In 2011 when Tom and I went to the UK and France, we hit 7 cities over the two and a half weeks we were on vacation. We both agreed that that was too many places for the amount of time we had, so when we went to Italy in 2013, we went to five cities in the same time frame. I think we both felt that that was the perfect amount of time in each place... So why we thought it would be good to hit six cities on this trip... I'm not sure. It was just so hard to cut places out!
As a result of our ambitious itinerary, we were only able to spend two days in several cities. We would arrive after a travel day, spend a whole day sightseeing, and then move on. Madrid is one of these speed-sightseeing cities.
There were two main attractions that we wanted to see, the first being the Royal Palace, Palacio Real de Madrid.
Palacio Real de Madrid.
The Palacio Real is said to be the third most elaborate palace, after Versailles and Vienna. It was built by King Philip V, who wanted to make his own personal palace that would rival the Palace of Versailles.
I can tell you first hand, the palace is ridiculous. It has 2800 rooms, and what we saw was lavishly decorated with tapestries, carpets, marble, chandeliers and porcelain. In this day and age, the royal family doesn't live in the palace, they live in a mansion a few miles away. The palace is used for ceremonial purposes, such as state receptions and royal weddings. I'm sure tourists frequent it more regularly than anyone else!
Inside the courtyard of Palacio Real de Madrid.
You know you've been in Europe too long when you begin to be unimpressed by cathedrals. Cathedrals are by nature, impressive structures. But I found myself unmoved by Madrid's Almudena Cathedral. After seeing Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, this cathedral couldn't compete. This particular cathedral is relatively "new". It opened in 1993, nearly 100 years after construction began.
Almudena Cathedral.
The one thing that I did love in the cathedral were the colourful ceiling tiles. I zoomed in as best I could with our camera, but the photo still doesn't really do the tiles justice.
Almudena Cathedral ceiling tiles.
Our second major stop in Madrid was the National Archaeological Museum. This was a (HUGE) beautiful museum containing a chronological exhibit on the history of Iberia. It started with prehistoric humans in the area and moved into present time. It gave us a great overview of some of the sights that we would be seeing (e.g. Alhambra in Granada), and had some fantastic multimedia displays.
The section on neanderthals had some really graphic artwork. For example, in the image below, some neanderthals appear to be cannibalizing someone... One of the females is eating a finger!
Disturbing depiction of neanderthals.
We eventually had to cut our time short in the archaeological museum. There was so much to see, and not enough time!
Everyone else and their dog would probably have gone to see the Prado Museum, but Tom and I decided against it. Neither of us have too much of an interest in art, and we didn't think we would appreciate it enough to warrant a visit.
We did take a stroll through Retiro Park (the equivalent of Central Park in New York). It was bustling with activity-- teenagers, joggers and cyclists. We stopped at a monument for King Alfonso XII, and rented a row boat for 45 minutes.
King Alfonso XII Monument.
We ate apples and people watched, and were continually spooked by some large (disgusting looking) fish that kept leaping out of the water to catch bugs.
Me rowing.
Tom checking his phone while I do the hard work.
There was a couple-- likely in their late 40's or early 50's, that spend about 25-30 minutes intensely making out in a boat near us. INTENSELY making out. It was a bizarre sight to see, and they seemed totally oblivious to the fact that there were dozens of people floating and rowing around them.
We enjoyed Madrid, but I think we were both expecting more grandeur in the capital. We probably could have done with another day in the city, if we were to plan our trip again.
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