El Palacio Real

Hey there everyone! Today was another beautiful day in Madrid! But before we get to today's adventures, I have some sad news to share: I was not able to take pictures inside the Palacio Real during my tour on Tuesday. We were super disappointed, but there were security guards in every room so there was really no getting around it. But I have some pictures from the outside, and I took notes so I could share some fun facts with you!

-The Palacio Real has 2800 rooms, and is the second largest palace in Europe (the largest is in Moscow).

-It has about 870 windows.

-It was restored/rebuilt to its current state in the 1700s when much of the palace was destroyed in a fire.

-The entrance staircase just off of the courtyard is all made from one piece of stone.

-The current King and Queen of Spain do not live here, they live just outside the city; the last King to live here was King Alfonso 13, the grandfather of the current king. 

-The Palacio is now used for official ceremonies. For example, when Spain won the World Cup, the team was received by the King in the Palace.

Many of the decorative pieces, such as the lamps, tables, and the frescos painted on the ceilings of the various rooms, were done by Italian artists, but the rooms we saw all had different themes and color patterns. One of the most amazing things about the whole palace was the walls: What appeared to be wallpaper was actually more like upholstery upon examination. I know it is hard to imagine without pics, sorry! Probably the most interesting tidbit from the tour was the "Smoking room" which was decorated in a very Asian style, including bamboo on the walls. What makes it interesting was that our guide implied that opium and possibly other hallucinogens or illegal substances were used in that room. She kept saying that "she certainly never said drugs were used, but we could all use our imaginations". Ok, enough with my boring descriptions, here are some more pictures!

Palacio Real from the interior courtyard

Close up of the flag poles: when a blue flag is flying from the right-hand pole, it is to signal that the Palacio is not open to the public because there is an official ceremony taking place.

View out from the courtyard... I assume the view is awesome, but we didn't get to look because they were closing.

The Cathedral, just outside the gates of the Palacio.

These are the girls I'm going to Paris with! From left to right: Neha, Nikki, Me, and Sinead. The Cathedral is behind us.

So that is the story of my trip to the Palacio Real. It was fantastic (WAY better than the Biltmore mansion... yes, Mom, that one is directed at you)! I wanted to get this post up, but it's getting late, so I don't think I'll have time to talk about today's activities... In short, we went to a park. But I'll give you all the details and pictures tomorrow! In academic news, my midterms for my month-long intensive language courses were today and I think they went well! So that's all for now, I'll post again tomorrow. Love you all, hasta luego!