Palacio Real, the Prado and Flamenco Dancing. . .what more could you ask of Spain?!

Holy Moley today was filled to the brim with things to do. In the morning we took a chartered bus tour of Madrid seeing some of the major sites: the Templo de Debod, the monument to Cervantes, the Puerta de Toledo and of course the Palacio Real (although we have yet to see the Plaza Mayor for those of you who know Madrid's sites). Our group tour went through the Palacio Real with a tour guide  who spoke English. Some of the major highlights for me was seeing the Sphinx's table, on which Spain signed a treaty in 1985 entering the EU, the apartments of Charles the III, the ornate plant themed wall decorations in the Gasparini room and the Stradivarius cello, viola, and two violins in the Antechamber de la Reina Maria Cristina. 

We got back on a bus and left the Palacio and drove to the Bourbon part of Madrid where we stopped so people could have some free time and look at what they wanted. I and some students grabbed a quick bite to eat in the beautiful Parque de el Retiro (amazing shrubs and trees cut and trimmed neatly)  and headed to the Prado museum for a 1 hour whirlwind visit as it was all we had time for. I saw lots of great early Renaissance masterpieces (nerd alert) and Baroque works like Bosch's Garden of Earthly Delights, a truly weird but cool piece), a few Raphaels, a duplicate of the Mona Lisa probably painted by one of Leonardo's protégés, lots of great Goyas like the 3rd of May, and Velasquezs like Las Meninas and Queen Marianna, and a few El Greco paintings. One of the silly highlights of the visit was me leading the way to what looked like an elevator but stopping on a few feet short before realizing that it was not an elevator at all but some maintenance doors. I turned, looked defeated, and the kids all had a good laugh at me. As hard as it is to describe it, it was pretty funny.

We left the Prado in a hurry and made it back to our hostel in time to catch our bus to the Flamenco show at Corral de la Moreria. I was sincerely impressed even though I thought I wouldn't be. It was loud, interactive "Olé!", and face paced. The dancers as you can imagine we're very dramatic, expressive, passionate and well. . .good at tapping their feet and waving their hands.

We finished the night with some good food and some shopping near the Puerta del Sol. Tomorrow is the Bernabeu stadium, Toledo and tapas for dinner. I need some sleep. Buenas Noches!