We will not be heading to the city center until a little later than originally planned. It will probably be around 2:30/2:45 Spain time (7:30/7:45 am MN time). Follow the link on the previous post.
Another spectacular day here in Spain! We started the day by touring the Alhambra. It is a palace/fortress/city built by the Moors, starting about 1,000 years ago and was added onto by Charles V about 500 years ago. This is the building where Christopher Columbus met with Queen Isabel to ask for money and ships to make his voyage. It’s an incredible building! From there, we walked down the Alhambra hill and spent some time in the city of Granada. We went to the Royal Chapel where Queen Isabel & King Ferdinand (the monarchs who defeated the Moors and funded Columbus’ voyage in 1492 at Granada) and their daughter and her husband, Juana (La Loca) and Felipe are buried. It is so incredible to see the caskets of these people who changed the history of the world. When we left the chapel, we got some ice cream (our favorite thing to do on hot days!) and got to see the Corpus Cristi procession. It was a really beautiful experience. We got lunch at a great little restaurant ...
Our first day of our tour is always the travel day. So, we completed that day this morning when we arrived in Madrid. Our flight actually landed an hour early which gave us an extra hour in the city! We had some free time while we waited for the rest of our groups to arrive in Madrid. We started the day by going to Retiro Park. This was once a hunting ground for the royals. Then it was their private park and now it is a public park. In the park, there is a beautiful man made lake and a crystal cathedral where art is displayed. Then, we went to the Puerta del Sol (yes, we waved at the webcam and plan to do it again) and the Plaza Mayor. We had a snack and did a little shopping. We had dinner at a restaurant called “Tapa Tapa”. The kids got to try some traditional Spanish dishes and learned a little about what they like and aren’t big fans of. We made it to our hotel and we are all ready for some sleep in a real bed! It was a great first day in the country. I...
Today was our first day adventuring outside Madrid. We traveled about 45 minutes south to Toledo. Here we saw the Cathedral of Toledo, the Sinagoga de Santa María La Blanca (a 12th century synagogue that was converted into a church in 1492) and a small chapel with a painting by El Greco (a famous Spanish painter) on the wall. Then, the kids had the chance to zip line over the Tajo River. They liked this adventure piece. We also visited a sword & jewelry factory. The demonstration on how the swords and jewelry is made was quite interesting. We had lunch at a local mall (it was really hot and this was the coolest option available and it was greatly appreciated!). From there we headed back to Madrid to the city center and had a little time to relax and look for last minute souvenirs while in Madrid. We had dinner at a local restaurant and then came back to the hotel. Tomorrow we leave Madrid and head south to Granada with a stop in Consuegra to see the windmills of Don Quix...
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