Being a tourist

So... back to Spain after my last post. Those of you who have me on Facebook will be able to see that I have put a few photos on there from the last couple of days but am yet to write about them/put some on here.

Me in front of the Palacio Real in the Sabatini gardens

On Tuesday I went into the city centre in the morning between dropping the girls off and picking them up from school. It was nice to go in on my own and take my time. I had to be wary of how much time I had though as it takes about 40 mins on the metro and I didn't want to be late getting the girls from school! I had a bit of a wander around the streets, something I enjoy doing, as away from the tourist hotspots you can really see what a city's like and get to know it. I got the metro to Plaza de España so had a bit of a walk around that area and the square itself with the monument to Cervantes. From there I followed signs to the Royal Palace to get a better look at it. This time I went to the other section of Sabatini's gardens and had a look round. Two ladies asked me to take a photo of them and one of them took a couple of me in return which was nice. 

Plaza de España with monument to Cervantes

Yesterday afternoon Mónica, the girls and I went to visit another of the royal palaces. This one was in El Pardo, about a 10 minute drive away from the appartment. The palace started off as a hunting lodge for the royal family but developed over time. Hunting still takes place in that area today and the local restaurant serve up meat that has been killed there. Apparently it's very popular to go to these restaurants for special occasions such as weddings and first communions. The first thing we did was go to see the animals to keep the girls happy. We parked right by the hunting ground and saw a couple of wild boar who will undoubtedly be killed soon for their meat. Apparently there are deer there as well. We went to see the goats in their pen and the girls enjoyed feeding them spaghetti that they found on the ground.

Boar behind the fence of the hunting ground

After the civil war, Franco, the Spanish dictator, lived there. We were able to have a walk around the gardens and go into the palace for free as we were there late in the day (6.30pm). The royal family still use the palace for some events so I got shouted at for trying to take photos inside! There was a security check on the way in and we had to go on a group tour around the palace with a security guard following us as we went round, turning the lights off. Was quite a strange experience! The palace was a funny mix of old, colourful tapestries with religious images/hunting scenes, elegant furniture and rugs and Franco's possessions including his bedroom as it would have been when he lived there. It was a funny juxtapostition of royal elegance and more modern inventions like Franco's giant globe in his office and his radio and television set in another room. We also got to see a very modern looking sitting room complete with modern sofas and flatscreen TV which is clearly used by the royal family when they visit. The three courtyards now have glass rooves and are used for various social events.

Palacio Real de El Pardo

Huge trees in the palace gardens

 Hasta luego!