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Today has been a super busy day… once we got our lazy butts out of bed. I slept for a glorious 12 hours last night, which was much needed, but meant that we didn't even leave the hotel until 11:30 this morning. First we headed to the Plaza de Cibeles with the plan of a nice Spanish brunch on the way. It seems as though breakfast here mostly consists of pastries, and that just did not sound good on an empty stomach. So instead we opted for good ole Starbucks where we split a huge chicken sandwich and some "fresh" fruit. Hopes for some Spanish cuisine for lunch? Anyway, we made it safely to Cibeles without any side trips and got our picture taken in front of the Palacio de Cibeles. Afterwards, the woman who took the picture asked to take my picture from behind while I "took" a picture of the palace. I don't know what she was hoping to do with her collection, but we weren't the first people she asked. As we were making our way around the circle to go into the Palace, we took a detour into a different palace, El Palacio de Linares. We didn't make it very far, but what we were able to see was very pretty. There was no entrance fee for the Palacio de Cibeles, and we spent a good hour or so looking around. I was slightly disappointed in the entire experience. From the outside it looks like it should be a gorgeous palace with wings and carvings and such, but it had been completely redone and was basically a huge, open art museum. We did go out onto the terrace, but had hoped to make it to the top of the observation tower. I'm not sure if it was closed or what, but there was absolutely no way to get to where we wanted to be. Overall it was fun, just not what we had expected.
From the Plaza de Cibeles we were good little tourists and headed towards the Prado Museum. Neither of us are huge fans of art museums, but felt it was our responsibility to see at least one (there are like 6 or more in all of Madrid). The Prado is host to more traditional art, with work by Rafael, de Goya, Velasquez, and Botticelli. We ended up spending a little over an hour in the museum, but got pretty tired of looking at the same, dark, religious figures that was typical of the art back in the day. I was particularly happy to see Las Meninas and other paintings I recognized from that one art history class I was forced to take my freshman year of college (and ok, works I just recognized from life in general), but probably would have enjoyed a modern art museum better. Oh well, live and learn, and then move on!
Our next point of interest was El Real Jardin Botanico (the Botanical Gardens), however, number one on my list was FOOD!! We checked out a couple of places but since Sam wasn't hungry at all (I think she's an alien or something), I was all for some Burger King. Hellloo chicken fingers and French fries! The stop was also used for some major rehydration (which we did a much better job of today than yesterday) and a rest before we continued our long afternoon of walking.
The Botanical Gardens was gorgeous! And absolutely huge! It was a ton of fun to walk through. The flowers were absolutely lovely, though not many were in bloom. Some of the trees were very misshapen, which is something I like, and they had various fruits and vegetables growing. We walked and talked for a while, and then sat on a bench to plan our walk home. I downloaded a TripAdvisor app that has a couple of self-guided walking tours, one that led us a different route home from the area we were in. We walked through what is known as the "literary quarter," saw the Congress building (which we had seen yesterday but didn't realize), the Cathedral de San Sebastian and the Plaza de Santa Ana. There were a couple of other stops on the way, but they were individual houses that we had no confidence we would be able to find. The streets we wandered through to get everywhere though were very pretty and quaint.
We finally got back to our hotel somewhere between 6 and 6:30 and opted for a rest with 27 Dresses. After napping on and off for an hour while "watching" the movie, Sam and I decided enough was enough and we each set out on a journey to find someplace to eat for dinner. After not really finding anything we loved or as nearby as we wanted, we decided to just take a walk and pick a place. We ended up at La Botilleria del Café de Oriente, a restaurant with outdoor seating with a view of the Palacia Real. We both ordered tostados calientes which sounded delicious, and they were, but it was literally a fraction of what one would eat at normal restaurant in the US. And due to that fact that I was already starving, it just did not fill me up. After waiting about 45 minutes for our check (people here are in absolutely no rush), I went and got some Helado (ice cream) which was wonderful, but still an extremely small serving. Needless to say, we now know why the obesity rate is so much lower here than at home. Thanks goodness for the few Fiber One and NatureValley bars I brought!
Now we are back at the hotel watching the Disney Channel in Espanol and waiting to Skype with my sister in France. Tomorrow brings our first check out and travel day (Barcelona here we come!!) Last night in Madrid!
NOTE: Our pictures wouldn't upload, so we'll try again later!
- comments
Danielle Cline Wow sounds great! Have fun in Barcelona!
Kyle DaSilva Hopefully you will find better food in Barcelona!! LOL! Have Fun!