Madrid: Parte Dos

Besides the museums, I also really enjoyed exploring all of Madrid's food and plazas! It seemed like every few blocks, an intersection would widen into a big plaza housing several cafes with tables set out for tourists and locals alike to enjoy some tapas.

Above and below, Madrid's most famous plaza, Plaza Mayor.

Besides restaurants, there were different entertainers and freaks of all kind looking to hustle money for photos with tourists.

Here I caught one of them taking a smoke break... By the way, everyone in Spain seems to be smoking...

Another huge and famous plaza, Puerta del Sol.

On the opposite side of town from the museums and several blocks from Plaza Mayor, the Royal Palace is where the Monarchy conducts business and has done so since the 1700s when the current building was constructed. Though there are over 2,000 rooms, jut 50 of them are open to the public so I took a peak inside. More fascinating than the ornate and sometimes over-the-top decoration and furniture still in use was the aura of the rooms inside. It was incredible to know that monarchs from centuries ago used these exact same rooms to commission timeless works of art and make decisions that would alter the course of history.

Outside the Royal Palace - no photos allowed inside. I did manage to snap one of the fresco in the king's private chapel while security looked the other way...

After a long day of walking and sightseeing, it was always good to renourish on some tapas with an assortment of alcohol. Mercado San Miguel was a market filled with about thirty different bars and restaurants where I managed to stuff myself to the gill.

Wine glass selfie inside the mervado... Shameless, I know...

The most bizarre thing I tried was this assortment of fried seafood which included sardines, octopus tentacles, squid rings and shrimp. I wasn't sure how to eat the fish and small shrimp so I just ate them whole, shell and all...

Another shot of the chaotic feeding frenzy.

And another church just for good measure...

I did and saw so much in Spain in just five days, it would be impossible to include everything here... There were towering churches and beautiful buildings everywhere you turned; some even more spectacular than the ones I have posted in these photos.

I'll part with two more photos. The first was a strange new concept hotel wherein they assign you a roommate... Um, no thanks!

And the last shot from the National Library's exhibit on Spain's historic relationship with the US. As a Californian,  we learn all about Spain's influence on our past from "discovering" California to the missions they set up along our coasts and ultimately becoming Mexico before the US annexed it as part of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. But Spain's reach was far wider than that, having controlled a territory that stretched from Florida to Canada's west coast. The map below shows a sampling of all the Spanish named cities across the US. 

I'll be taking a quick vacation from Madrid to catch the Tour de France before returning for one last night... Hasta luego espana!