The Rain (and snow, and sleet, and cold) in Spain...

Today was slated for exploring Madrid on foot sans Pat. We spent yesterday evening routing our day. Rick Steves', of course, has a fantastic walking tour of downtown "old" Madrid. Pat had a few more things to recommend, so he added to our map.

Unfortunately, the weather was not cooperating -- we got to experience the joys of snow, sleet, rain, and cold, not unlike Wisconsin!!

We started the tour back at the Parque de buen Retiro and meandered towards town sighting the Post Office and the Banco De Espana (which takes up an entire city block). We stopped for breakfast at, you guessed it, Starbucks. But it was dry and had a place for us to enjoy our baked goods and hot coffee.

Rick Steves' picked up the self-guided walking tour at Puerta del Sol (we visited briefly yesterday). We learned more about the history of the square as well as the statues and monuments within it. We stood at the plaque marking the exact center of Spain.

Based on Rick's recommendation, we stopped for Napolitana pastries at the historic Salon La Mallorquina.

Then on to Plaza Mayor which we now know that many of Spain's great historic events have taken place. The stage for bullfights, fires, royal pagentry, and gruesome events of the Inquisition, it now hosts many restaurants and tourist shops. But today, it was pretty wet and empty. But we were okay with that.

Our walking tour wound us around many of the tiny and windy side-roads of Madrid with lesser-known facts. We learned about several monuments to tragic events and peeked at a convent where cloistered nuns sell sweets from behind closed windows. (We didn't get to see any of the nuns!)

The walking tour ended at the Palacio Real where our old student IDs did us well and scored us awesome discounts. The palace was home to the royals for centuries, and the current royal family only uses it for special events (they live in a "modest" mansion nearby). This was our FAVORITE place so far. Again, Mr. Steves' had a rockin' self-guided tour for inside (all of the signage was in espanol). We even had other english speakers listening to us read from his book. The rooms were plush, with chandeliers, silk-covered damask walls, marble lions, and gold-plated bronze everywhere.

The queen is a fan of classical music so we were pumped to visit the Stradivarius room, where the only surviving matching string quartet resides. We were a little bummed to see the empty cases with signs that read "out for a concert". Then, it dawned on us that the strings we heard warming up earlier were probably these priceless instruments!! So cool!!

We weren't allowed to take pictures inside the palace and the gift shop was closed by the time we were finished. We're planning on swinging by later this week to do a little touristy shopping at the gift shop and explore the palace gardens.

Leaving the warm palace was difficult. It was so cold and wet that we rushed to find the closest metro. We managed to get back to the apartment, and copped out and ordered pizza from the Spanish Dominoes "Duomo's" downstairs. But now, our bellies are full and we're warm and dry, planning the rest of our trip.

Coming up: Madrid museums and a short trip to the historic ancient capital Toledo.

Thanks for reading, folks! It's fun to read your comments. That's all for now!

-Katy