Hanging out in Madrid

Today was spent checking out Madrid. We had a walking tour booked to start at 9am but we hit a problem. They had their version of the City to Surf race happening so we ended up stuck on the wrong side of the street as there were so many runners going past. Anyway we sorted that and spent a few hours walking around looking at the buildings and scenery of Madrid.

Madrid has been the capital of Spain since 1561 and once the dictator Franco died in 1975 the city has changed a lot, from grey and dull to now beautiful buildings painted very tastefully. See the photos.

Madrid is home to the royal palace and this place is huge. It was built in 1764 and has 3,418 rooms making it the largest palace in Europe - twice the size of Versailles and four times the size of Buckingham Palace.

We then walked around some of the old sections of town and ended up at Puerta del Sol, where we were yesterday. We then headed to the Prado Museum.

This is a huge building which houses the main Spanish art collection. It was works by a number of the key artists of the 14th and 15th centuries including Rubens, Rembrandt, Goya, and loads more.

After checking out the museum we then headed back to the hotel for a late afternoon siesta. Dinner was at a small bar/restaurant just near the hotel. As usual the beer and food were excellent!Baca lagi