Today we went the Palacio Real. It was the official residence of the Spanish royalty until 1931. Now it is used for tours although it is still used for official document signings (and Prince Felipe’s wedding in 2004). On our tour we saw the official dining room, dressing room, smoking room, throne room, billiards room, Chinese-themed room, as well as many other rooms and the collection of “daily” silver and porcelain. The palace is on the site of an old Moorish fort and is placed up on a hill overlooking the river, so we had nice views from the courtyard. Right outside the palace is Nuestra Señora de la Almudena, a large cathedral with a large slate dome. In front of the palace is a large plaza with gardens, statues of Roman emperors, a bronze statue of Felipe IV, with the Opera House nearby. The plaza was filled with people, including an accordion player, a saxophonist, and several people dressed up as statues. One was a copper Indian, one was a mud-man, and one was camouflaged.
Afterwards, we had lunch at the equivalent of a Spanish fast food place. There was a display case with over 15 different kinds of cold sandwiches. They also had hot sandwiches on a menu. Libby had a grilled flatbread type sandwich with goat cheese, turkey, and caramelized onions. I had a half of a turkey and apple sandwich and half of a chocolate sandwich, which was basically chocolate frosting on bread. We both had mango smoothies. Then we returned to the school for our class. After class we came home, did our homework, had dinner, took a walk, and went to bed.
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