Madrid, Spain (may 16th)

So this morning may 16th we woke up at an early 7:30am to catch a bus over to where we would be meeting up to go on a panoramic bus tour and a tour of the royal palace. We got to the royal palace at 9am and started out tour. We don't have any pictures from the inside because we were not allowed to take pictures inside. It was amazing though. They had tapestries from the 16th century and tons of painting, rugs, etc from that time period. The palace was amazing... I mean these rooms that we got to see where so elaborated decorated it was nuts! There was so much history in the palace; bryan even remembered that he studied it in one of his architecture classes. After the tour we went on to the gift shop and got us some pictures of the insides and a spoon from the royal palace. We have decided to make a shadow box, so spoons work wonderfully. Anyhow then it was off to the bus tour of the city which was nice, except for the fact that I got sick about halfway through. I guess the bonbon that bry and I shared in the morning did not sit well with me, because once that tour was on its way back, bry asked the guide to drop us off at this museum that was near our hotel so that I could hurry back to the room... I don't know what sometimes I get sick from stuff... I wish I didn't have such a sensitive stomach. That was so sweet of bry to ask, since I was in no shape to walk a mile back to the hotel from the drop-off point. Anyhow here are some pictures from the bus tour and the palace. The palace was built from 1738 to 1764, and has around 230 rooms, 20 of which we got to see today. There were five royal rulers that lived in the palace from 1764 to 1931. The current ruler Juan Carlos prefers to live in the Palacio de Zarzuela outside the city. They still do however do all their formal meeting and event at the royal palace.


The wall around the royal palace that faces over the royal forest, which serves as the royal hunting grounds.











Bry and the front facade. Directly off the doors in the middle is the grand staircase with each step being its own whole slab of marble. Its amazing!


Me in front of the royal cathedral. This is where the recent prince and princess of spain got married a few short years ago.











Bry and I overlooking the royal forest.

The royal forest and outskirts of Madrid.










Another view of the front facade.


A close up shot of the cathedral.





Another view of the front facade


This is a cathedral in the city that is decidicated to the Pope. You can see his statue left center.












Another view of the cathedral decidicated to the Pope.










The royal gardens that are outfront of the palace.
















more royal gardens


The royal cathedral again on our way out.



















A typical street in Madrid. This was our view on the tour bus!












The Madrid City Hall square. There is a square almost everytime streets cross.

















a government building












this is a view of the city stretched out in the background.









another view of the city














this is the train station. Much more modern that the older parts of Madrid. We will be taking a train from here on sunday.









View down the street that our hotel is on.



















Some different street shots.































this is the main plaza in Madrid. Its under construction right now so it wasn't all that nice.











The Real Madrid football(soccer) stadium.

















This is what is left of the city walls that encompassed Madrid. It was one of the main enterances to the city.








This believe it or not is a post office. crazy!













This is one of the main drags in Madrid. The trees are so beutiful this time of year.











This is the Madrid Library. They do things big here for government buildings.