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Cuba - More than old cars
Weather: 25 degrees C, sunny (not a cloud) and no wind
This morning we headed off to the Palacio Real (Royal Palace). Bruce got a discounted entry. He is definitely worth taking as he now gets these "older person" discounts. Not all places in Spain give these as sometimes they only apply to EU residents or, EU and South American residents. Now back to the palace.
We have been to both the Versailles (Paris) and Schönbrunn (Vienna) Palaces and now Palacio Real. Versailles still remains the best of these for us. Having said that, what we saw of Palacio Real was absolutely amazing but is difficult to compare it to the others as only 20 of the 2800 rooms were open to the public, none of which were bedrooms. In addition to the visiting some of the rooms however was an extensive royal armoury collection and royal pharmacy. The armoury collection had the usual array of jousting armoury and weapons including old early 17th century guns the most unusual of which were very very long guns on wheels; the forerunner of the cannon we presume. The pharmacy with its mixing room and distillery had a huge display of porcelain and unusually shaped glass containers as well as some old leather bags (more the size of chests) used in the transportation of quinine from Peru. Of the 3 palaces this was the only one which would not allow pictures to be taken inside - and they enforced it - consequently no pictures to show you of the inside.
From the palace we crossed the courtyard to the new Cathedral de La Almudena. Construction began in 1879 and finished in 1993 and it was consecrated by Pope JP II in 2004. We purchased tickets (Bruce's was discounted again - he is saving us heaps!) to visit the museum and the capola. From the capola we could go out and view the city. The cathedral is a mixture of modern and traditional designs and some of the locals have difficulty coming to grips with this mixture. Have a look at the ceiling in one of the attached photos - not your usual frescoes. The museum was interesting and definitely exhibits some of the wealth of the church - gold, silver, jewels etc. Say no more!
Leaving the cathedral we made our way to lunch at the La Bola restaurant. We had made a reservation yesterday and 3:30 was the only time we could get in! This restaurant is renowned for its Cocido Madrileno (Madrilian Stew). Not the best day for a stew but certainly a lovely dish that should be tried. It is a hearty meal and no entrées or deserts are necessary. We had heard that the restaurant would not allow the stew to be shared but believe that if you each ordered a full meal with only one being the stew then sharing would be ok. We wish we had done that to experience two different Madrilian dishes.
We also found time to sort out some housekeeping; had to find a tobacconist for stamps and a yellow post box followed by a search for a prepaid sim card for our phone. This took some time as a lot of the shops are shut for 2 or 3 hours in the afternoon; an inconvenience but that's just Spain and we are not complaining.
Saw a restaurant called Rikki Tikki Tavi which brought back an old memory for Bruce. Last read it about 55 years ago. Not a name you hear often and thought unusual to see in Spain.
This is our last day in Madrid, cut short by our travel upsets. It is a European version of Melbourne; but on steroids! We loved it and will be back to see the rest of it one day.
This morning we headed off to the Palacio Real (Royal Palace). Bruce got a discounted entry. He is definitely worth taking as he now gets these "older person" discounts. Not all places in Spain give these as sometimes they only apply to EU residents or, EU and South American residents. Now back to the palace.
We have been to both the Versailles (Paris) and Schönbrunn (Vienna) Palaces and now Palacio Real. Versailles still remains the best of these for us. Having said that, what we saw of Palacio Real was absolutely amazing but is difficult to compare it to the others as only 20 of the 2800 rooms were open to the public, none of which were bedrooms. In addition to the visiting some of the rooms however was an extensive royal armoury collection and royal pharmacy. The armoury collection had the usual array of jousting armoury and weapons including old early 17th century guns the most unusual of which were very very long guns on wheels; the forerunner of the cannon we presume. The pharmacy with its mixing room and distillery had a huge display of porcelain and unusually shaped glass containers as well as some old leather bags (more the size of chests) used in the transportation of quinine from Peru. Of the 3 palaces this was the only one which would not allow pictures to be taken inside - and they enforced it - consequently no pictures to show you of the inside.
From the palace we crossed the courtyard to the new Cathedral de La Almudena. Construction began in 1879 and finished in 1993 and it was consecrated by Pope JP II in 2004. We purchased tickets (Bruce's was discounted again - he is saving us heaps!) to visit the museum and the capola. From the capola we could go out and view the city. The cathedral is a mixture of modern and traditional designs and some of the locals have difficulty coming to grips with this mixture. Have a look at the ceiling in one of the attached photos - not your usual frescoes. The museum was interesting and definitely exhibits some of the wealth of the church - gold, silver, jewels etc. Say no more!
Leaving the cathedral we made our way to lunch at the La Bola restaurant. We had made a reservation yesterday and 3:30 was the only time we could get in! This restaurant is renowned for its Cocido Madrileno (Madrilian Stew). Not the best day for a stew but certainly a lovely dish that should be tried. It is a hearty meal and no entrées or deserts are necessary. We had heard that the restaurant would not allow the stew to be shared but believe that if you each ordered a full meal with only one being the stew then sharing would be ok. We wish we had done that to experience two different Madrilian dishes.
We also found time to sort out some housekeeping; had to find a tobacconist for stamps and a yellow post box followed by a search for a prepaid sim card for our phone. This took some time as a lot of the shops are shut for 2 or 3 hours in the afternoon; an inconvenience but that's just Spain and we are not complaining.
Saw a restaurant called Rikki Tikki Tavi which brought back an old memory for Bruce. Last read it about 55 years ago. Not a name you hear often and thought unusual to see in Spain.
This is our last day in Madrid, cut short by our travel upsets. It is a European version of Melbourne; but on steroids! We loved it and will be back to see the rest of it one day.
- comments
Gael Stunning - I'm talking about you Anne!!! Gather though that it's not a humid 25 degrees considering that you have quite a few clothes on!
Gael Fabulous commentary Anne - very descriptive! Wow - 2,800 rooms at the Palacio Real - totally unimaginable! WOW!!!
Roslyn L Great stories Anne...But what is Rikki Tikki Tavi????
Gael Thanks Roslyn. I also wondered what the hell "Rikki Tikki Tavi" is, but I was too embarrassed to ask!
Bruce and Anne It is a Rudyard Kipling short story. Bruce read it during his scouting days and grandson Sam has just become a cub so we added it to the entry for him. First time we have heard it for a long long time and odd to see a restaurant in Spain by that name we thought.
Gael Thanks for the Rikki Tikki Tavi explanation Anne - I think I need to do some homework here! I'll ask around and see how many others I know are aware of it!