Lisbon

Madrid
Royal Palace of Madrid
Prado Museum
Thyssen Museum
Retiro Park

All pictures expand when clicked on

The first stop was a plaza de Espana and the monument to Cervantes.

The tower portion of the monument includes a stone sculpture of Cervantes, which overlooks bronze sculptures of Don Quixote and Sancho Panza

Next was the Royal Palace of Madrid.

The Royal Palace is the official residence for the Royal family, but these days they only use it for state ceremonies. The rest of the time it's open to the public.

Otherwise known in Spanish as the Palacio Real, the Royal Palace was built during the 18th and 19th centuries, and is a monumental building.

Just walking around the outside of the Royal Palace is impressive. There is a vast courtyard with buildings on three sides and the gateway on the side by the entrance.

Once inside you see lavish halls, banqueting rooms, the throne room, residential areas, the Royal Armoury and Royal Pharmacy.

I liked the royal armory as it had life sized knights and horse completely armored. You could see why the European heavy knight was the super weapon of the day. Unlike in the movies I don't think the man on foot had much chance against an armored and mounted knight.

The Prado Museum houses one of the world's great art collections.

The staue in front is of Diego Velasquez

We also were able to see a travelling show of pieces from the Hermitage in Russia.

We also toured the Thyssen Museum which has a large collection of Chigall painting.

The Neptune Fountain is in the intersection just outside the Prado.

To get back to the hotel we walked through the Retiro Park. The Retiro Park was created as a royal park. In 1632, the palace was built by King Philips IV as a retreat for the Royal family.

Near the northern entrance of the Parque del Retiro is a large artificial lake, the Estanque del Retiro.

A large monument with an equestrian statue of King Alfonso XII overlooks the lake.

That evening we had our farewell dinner for the group.

As you can see we had especially prepared Paella.

The next morning we traveled home.

The trip went well.

Go to the beginning page

	The first stop was a plaza de Espana and the monument to Cervantes. The tower portion of the monument includes a stone sculpture of Cervantes, which overlooks bronze sculptures of Don Quixote and Sancho Panza
Next was the Royal Palace of Madrid. The Royal Palace is the official residence for the Royal family, but these days they only use it for state ceremonies. The rest of the time it's open to the public. Otherwise known in Spanish as the Palacio Real, the Royal Palace was built during the 18th and 19th centuries, and is a monumental building.
	Just walking around the outside of the Royal Palace is impressive. There is a vast courtyard with buildings on three sides and the gateway on the side by the entrance.
Once inside you see lavish halls, banqueting rooms, the throne room, residential areas, the Royal Armoury and Royal Pharmacy. I liked the royal armory as it had life sized knights and horse completely armored. You could see why the European heavy knight was the super weapon of the day. Unlike in the movies I don't think the man on foot had much chance against an armored and mounted knight.
	The Prado Museum houses one of the world's great art collections. The staue in front is of Diego Velasquez We also were able to see a travelling show of pieces from the Hermitage in Russia. We also toured the Thyssen Museum which has a large collection of Chigall painting.
The Neptune Fountain is in the intersection just outside the Prado.
	To get back to the hotel we walked through the Retiro Park. The Retiro Park was created as a royal park. In 1632, the palace was built by King Philips IV as a retreat for the Royal family.
Near the northern entrance of the Parque del Retiro is a large artificial lake, the Estanque del Retiro. A large monument with an equestrian statue of King Alfonso XII overlooks the lake.
	That evening we had our farewell dinner for the group. As you can see we had especially prepared Paella. The next morning we traveled home. The trip went well.

Go to the beginning page