Madrid Day 2

Madrid Day2
The purchases I made today will give some indications about the day - effervescent Vitamin C tablet, umbrella, wool socks.
I awoke with a slight sore throat. No I am sure it isn’t H1N1 – just likely a plain old cold. Since I am feeling a lot better this afternoon, I don’t think it is even a bad one. I am pretty sure I know where I caught it. In Barcelona one evening, I was having a glass of wine and a pretty seedy bar in a very touristy area. A fellow sat down next to me (pretty seedy himself) and proceeded to blow his nose repeatedly in Kleenex that he deposited on the bar and then asked the bartender to throw them away for him. The bartender did so and then continued to serve/prepare drinks and bowls of olives. I should have left immediately but I did finish my wine before I did (I think that was the mistake).

I looked outside when I got up and it was very dark and cloudy. I thought probably I should skip the tour bus and stay inside. However when I checked the weather forecast the weather looked even more rainy tomorrow. So I took the tour bus and froze to death. It hadn’t started raining yet when I got to the Royal Palace but it felt like it was going to any minute. I visited the Palace and was glad just to get inside. For a palace – it was VERY palacial. I took a guided tour (in English) and apparently the tour is intended to be one way only (talking that is). She didn’t take any questions and talked very, very fast. It was still good. Those Spanish kings were very, very well cared for. The Royal rooms were all quite grand with brocade walls, frescoed ceilings, and incredible chandeliers. The king and queen had separate apartments (including bedrooms and dining rooms) they ate, and slept, alone. The latter I doubt very much probably just not with each other.

The current King and Queen do not live at this palace – they have a new modern one. However, they still use this palace for certain state events. Such an event was held last night, a president from somewhere was visiting (I couldn’t hear where from and like I said she didn’t take questions). They had a royal reception followed by a state dinner. We saw the dining room and it was AWESOME. These days the state dinners are done by take out (I am sure quite gourmet takeout).

There were two additional museum viewing associated with the Royal Palace - The Armory and the Apothacary. Both were very interesting. I didn't get a lot out of the Apothocary. It didn't have any posted information in English. It looked to me that it mainly consisted of jars that contained every possible plant substance ground up so it could be used for pharmaceutical purposes. The Armory was far more interesting. It had the armor for men, horses, and CHILDREN. Scary.



eems very serious compared to Barcelona whose old and new architecture is playful and light.
There are a lot of museums here. I will probably go to a couple tomorrow. Expect that Judy & Mike will need a nap. We will probably go to the Prado the following day.

I am looking forward to getting out in the country to some open space and some old towns that are a little less daunting, although after today I have some idea of how the city is laid out.
A few pictures follow in the next post. Sorry they aren’t better or more interesting. That is just the kind of day it was.

Tonight I headed out in the rain and found a nice little non-descript bar/restaurant. It was fine with salad and grilled shrimp with the most wonderful aoli (garlic mayo) I have ever tasted. It was raining hard. Looking outside the restaurant windows I was reminded of one of my favorite films - The Umbrellas of Cherbourg. It was raining hard and all the passers by had their umbrellas open. Probably no one but me remembers it. But it was very romantic and artistic. I saw it with the first sophisticated man in my life. I have seen it many times since. If you've never seen it then you have not appreciated cinema as it can be.