Palacio Real, El Prado y Reina Sofia

Friday morning began with a trip down to Palacio Real which is the Palace in Madrid for the royalty of Spain. We've been talking with our Senora about all of the places to visit in Madrid and she's really helpful with advice on places to go especially with the touristy spots. The Palace was nice because it was only about a 15-20 minute walk from our apartment. We were also able to see more of Madrid from a street view and walking around through the town you realize it's not an exceptionally huge city size wise. It wasn't hard at all to get it. The palace is surrounded with beautiful gardens as well which were covered in snow the first time we passed it on the bus tour only a few days earlier. But now it's all melted and beautifully green! We were able to go inside and go on a self guided tour but were also able to listen in on the tours around us and learn about all of the rooms of the palace. For Europe, the Spanish palace and official Cathedral which is right next to the palace are not old at all. The palace was finished in the 1800s and the Cathedral oddly enough in 1994. I believe I've heard somewhere they were damaged by fire but I'm not 100% sure. But nonetheless it was just as beautiful as I remebered, we saw the official throne room, lots of the official place settings, dining rooms and other places of historical value to Spain. They have lots of rooms specificially designed based on other cultures, my favorite being the Asian inspired room with bright colors and porcelain walls. After the tour and millions of pictures we walked down to Sol, which is like the center of the "Old Madrid". The streets are cobble stone and it has a very historical feel to it, very different from our location in Moncloa. It has tons of shopping and restaurants. That day we stopped off at Chocolateria San Gine which is famous for its churros con chocolate. Delicious! Then we spent the rest of the day shopping with all of the rebajas! We also came across a vegetarian restuarant, Maoz which made my day :) after sitting in Plaza Mayor to enjoy a little feast we kept exploring and enjoying the old town of Madrid.

This is the area where Joy was that we went to the night before. The club is located in an old theatre and it was beautiful inside with gold accents on the walls and the night was perfect when a lady gaga impersonator performed.

Saturday we decided to visit two of Madrids most famous musuems, Reina Sofia and El Prado. We had to ride the metro here, but it was a quick ride across town. They are located near where I stayed the first time I was in Madrid. The Reina Sofia holds the famous "La Guernica" by Pablo Picasso, which is HUGE. The details and randomness of the whole painting can keep you entertained for hours. The whole exhibit about the civil war in Spain was really moving and depressing, but La Guernica was amazing. I definitly illegally snuck a picture on my phone without them seeing :) sneaky sneaky. The Reina Sofia is much more modern art and after exploring that for a few hours we stopped for a little rejuvination food and I enjoyed my daily tortilla espanola which is pretty much the only Spanish food I enjoy :). Then we headed over to the Prado after enjoying a nice walk through Madrid's Park. The Prado is filled with old paintings from artists all over Europe, some dating back all the way to 1300's. We saw various work from Goya, El Greco, Rembrant, Velazquez and tons more. The pamphlet for the musuem contains a section about all of the "masterpieces" within the musuem and we made a little adventure in finding every single one, which we achieved. It's kind of a big deal.

Tomorrow is a day trip to Toledo!