Today we had a visit to the Palacio de Real Madrid. Getting to these attractions a little early always pays dividends as it allows you to take in the surrounds and, in this case the Palace itself before entering. Also booking for the earliest time slot means, while there are still crowds you don’t feel rushed and claustrophobic. Also the staff are still fresh and smiling. 

The Palace itself was, well… Palatial. Trying to imagine how the royals lived in the 18th century is pretty much impossible for us mere mortals.  But the audio tour was great in telling their stories and explaining the way of life that was their norm. 

A short ‘treasure hunt’ from Marsh took us to a recent but moving statue ‘Escultura Jesús Desamparado’ by Thimoty Schmalz depicting Jesus as a homeless man sleeping on a park bench. 

We then took a short but rather warm walk to the Templo De Debod, an ancient Egyptian temple gifted to the Spanish in 1968 in gratitude for the help they gave saving the various Egyptian archaeological sites that were in danger of being flooded due to the building of the Aswan dam. 

We navigated the Metro to Plaza Mayor ticking off some fun sites suggested by ChatGPT and visiting a small art market (we like to find an artwork from each city we visit as a memento )

After a siesta and Wimbledon break we headed back out to to Mercado San Anton for an oxtail paella before calling it a night. 

Roy