La Dolce Vita - España 2000

 

 

Our excitement increased when the wheels of the plane touched the runway at Madrid's Barajas International Airport.  We officially started our Holiday. We passed through customs, took a nice ride in the very modern Metro and were soon downtown in Spain's capital city.   

 

We stayed at the Hotel Mayorazgo.  This hotel is located in downtown Madrid, on the Gran Via and within walking distance to La Plaza de España, the Palacio Real and La Plaza Mayor.

 

After a shower and indulging in morning rituals (long, hot shower), we were awake, adjusted (almost) and ready to go.  We decided to take a walk and explore the city.  We enjoyed walking around in Madrid.  Although an old city, (it's been the capital of Spain since 1607) Madrid has no shortage of young people. It's almost like a huge college campus. The sidewalks, whether along the Gran Via or the smaller side streets, are teeming with people under the age of 30.  We thrived on the city's youthful vitality.

 

We ended up at the Palacio Real just in time to see the end of the change of the guards.

 

 

The Palacio Real, or Royal Palace. The last monarch to live here was Alfonso XIII, who fled in 1931 during the Spanish Civil War.   Spain's current king, Juan Carlos I, lives elsewhere but uses the palace for official functions.

 

At the palace, we saw the change of the guards. The palace is huge, it has 2,800 rooms, and needless to say, only a small fraction of these rooms are available for public viewing.

 

 

At left, Luis mingles with the Royal Guards of the Palacio Real.

 

After mingling with the Royal Guards we walked to the Plaza Mayor.  We had a lot of fun in the Plaza Mayor (Main Square), which was built during the reign of Felipe III, and completed in 1620.  Madrid is a loud and festive city, and its Plaza Mayor is a loud and festive place. After people watching in the Plaza Mayor we decided to go back to the Hotel and get ready for a panoramic city tour.

 

The tour was very informative and gave us a physical sense of the city.  It was funny because we ended up back at the Royal Palace.

 

 

We had dinner with Nacho at his restaurant Biotza.  We met Juan, Joe and Jose Maria. 

Nacho is a friend of a friend, so this was our first meeting ever.  He is a very nice person and we really enjoyed his company.