From Segovia, we drove to Madrid. Our rental car company did not offer the luxury of GPS, so we made do with our wits and Papa and Madi's fine map navigational skills. And we did alright... until we tried to find our hotel in Madrid. Let's just say that by the time we finally got to bed that night, we did not have the best feelings about Madrid. And trust me, we had seen A LOT of the city. Like lost-three-hours-driving-around-the-city's worth.
So the next morning we woke up determined to change our minds about what turned out to be a very amazing city. And it didn't take long.
We began a very full day in Madrid at Puerta del Sol, a huge plaza at the center of Madrid.
In a nearby music store, we found out that Spanish girls aren't immune to Bieber fever either.
Then it was on to the most famous square in Madrid, Plaza Mayor.
(Notice the overweight Spiderman street performer on the right.)
We also watched this performer blow some gigantic bubbles.
Grace found some window displays of her all-time favorite snack,
and of course, made friends with the local pigeons.
We also visited the Palacio Royal.
We couldn't go on the inside tour because there was some sort of royal event going on. We never did find out exactly what, but rumor had it that the king of Spain was there meeting with other dignitaries. We stayed to watch the black cars load up important people and tried to peek through car windows to see if we recognized anyone!
We also saw the Plaza de Toros, the biggest bull fighting stadium in Madrid. We hoped to go inside, but found out that since it's the off-season for bull-fighting, a big circus was set up inside and it was closed. We would have gone to the circus if it was showing that day, just to get a glimpse inside, but we had to be content with walking around and taking pictures of matador statues instead. Still a very cool place, even if the PETA vegetarian in me disagrees with the "sport."
Riding on the Metro.
