of the most beautiful crystal chandeliers in the entire world!  According to Rick, each new King tried to out-do the last king, and they did have a lot to work with.  There were entire companies set up to do porcelain and crystal JUST for the Palace!  How’s that for $$ and power?  Apparently, the Spanish royal families also collected clocks, which we, with our five chimers at home, could very much appreciate!  They are wound once a week, and readjusted, as really old clocks do have a way of slipping a bit.  It was really interesting to see how well most of them kept time – as well as reminding Robert that as today is Sunday, our clocks will be requiring his attention soon!  

 

The last King and Queen to live in this particular palace was Juan Carlos I and his wife, Queen Sofia.  When JC I abdicated the title to his son a few years ago, the son, his wife Letitia and their two daughters live in a “smaller” palace a couple of miles away.  This Palace is still used, though for all sorts of official functions and meetings.  It is truly superb!

 

We had a good wander of almost 2 hours there, until we were footsore and needing an extended sit-down.  So, back outside and we decided to try the café we visited earlier in the morning.  There was no outside seating available, but we were accommodated indoors, which was nice. 

 

Interesting menu – not an incredible amount on there for me, but I ordered the scallop starter, and that turned out to be more than enough for me for dinner – about five beautifully cooked scallops in a butternut squash soup with bacon.  Wow!  It was really excellent!  R, being very brave, opted for the Turbot … which came … with ALL the parts still attached.  (UGH!) I have to say, once again, that Robert is really amazing – he can de-bone a fish like it’s something he does every day!  He said the fish was a bit bland, though – I would have had more than a difficult time just dealing with the bones!!

 

My scallops with butternut squash and bacon

R's turbot with veggies

Starter croquettes; delicious!

A little Prosecco always helps!

From there we walked to Mercado San Miguel, which we had visited before.  It was a total mob scene – which I think it pretty much always is!  And we didn’t buy anything; just walked on through and out the other side.  They certainly don’t lack for business, that’s for sure!

 

R's favorite!

A very full place!

Some wonderful looking food!

All in a big glass & wrought Iron building!

By this time, even though we were both dragging, we thought we could walk back to the apartment.  But the general lack of street signs and the rather poor street maps* made it a hopeless exercise, so we decided to see if we could Uber back instead.  We hadn’t Uber-ed since we were in Philadelphia sometime last fall!  And it still works!  Do NOT know how these guys manage the driving; there are people ALL over the place!  But we were picked up in about 10 minutes, and then in less than another 10 minutes we were in front of our door!  Yeah!  Took the opportunity to hit Dia for the day, and, as I started, we are now (hopefully!) in for the night!  

 

Need to get a good night’s sleep tonight, as we’re off to Toledo on a day trip tomorrow!  So!  Happy Mother’s Day to all the Mom’s out there, and More later!

m

xxx 

 

*Another comment about maps.  It is no longer possible to obtain a paper map showing the bus routes in Madrid, which I think is really stupid.  And the on-line versions are impossible to use. - R