A Morning at the Royal Palace of Madrid

On my second free morning in Madrid, before my friends were up and running, I made a quick tour of the Royal Palace. Since I was not sure when during this extended weekend trip I would visit the palace (if I did visit it at all), I did not buy my tickets online, and they were all sold out by the time I had chosen a date and time. Still, I had read online that I could buy tickets in person if I turned up to the palace and waited in a long queue: I was advised to turn up half an hour before the actual opening time.

In the end, I arrived just fifteen minutes before ten o’clock in the morning and still managed to buy my ticket and make it inside within half an hour. The palace was as sumptuous as could be expected of such a place. I was especially impressed by the lavish dining room with its never-ending table, but there were many details scattered throughout the palace that I could not help admiring, especially the big golden lion lying inside a crystal chandelier. There was one room with porcelain walls, and another furnished completely in blue and gold. The throne room, of course, abounded with red and gold, and four lions holding balls flanked the steps to the thrones.

I spent about half an hour at the palace, after which I joined my friends. When they all scattered home, I boarded my train to Toledo, where I arrived just as the sun was setting behind the hill city.

The ceiling at the Royal Palace of Madrid
The statue above the staircase
A corner in the porcelain room
The dining hall at the Royal Palace
A silver relief hanging on a wall
The upper floors of the palace
The front courtyard of the palace
The view of the mountains from the palace
The equestrian statue of Felipe IV
The same
A metro elevator

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