Fun in Madrid

We are loving this city!

We woke to another delicious, European breakfast and didn't stop going until the day was done!

First on the agenda was a bus/walking tour of Madrid where we drove throughout the city and got to stop and see the Palacio Real.  No, no royalty lives there now but it still hosts official visitors (presidents and other leaders) from other countries.  Spain has a monarchy, though the King has officially relinquished all power; it is more of a prime minister type figure for Spain.  The palace was incredible.  The rooms were ornate and we were blown away by all of the frescos paintings everywhere (the wall & ceiling), the chandeliers, and so, much, gold!


After the palace, we  drove into the center of Madrid to see more amazing landmarks and to enjoy the food and shopping at Puerta del sol.  It is lively and exciting as we walk down the crowded streets and practice our Spanish!




Then, we visited the Prado museum!  It was fantastic and the kids loved it!



Dinner was very fun as we went to a place decked out in bull-fighting paraphinalia.  We enjoyed delicious steaks for dinner and things got a little silly in the end.  I think this group has really grown close over these last few days!  We took the metro home again and called it a night.





It is so hard to believe we only have one more day in Europe before we make our way back home to the States!  While I am sure we will be excited to come home, we will also be quite sad to leave all of this behind!


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Last day in Spain

Image
Today was our last day in Spain and it was absolutely wonderful.  We left early to drive to the old medieval town of Toledo.  It has a very old history and beauty beyond measure.  Our local guide Rosanna shared that she had just rented out an apartment in the sleepy city right near one of the cathedrals we visited.  First we saw a sword-making presentation, and several workers making fine crafts and jewelry. The view from outside the city was breathtaking! Cathedral de Toledo:  We learned that this cathedral is the 5th largest in the world, just in this tiny town of Toledo.  Walking in, instantly we were breathless and mesmerized by how huge the cathedral was.   We also saw a famous pice by El Greco and visited a Jewish synagogue which, at one point, Napoleon Ier used as a horsen barn/stall!  Shocking. Once we returned to Madrid, we took some time at the hotel to pack our things and prepare for the next day of travel...
Read more

Last Day in France / First Day in Spain

Image
Bonjour et Au Revoir! I'm feeling MUCH better today, so lots more photos and comments. :) We are sad to say goodbye to France today, but very excited for the adventure awaiting us in Spain.  We started off with yet another delicious petit déjeuner at our hotel and left on the bus.  Our first stop was in Carcassonne, a town which still exists within fortresses built in medieval times; some were older than the Romans in France! The bus ride to Barcelona was fantastic, and surprisingly quick!  Nadia, our fantastic French tour guide passed off the mic for everyone to share a story or something funny that has happened to them on the trip thus far.  She even gave the opportunity for someone to sing if they wanted (no one accepted)! And FINALLY...  ESPAÑA!  To get from our hotel to the restaurant, we got to the take the tram.  SO clean and simple and perfect for getting to the city.   We knew for our dinner we'd be having Tapas t...
Read more

Travel Day Home

Image
Well, let me begin by saying, this day began very smoothly and ended with a long night in the airport... We had our last European breakfast (or so we thought) this morning in Madrid.  Nadia took us to the airport and we said our goodbyes with hugs and happy memories. Our flight from Madrid to Frankfurt was delayed at least 2 hours due to storms in Germany, which was going to make our connecting flight to the U.S. very difficult to reach.  And... we didn't make it despite a sprint to the finish.   It was a very long night.  Our flight was supposed to leave at 5:15pm local time, they delayed it until 5:30 when we arrived, and when we made it to the gate at 5:42pm, the plane was just pulling out of the gate.  After a very long wait in line, Lufthansa issued us vouchers for a hotel stay in Frankfurt (along with food), issued us new tickets for the same flight tomorrow, and got our luggage for us.  We finally arrived at our hotel in Frankfurt at ...
Read more