WELCOME TO MADRID!
From Barcelona, we came to Madrid, the capital of Spain. As usual, we took a walking tour on our first day, and it was spectacular, making it one of my favorites, along with Eunice’s tour in Singapore and Harry’s in Paris. Our guide, Melissa, was lively, funny, and engaging. Right away, she introduced us to some of the kings of Spain by showing us a “Burger King” chart! It is a Burger King chart because many of the kings that ruled Spain from the 16th to 19th centuries were the Habsburgs, whom she referred to as “The Hamburgers.” She labeled the buns as King Charles I and King Charles II, and each ingredient in between the buns (the burger, cheese, and lettuce) were one of the King Philips. To us, she was more like a great teacher than just a guide, giving us an amazing crash course in Spanish history.
We started our tour at Puerta Del Sol, which means “the door of the sun”. The ironic part is that there is no door! It was named Puerta Del Sol because the plaza is shaped as a semicircle – a rising sun – with roads acting as the rays of the sun, shining out of the plaza. So cool!!!!
We continued to Plaza Mayor, which is now used as a common space with lots of cafes and restaurants. Back in the day, Plaza Mayor was used for the popular bull fights. Melissa said that everyone was bored during that period of time, so people would also go on the ground to be very close to the bulls, they didn’t care what happened to them!
Next, Melissa led us up to a park overlooking the Madrid Cathedral and Palace. Did you know that Madrid existed for a very long time without a cathedral?! For being one of the most Catholic countries in the world, that was pretty crazy! They wanted something similar to Notre Dame and La Sagrada Familia, but better. Well, let’s just say that is not exactly what happened… They ended up building a very simple and plain cathedral, not nearly as beautiful as Notre Dame or La Sagrada Familia!
As for the palace, it is currently empty and no one from the Royal Family lives there, despite it having 4,118 rooms. It was built in 1735 by King Philip V (the lettuce in the hamburger!) after the first one, which was much smaller, “mysteriously” burnt down. King Philip V rebuilt the palace and made it very big and very grand. It is much bigger than Versaille (where King Philip V grew up) and really sticks out in Madrid.
We had an excellent tour, but the thing that capped it off and made it one of my favorites was a surprise pop quiz at the end!! She pulled out a big map of Madrid and asked us questions about the city and where we went during our tour. The nerd in me absolutely loved it! 🤓
