Scotlanicity: Monday, March 29

Today we woke up at 8AM, made a Dunkin' run (apparently Spain runs on Dunkin' too), and then headed to Plaza Mayor. Rick Steves gave this one triangle, he was wrong ... again. But he redeemed himself later. The Plaza is a very large square near the royal palace and just has a lot of cool shops and restaurants around a portico perimeter. It's a place to gather and watch people and I really enjoyed it!

Me at the Puerto to the Plaza Mayor.

Plaza Mayor.

We then headed to the Palacio Real, the center of the Spanish monarchy. The complex is fairly large, with a plaza in front of the Palacio and it is bordered by the Campo del Maro which is where the royal family used to hunt for recreational purposes, but it is now a large public park. The most impressive parts of the Palacio were the grand staircase (I've come to the determination that grand staircases are the way to go to impress your friends) and the throne room where the Spanish monarchy entertains guests. Imagine going to meet King Juan Carlos and having to meet with him in his royal throne room where the thrones of the sovereign are guarded by two golden lions. You'd think twice about what you were doing.

Palacio Real.

They keep peacocks at Palacio Real. They were just chilling.

Following Palacio Real, we went to the Catedral de Ntra. Señora de la Almudena. In retrospect, this was the least impressive of all the churches we went to, which is a bit ironic seeing as it sits adjacent to the Palacio Real. But there was a painting in the church that looked like a depiction of the Sound of Music, complete with a Mother Abbess, Maria, and Captain Von Trapp.

The Sound of Music painting.

We made our way back to Plaza Mayor for lunch as recommended by Rick Steves. We found a standing only lunch counter where they served 'bocadillos calamares' a.k.a. calamari sandwiches. You'd think that this would be disgusting, but I'd just like to say to whomever thought it would be a good idea to put fried calamari between two pieces of bread ... thank you. From the bottom of my heart, thank you for the greatest idea ever. Sandy and I then walked around the perimeter of Plaza Mayor to Fraggi, which served the infamous churros and chocolate. Rick Steves described the chocolate as basically steamed pudding. Might as well get all the bad eating in during one day, eh? I got the churros (deep friend dough) and Sandy got a napolitano (chocolate croissant) and we both got chocolate. I didn't think the churros were good, but the chocolate .... oh the chocolate. If Willy Wonka were real and you could go to his factory, he would serve this chocolate. It was heavenly.

Bocadillos calamares ... so good ... but so bad.

Thanks Rick for the awesome recommendation.

Sandy ... chocolate ... churros ... and Sandy's napolitano.

After this horrific eating session, we went back to the hostel to recover a bit. We returned to the Puerto del Sol to give it one more chance to improve itself sans bull fighting protesters. I still wasn't impressed. Oh well. We then walked the Gran Vía, the main avenue of Madrid down to the Plaza de Independencia with the giant puerto dedicated to a Juan Carlos (name of just about every Spanish king) that died long ago. We proceeded to the Hard Rock Cafe for an early dinner, and to see Bono's motorbike which was allegedly parked inside. All I can say is the Hard Rock website lied. There was no motorbike on the premises, least of all Bono's. Boo. On the way back, Sandy asked if we could stop at the Longchamps store. I went in with no intention to buy anything. I walked out with a Longchamps duffle. In my defense, I needed a second bag to carry all our souvenirs home in, and it is a high quality bag that I can use for years to come. And it's pretty. And compact when folded up. I mean INCREDIBLY compact. I was impressed. When we left, Sandy and I both said, 'Well, guess we're not going to Morocco.' Boy were we wrong ....