Landed in Madrid about 8 AM from Montreal. got to the hotel around 9:30 AM. We were fortunate enough that the hotel let us in our room early after a long night of traveling. It was good to get some rest before we started our actual day. At 2 o’clock. We had a tour booked for the Royal Palace of Madrid. This was about a two hour tour. I didn’t know that Spain has a monarchy, similar to the UK. The king does not live in the royal palace full-time he’s only there for high-level visits and meetings. He has another compound offsite, which is his primary residence. So when he is not entertaining at the palace, it’s open for tourist to visit. Lots of fine arts lots & great detail each room. We had a tour guide that gave us the history of Spain monarchy. There is a painting of the royal family however it’s a bit outdated as the son who is pictured in the painting is now the new king and is 57 years old. There is also a cathedral on the campus which was formally blessed by the Pope for the first time in 1996. The engraving on the front door commemorate that historical day and has the pope sculpted in the door along with the royal family as witnesses.
After the tour, we explored the area of Madrid that we were in luckily the Royal Palace and our hotel are within walking distance of each other. There is a highly trafficked area and we were able to see lots of stores and restaurants. The bellhop recommended a top of place a few blocks away and we enjoyed a nice dinner there. Called it an early night as our bodies were pretty beat down. Adjust into the time zone change..Read more
February 13 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 50 °F