The Royal Palace and Trinity's "A-Team"
Today was a "Royal" day, except for Desiree's absence. She was sick and stayed at home to get better. We missed her the entire day and wished she would have enjoyed the tour.
Our Gonzaga's companion for today was Seamus, an irish English teacher at the school, who has lived in Spain for 9 years. His wife is from Toledo- the reason why people often call him BOLO (nickname given to people from Toledo).
Well... we took the bus to Madrid with Seamus, instead of the train. Then, in Atocha Station, we took the metro to downtown Madrid. We walked for 10-15 minutes and the palace appeared in front of our eyes, with its majestic gardens and facade. On the opposite side of the street, the theater... a building that looked more modern (it was actually built in 1850), but equally gorgeous.
The palace wasn't going to open until 1:00 (it was about 10:10 am) because there were doing some changes inside. We decided, then, to start with the theater. While we waited for the next guided tour (at 11:00), we visited the gift store (which had an impressive collection of operas in cds, dvds and solfeo). Afterwards, we started the tour with a very charismatic guide: a madrileña who happened to live in Colombia (my country) and in the USA. Uh???????
Isn't life wonderful? Everything seems to connect as if the world was a puzzle.
The theater was spectacularly ornamented with colorfull carpets and original "royal" art. The tour lasted about an hour and then we went to VIPS to have lunch. On the way to the restaurant, the girls stopped to shop for "Real Madrid's" souvenirs (Spain's most important soccer club team) and Will stopped to try some flamenco guitars.
At 1:30 we went to the palace and waited in a long line for about 45 minutes. The kids faught about which of them was the owner of the "palace." Words fall short to describe each of the rooms. Cameras were not allowed. Sorry guys...
The heat is starting to make its entrance in Spain. We were tired but extremely happy. We made our way back to school, feeling like "queens" and "kings." I called to ask for Desiree and I was told that she was in the garden, talking to Kathleen and Emily. She was doing great!
Please, check out the pictures from "Our Royal Majesty"
For more info about the Theater or Palace, visit the links on the right -below the message board- in this site.
TOMORROW: DAY 4 - MUSEO NACIONAL REINA SOFIA
Teatro Real (Royal Theatre)
Inside the Royal Theater
Panoramic view of the palace from the theater
Will, trying his desired flamenco guitars... the NO TOCAR (Do not touch) sign was discovered after 20 minutes. People at the store never said anything... Rules do not always apply in this country... :)
Metro station at "Puerta del Sol"
Looking for a place to have lunch...
Seamus, our Gonzaga's 'guide' for today. He is Irish, but his soul is as spanish as Spain :)
Welcome to our house... the Royal Palace!
On our way back to Majadahonda...
In Majadahonda, one block away from the school
3 comments:
uggh.
im sad that i missed this. it looks like way more fun than what i was doing that day.
oh well. i think that my family is taking me there before i leave so no worries:) and we´re going to get there by the monorail (i think thats what you call the hanging basket things)
I swear to god i wasnt flicking anybody off in the first picture. i was just gestureing to the palacio real.
Post a Comment