Madrid, what a city!

What an amazing city! We're getting used to the time zone and jet lag is getting better every day. We were able to easily walk everywhere and we are centrally located very close to Jamie and Jonica. They arrived a few days before us and they had a good lay of the land.

Jamie arranged a wonderful historical walking tour where we learned about the many revolutions and evolutions that shaped this lovely capital of Spain 🇪🇸. Madrid was essentially torn down and rebuilt in the name of Christ.

Madrid houses the largest palace in all of Europe. It was built in the 1735 on the site of a Muslim era fortress, and it took roughly 20 years to build. It contains more than 3,400 rooms! Our tour of the palace reminded me a bit of the tours we've taken at Hearst Castle. We took the general tour, where we saw many well preserved lavish rooms such as the Throne Room, the Porcelain Room, the pool room, the music room, and the royal apartments of the king and queen. The pictures I took do not do these rooms justice! Much to James' dismay, we did not get to tour the Royal Armoury. It is no longer used as a palace, but the royal family occasionally visits for state events and visiting dignitaries.

One evening we went to see a world renowned Flamenco show at Corral de la Moreria which was selected in the book "1000 Places To See Before You Die." It is renown because it is the only flamenco tablao in the world with a 2025 Michelin starred gastronomic restaurant! It may have been a highlight for me!

We had one more day in Madrid to go, but alas our plans to visit the world renowned museums were dashed. Unfortunately we spent most of the day at the local hospital tending to a wound on James' arm. It was pretty stressful, but we were happy to find out it wasn't infected and he walked away with antibiotics. We were fortunate to have the spare time to tend to this before we departed on our cruise. Needless to say, at the end of the day we rewarded ourselves with another special meal of my two favorite dishes of calamari and artichokes! I've never seen artichokes prepared like a flower, and it tasted like nothing I've ever had before!

Early to bed for us. Tomorrow we are off on a train to meet up with Jamie and Jonica, and Sandi and Kevin in Barcelona.Read more