Day 33 Mon 29/5/17
It was a greyish morning, but still warm at around 26 degs. We took the Metro into the city and walked to the Royal Palace which is a very large and impressive structure. We spent about 4 hours exploring the main building, a temporary exhibition on Carlos III - he of the big nose, but the man who built this fantastic place, and the Royal Armoury.
...and this is just the entrance hall!
It is the most incredibly sumpious of palaces, but sadly we were not allowed to take photos anywhere. So I've pinched a few from the Internet to illustrate...
The Porcelain Room with a stunning Atlas clock
The Dining Room
Chamber of Carlos III
The Throne Room
The Royal Armoury
There were more fantastic rooms but nothing can quite capture the magnificence of it all.
Then it was time for a late lunch. We chose a menu del dia at a small restaurant in a quiet side street not far from the palace. The food was good and at EUR12.95 a head for 3 courses with bread and a beer or wine it was good value too.
This gave us enough energy to go back to the Palace to explore Almudena Cathedral next door. For such a huge building (there were ambitions to make it the largest cathedral in the world) it was the least impressive cathedral we have been in, despite its size. Construction began in 1879. Much of the decoration is modern and it wasn't completed until 1993. Is that the problem I wonder?
We then explored more of the centre including the Mercato San Miguel, Place Puerto del Sol (which must be the centre of Spain since the number system of all route nationals depend on their distance from this Plaza), Mercato San Anton and then finding a few bars for drinks and tapas as the afternoon developed into the evening. Back to the hotel about 8PM for a snack and a drink and a preliminary planning session for our next few days.
