So it is nearly time to leave Isla plana, but a Madrid pit-stop was definately at the top of the list
Hotel booked?
Check!
Ripped off to take a photo with a tourist attraction?
Check! (But he wqas worth the 2euros)
Famous monument photos?
Check!
FYI! Above that is
1. A bronze statue of Felipe IV in the centre of the Plaza de Oriente.
2. the bear and the strawberry tree - apparently represent the Madrid coat of arms - lots of people take photos of it so we did too!
Just to add a hiccup to the day, my Mac had just stopped. White screen of death, so throughout the following, I carried it around in hope of the apple store fixing it.
So headed off on the subway which was surprising large and had lots of pretty walls of murals.
One of the first things we found was the debod temple. It used to be in Debod (yep who would have thought that?) near the nile river, and thanks to a new dam it was going to be drowned. So they dismantled it in 1969 and shipped it to Valencia, and then popped it on the train to Madrid to be re-built.
We spent most of the morning walking and just seeing 'stuff' Its a pretty city!
The Sabatini Gardens were pretty, and our first stop in the Royal Palace explorations.
The Palace itself was great, and worth the waiting!
We couldn't take pictures inside, but the armory was really impressive with lots of full scale models of jousters on horseback, and all kinds of weapons.
The inside was a massive series of rooms each lavishly decorated in a different style and theme. They were incredible to see!
Outside of the palace there were so many different types of entertainers:
Remember the Mac? Well since the apple storewere no help, it enjoyed it's travells so much that it woke back up that evening!
Part two of Madrid coming!
Much Love x