Arriving in Madrid late the night before, Bill and I finally found our hostel around half past midnight only to discover that someone had already taken Bill's bed. Stifling a few yawns, I walked back to front desk in hopes of locating a second bed. Confused by the occupied bed, the hostel manager walked into our room, wrapped the stranger's belongings into a sheet, and said, "Now the bed is yours!" Almost too tired to chuckle at the quick fix, I hopped into my bunk bed for a few good hours of deep sleep.
Sleeping in an extra hour the next morning, Bill and I still managed to leave the hostel around 9:30 a.m. for a beautiful day of touring Madrid. Pleasantly surprised by the cloudless blue sky, the gorgeous Spanish sun instantly put both of us in a good mood for seeing the city sights. Big fans of castles and palaces, we began our day with a tour of Palacio Real (a.k.a "Royal Palace"). Though currently owned by King Juan Carlos I, Spain's royal family resides in a mansion outside the city and uses Palacio Real mainly for official state functions.
To give you a brief history of the Spanish monarchy, Spain was a democratic nation until dictator Francisco Franco rose to power in 1939 after the Spanish Civil War. Allied with Adolf Hitler in Nazi Germany, Franco ruled Spain with a ruthlessness that marked several dictators during World War II. Before the outbreak of the second World War, Hitler asked Franco to provide a city for "strategic mitilary testing". Wanting to appease his powerful ally, Franco allowed Hitler to test his military strength on the Spanish city of Guernica. Without warning the citizens of Guernica, Franco and Hitler bombed the city and all who lived there, thus killing over a thousand of Spain's native citizens. Franco remained in power after World War II until his death in 1975. Hand-picking his successor, Franco believed Juan Carlos to be a stoic supporter of his fascist regime. Despite playing the part of devoted supporter, Juan Carlos secretly met with opposition leaders and began making plans to reestablish Spain's democratic government after being crowned as the reigning monarch. Thankful for an end to Spain's fascist dictatorship, King Juan Carlos I is one of the most beloved national leaders in the world.
Considered to be one of the three most beautiful palaces in Europe, the Palacio Real is artfully magnificent. With nearly every ceiling painted with Spanish frescoes, the rich colors of the royal palace left me breathless and wanting to spend hours admiring the beauty and warmth of each room. Though Buckingham in London was also very beautiful, the queen's palace couldn't hold a candle to Madrid's royal residence. Of the many gorgeous rooms in Palacio Real, my favorite is split among the Throne Room, King Philip V's Bedroom, and the Porcelain Room. The Throne Room is everything that a throne room should be. Covered in deep red velvet, the golden trim appears to glimmer from the light of the crystal chandelier. Though thrones for the king and queen are placed on a small platform near the center of the room, King Juan Carlos I and Queen Sofia greet their guests from the floor rather than sitting in the designated seats of power. (Interesting to Note: Queen Sofia was formerly a princess of Greece and Denmark before the democratic governments disbanded the monarchy. After World War II, Sofia returned to school in Germany to study pediatrics, music, and archaeology. An Olympic athlete, she represented Greece in sailing during the 1960 Summer Olympics.) Of my three favorite palace rooms, King Philip V's Bedroom is definitely the most magnificent. Extremely ornate, a patterned marble swirled floor lay beneath our feet while we marveled at the brightly painted moulded ceiling above. Adorned with moulded roses, vines, and Asian faces, the ceiling was unlike anything I've encountered so far in Europe. Despite the dizzying ornateness of the walls and ceiling, the decorations seemed to somehow fit in a crazy pattern of swirls and vines. Though not a fan of extremely ornate rooms, I couldn't stop myself from loving every detail of this bedroom. Similar to King Philip V's Bedroom, the Porcelain Room was also covered with moulded flowers and leaves, but rather than sculpting the ceiling from ceramics, this room was decorated with fragile porcelain. Though relatively small, the Porcelain Room compensated for its size with an air of fragile beauty. Unfortunately, I wasn't allowed to take pictures within the palace, which means that you'll need to either believe me when I say that it was absolutely gorgeous or take a trip to Spain to see it yourself!
Finishing our tour of Palacio Real, Bill and I found a cute cafe for lunch before grabbing a spot in line to see Museo del Prado (a.k.a. "Prado Museum"). Acclaimed as the world's largest collection of Spanish art, our tour books recommended the Prado as the most important sight in Madrid. Thankfully, the long line leading into the museum was moving quickly and we quickly found ourselves browsing through Spanish paintings after only an hour of waiting outside the museum doors. In general, I can sum up my impression of Spanish art in two words: dark and religious. I saw more variations of the crucifixion in the Prado than I have my entire life. El Greco, Goya, and many others all had their own opinion on how to portray the suffering of Christ. Even though I am a devout Catholic, even I have limits on how many religious paintings tolerated in a day, and that limit was quickly exceeded after only an hour within the Prado. Beyond a doubt, the art was quite good, but the paintings may have been better appreciated by people who like dark works with distinctly religious undertones.
Giving up after two hours within the Prado Art Museum, Bill and I decided to take a relaxing stroll through Retiro Park as the sun was quickly setting behind the city. Formerly private royal grounds, the reigning monarch gave the land back to the people of Madrid to use as a public resting place. Centered around a medium-sized lake, people can rent rowboats to row around the lake on sunny days. Missing the boat rental shop before it closed, Bill and I were bummed that we couldn't go rowing, but we had a great time resting on the grass until the air became too chilly for sitting outside.
Walking back to the city center, we browsed through Puerto del Sol (similar to Times Square in New York City) for a bit of window shopping and watching street performers. Ducking into an upscale Spanish restaurant, Bill and I decided to treat ourselves to a nice bottle of wine and a hearty plate of steak. Excited to try authentic Spanish wine, I was surprised by the light body of our expensive bottle of Rioja. Expecting the strong bitter taste of a merlot or cabernet, it was interesting to discover that Rioja is actually rather light and sweet for a red wine. Stretching out our meal for much longer than many of the restaurant's guests, Bill and I eventually paid our bill and strolled back to our hostel for the night.
With beautiful weather and a gorgeous palace, I quickly fell asleep with happy dreams of Madrid floating through my head.
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