Spain: The Royal Treatment

Our first morning in Madrid.  This was just outside our hotel.  Beautiful!

The national Congress of Spain was right across the street from our hotel, and in front of it, surprise, surprise, a statue of Cervantes.  Our guide told us that several years ago this statue was moved here from a different location in this same square, and when they moved it, the base of the statue was accidentally broken and inside they found the original Spanish constitution from 1812.  Cool.  When they rebuilt the base of the statue, they put in a copy of Spain's present constitution from 1978.  Bottom right: this ancient Greek temple was given to Spain as a gift from Greece and was brought here and put back together stone by stone.

After breakfast we loaded up on luxury charter buses and made our way to visit the Royal Palace.

There are some crazy street performers in Madrid, like people who like to cover themselves in mud or paint and pretend to be statues, or that tall guy in white who had no head, just a hat and glasses.

Spain is a constitutional monarchy, like Great Britain, and the Royal Palace, right in the heart of Madrid, is the official residence of the king, like Buckingham Palace.  But the king and queen don't really live there.  They spend most of their time in a smaller palace just out of the city.  The Royal Palace is used for official state business like welcoming foreign dignitaries and the like.  When the king is not there, it is open for public tours.

The king must not have been there that day, because they let is roam the place.

There is a huge gated square and the palace and a church face each other on either side and are connected by colonnades on both sides.

The church took 100 years to build, and was only recently completed because of budget cutbacks.

The arches of the colonnades.

This is a view from the palace.  You can see much of the city of Madrid.  The Royal Palace was built here because of the great hunting grounds next to it.  Much of those hunting grounds are still preserved which accounts for all the green, though I don't know if the king actually hunts there.

We had a tour of the palace, but cameras were not allowed.  Let me just say, it was magnificent!  Not quite on par with Versailles (but what is, really? The Royal Palace is actually the largest palace in Europe with 2,800 rooms! (Versailles has only 2,300).  We only saw about 30 of them on the tour.  The rooms were floor to ceiling fantastic with gilt, marble, frescoes, and mosaic.  The king has an amazing collection of antique clocks, all of which are still working and wound regularly, and one of the world's best and most expensive collections of Stradivarius violins.  They were amazingly beautiful and detailed, and it made me sad that they were stuck in glass cases until I the guide assured us that they are played regularly for royal functions and that they all sound as amazing as they look.

Just outside of the Royal Palace is the beautiful statue- and tree-lined Plaza de Oriente.

This plaza was much more peaceful than some of the other squares we had been too.  I was delighted to hear we would be having lunch here, right under those umbrellas.

It was a picture perfect square, complete with two old men enjoying the noon-time shade.

We had what they described as a "light lunch" (please!  It was 4 courses and took a few hours!) that included what they call a "tortilla" in Spain.  It was nothing like what we think of as a tortilla - it is kind of a scalloped potato pie.  Good.

Standing in the back was Olga, our tour guide.  She was fabulous!  My favorite guide of the whole trip.

And this was the scenery we enjoyed as we ate!  I took these pictures from my seat at the table looking across to the Royal Palace.  What an absolutely beautiful lunch!

After lunch, we boarded our buses again and drove through the city.

The dropped us off right here in front of the Ritz, which was built just 2 years before our hotel and is just across the street.  And the Ritz is right next door to...

The Prado Museum, which means that the Prado Museum is also just across the street from our hotel.  I told you it was a great location.  If you don't know, the Prado is one of the premier museums of classic European art, much like the Louvre, and particularly one of the largest collections of fine paintings.

Of course, we didn't have time to see all the paintings, so Olga focused on the paintings of the great Spanish artists, like El Greco and Goya.  She had an amazing ability to make it interesting to even the must unenthusiastic art observers, like Dennis. She was very selective in what she showed us and pointed out what was important in each picture.  It was particularly interesting how she showed us the progression in Goya's artistic career - how he went from doing classic portraits of the royal family, to impressionism to realism to something truly dark and horrid, like something from a nightmare, when he was battling depression, and then back to beautiful paintings of ladies when he had come out of his depression by falling head over heals in love.  It was fascinating what art reveals about the heart and head of the artist.

Again, no cameras were allowed, so no photos for you.

When out tour was over, Dennis and Fausto decided to head back to the hotel for a nap, since it was just across the street, but since our admission was already paid for, Ann and I decided to stay and see more of the Prado, particularly its collection of Flemish paintings that were not on the tour.  How perfect was that?  I got to see my art with a fellow art lover, and he got to take a nap! (Traveling with another couple is always a good idea!)

After the museum, Ann and I decided to let the men sleep, so we took a stroll up the main street in the opposite direction than we had walked the day before - a beautiful, tree-lined avenue.  The obelisk commemorates all the people killed on Dos de Mayo, in 1808 when the people of Madrid rebelled against French troops of Napoleon who had taken power. The rebellion started at the Royal Palace and was concentrated in the Puerte del Sol, where hundreds of people died before the French regained control. This also serves as Spain's tomb of the unknown soldier, and an eternal flame burns here.

This magnificent castle-like building above was originally, believe it or not, the post office.

It is just gorgeous!  At some point some brilliant mayor decided it would do much better serving as the  Madrid city hall, and so it became, but one small wing is still a post office.

In front of the city hall is the fountain of the goddess of fertility.  I stayed well away from that fountain.

Right across the street is the National Bank of Spain.  It is guarded and has heavy bars and iron doors.  That is because all the gold of Spain is in the vaults in the basement.  Good to know.

What a beautiful walk!

Back to the  beautiful Triton fountain, my favorite, right outside of our hotel.

Twilight views from our hotel room while we got ready for tonight's "mystery dining."

He we are with our new friends and partners in crime for the week, Fausto and Ann Bucheli.  We had so much fun with those guys.  No, they are not that short.  Dennis and I are standing on steps.

We had no idea what to expect for Tuesday night's "mystery" dinner, other that to dress for fine dining. We got on the bus and drove for a while only to end up here, which is really only a few blocks and a short walk from our hotel.  But, of course, the city streets are so narrow and most of them are closed to buses, so the bus had to take the long way around.  I guess they were afraid we'd get lost if we just walked there.  Like I said, they spared no expense - charter buses all the way.

From the outside, it was kind of hard to imagine what was waiting for us inside.

Inside it looked like a rustic old hunting lodge, like the kind of place Gaston hung out in in Beauty and the Beast.  It was very cool, but then it got cooler...

They led us downstairs to the basement!  It was awesome!!!  We were told that upstairs was 18th century, but that the basement was 15th century.  Imagine that!

The ambiance was incredible!  What an unforgettable evening!

The service was incredible, and like nothing I have ever experienced.  They kept bringing out one plate of interesting food after the next, and we tried it all - after all, we were here to get a real taste of Spain, right?  Bruscetta, little fried hush puppies, chorizo, and lots and lots of their famous jamon ham, above.

The servers were so funny because when they came to take one platter away and bring something else, they would take the rest of the untouched food still on the platter and just serve it to the guests right on their plates, whether they wanted it or not!  They would just smile and put more food on your plate and expect you to eat it all, like mother making you eat everything on your plate, even if they kept putting it on your plate uninvited!  It was pretty hilarious.  I would never expect that at a fancy restaurant. I guess they are not into wasting food in Spain.  I should try that with my kids.

Then came the main course, some kind of meat that, when we asked, were informed was "baby lamb," oh...  The ladies faces all suddenly dropped.  Poor baby lambs. But, guess what, I ate it anyway.  It was good.

But the highlight of the evening was the dessert!  It was honestly probably the best dessert I have ever had!  Holy Cow!  It was called Torte de Flandes, bottom left (here it is already half eaten because I didn't take a picture until I had a few bites and realized this was one dessert I had to remember!)  It was thin crispy warm sugary large round wafers layered with a yummy cold custard cream like you find inside of an eclair, then cut into wedges, topped with powdered sugar and served with a little raspberry sauce.  It seems simple, but it was indescribably amazing!!!

I was hoping that the waiters would plop a little more of that on my plate!  When they didn't, I wasn't too proud to ask for more.  The waiters said that there was no more, and that Torte de Flandes needs to be made and served immediately - but then they were good enough to go and make us another batch!!! I was so happy!!!  Wow, wow, wow!

Now that is what I call "mystery dining!"

Back upstairs.  I love the jamon and chorizo speared on the wall.

Look at the old pillars and beams of this place!  And the cool part is that this is not a restaurant that was decorated to look old like this - it really IS old and has looked like this for thousands of years.  I love it!