Friday, September 02, 2005
Day 99: Madrid
September 2: Up early to conquer Madrid today. First we did a group tour of the Royal Palace (Palacio Real). It's only used for receptions and ceremonies nowadays, but was previously lived in by the royal family.
We were guided through the main entrance, various offices, the Chinese Room, Throne Room, main dining hall, music rooms and more. We got to see Stravarius' violins locked in cabinets, gifts from other countries, decoration ornaments used on the main dining table, marble tables and floors, tapestries, porcelain walls, gold wall designs, frescoes as well.
Also had a peek at the royal armoury room before heading off.
Those not doing the optional excursion then left us, while we travelled about half and hour out of town to the Valley of the Fallen. It was built as a monument to those who died in the Spanish Civil War in the 1930s. It consists of a huge basillica built into the side of a huge mountainous rock, with a large cross on top of it. Hard to describe...
The basillica is very long, with tapestries on its walls, various statues, tombs of Franco and Jose Antonio (who led each side of the battle), a dome made of mosaic and a large statue of Jesus on a cross in the centre. Magnificent example of modern architecture... building a basillica inside a rock!
Outside on top of the church, stands a huge cross which can be seen from miles away, with statues at its base.
Didn't realise how much everything in Spain is related to religion, but this was another example of this point.
Later in the afternoon, I went to the Prado Museum. Saw a large number of paintings, including Goya, El Bosch (really liked his work), El Greco and more. Did the audioguide here too.
Was going to walk through the beautiful gardens nearby, but due to exhaustion and the heat, I decided to leave this till next time I come to Madrid, next month.
Instead I walked back through the main shopping area of Puerto del Sol and to Plaza Mayor to get a bus back to the hotel.
Had a yummy meal in town with the group as our 'farewell dinner'. Tried vegetable payella for a first time too. Afterwards, we headed to a salsa club mixing with the locals, before heading to a nightclub which was far more American and to our group's liking.
Tried staying awake, but decided to get some sleep, despite needing to get up at 4am to leave for the airport.
Had a great few weeks, time to conquer the US again!
We were guided through the main entrance, various offices, the Chinese Room, Throne Room, main dining hall, music rooms and more. We got to see Stravarius' violins locked in cabinets, gifts from other countries, decoration ornaments used on the main dining table, marble tables and floors, tapestries, porcelain walls, gold wall designs, frescoes as well.
Also had a peek at the royal armoury room before heading off.
Those not doing the optional excursion then left us, while we travelled about half and hour out of town to the Valley of the Fallen. It was built as a monument to those who died in the Spanish Civil War in the 1930s. It consists of a huge basillica built into the side of a huge mountainous rock, with a large cross on top of it. Hard to describe...
The basillica is very long, with tapestries on its walls, various statues, tombs of Franco and Jose Antonio (who led each side of the battle), a dome made of mosaic and a large statue of Jesus on a cross in the centre. Magnificent example of modern architecture... building a basillica inside a rock!
Outside on top of the church, stands a huge cross which can be seen from miles away, with statues at its base.
Didn't realise how much everything in Spain is related to religion, but this was another example of this point.
Later in the afternoon, I went to the Prado Museum. Saw a large number of paintings, including Goya, El Bosch (really liked his work), El Greco and more. Did the audioguide here too.
Was going to walk through the beautiful gardens nearby, but due to exhaustion and the heat, I decided to leave this till next time I come to Madrid, next month.
Instead I walked back through the main shopping area of Puerto del Sol and to Plaza Mayor to get a bus back to the hotel.
Had a yummy meal in town with the group as our 'farewell dinner'. Tried vegetable payella for a first time too. Afterwards, we headed to a salsa club mixing with the locals, before heading to a nightclub which was far more American and to our group's liking.
Tried staying awake, but decided to get some sleep, despite needing to get up at 4am to leave for the airport.
Had a great few weeks, time to conquer the US again!
# posted by mishij @ 9:22 AM 
