El Palacio Real de Madrid / Royal Palace

We started the day with coffee in our apartment and then made a quick stop at a mercado/traditional market just across the street from our apartment: little shops selling meats, fish, cheese, olives, etc. It appeared that the locals from our neighborhood, mostly retired folks, we’re doing their daily shopping. We actually found some French cheese we had hoped to get in France if we had gone back there.  We picked up some “pan barra bocadillo” (Spanish-style baguette/bread) to eat for breakfast as we headed to our main stop for the day.  





At 11:00am we headed out. We walked from our apartment to El Palacio Real de Madrid: the Royal Palace of Madrid.  It was about 1 1/2 miles away.  We had tickets purchased ahead so entry was easy. The time of year plus COVID restrictions limiting visitors made for a very nice visit: no huge crowds. 



This photo highlights the weather we’ve had. It’s been about 50 degrees and sunny most of the day. It’s actually perfect for walking around … especially because we had a mostly uphill trek this morning to the palace. 





They have a short changing of the guard ceremony every 30 minutes with horses and all.  This palace is “the largest in Western Europe” according to the website. I think it was smaller than Versailles but who’s measuring?  There was also La Almudena Cathedral next to the palace, but we did not go in today.  We might go back, if we have time. 



We walked up to Puerta del Sol, the main plaza where the big New Year’s Eve celebration will be. They will be limiting attendees that night. We will try to get there but may not make the cut. We will find a bar somewhere to ring in the new year if we don’t make it. 

We had lunch at a small restaurant at Puerta del Sol, looked around for a while, then headed up to a museum that had free entry. It wasn’t that great, but we had a nice stroll and saw some nice architecture. We then trekked back to our apartment for a late siesta.  Kristi’s Fitbit has been calculating our movement … we walked 8.5 miles today, and the grown-ups are feeling it.  😁





In case you were wondering, life and tourism is pretty much normal here with some COVID related safety measures. Crowded venues are limited in capacity and 99.9% of everyone wears a mask, even outdoors.  We heard that 80% of Spain is vaccinated. 

We headed out at 9pm to do a little bar hopping. A bar in Spain is not quite the same as a bar in the US. Of course they serve drinks. The bars are small and plentiful, and they serve food (tapas or dinners). There are many in our neighborhood. Our landlord told us to go to one, try a couple small dishes (tapas) … then stay if we like it or go to the next one. We moved on to a second tonight and had some great seafood. 











Our final mileage for the day … 9.5. 
Buenas noches!



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