Today, I began my travel in Madrid with a stroll around town. I decided to get lost and began wandering little side streets. It was about 10am and there were no tourists in sight...beautiful!! I meandered through little neighborhoods with cobblestone streets, and beautiful ornate front doors with tile and iron. The side streets were also much cooler cause they were mostly in the shade. I wound up in Plaza Mayor, one of the major plazas in the city. It was beautiful and it was great to see such a major plaza being set up for the day. The cafes were just starting to open and tables were being put out. The neighborhood dogs still had the run of the plaza. There were running back and forth barking, with the barks echoing throughout the plaza.
After spending a couple minutes just staring at everything, I decided to continue my journey. I picked another small little side street and wandered down that. I found a really cute little farmers market that I made note of. I think I might go there now to get some fresh fruit. After about 15 minutes, I stumbled upon what was apparantly the Royal Palace and Cathedral. I figured while I´m here, why not go inside.
The palace was absolutely gorgeous. King Juan Carlos still uses it today for official events and dinners. Royal funerals also take place there I believe. The palace was completely too ornate, as most of them are, but it gave me a lot of stuff to see and take in. The best part about being there early is that there was no line and hardly anybody inside. I manuevered around a couple of tour groups and then found that I had the whole palace to myself. I was alone in each room, well...minus a security guard here and there. It was very surreal. I spent time trying to imagine living in a place like that and what life must have been like back then. Absolutely insane.
Julie comes today on the 4pm train. Can´t wait to see here and catch up. I haven´t seen my old college roommate in two years now. I´m sure we will have many fun things to report about in the days ahead.
