Madrid

We have now spent six days in Madrid and it's our last night here before we head home.

It has been a wonderful time with lots of exploring, fantastic eating and drinking, amazing art and architecture. The weather has been 26 to 28 degrees every day, so we've finally had our summer weather!

The first three days were spent at the apartment. It was lovely to have our own balcony and a small kitchen, where we could do our own cooking. After eating out three meals a day, it was nice to be able to cook up a simple dinner and have lots of salad. We've been missing our vegetables!!

Madrid is a very big and busy city and certainly much more hectic that Barcelona. To begin with, we didn't enjoy it so much, but it has grown on us the more we've walked around.

In our first few days, we visited the Royal Palace and the Prado gallery.

Unfortunately we couldn't take photos in either, but they were quite amazing. The palace is still used by the current King and Queen of Spain, especially for state dinners and events. It was incredibly opulent, with amazing frescos, paintings, gold and silverware. Each room was a different theme and colour scheme and very ornate. Mummy and daddy would love to be invited to dinner!

There was also an armoury with swords, armour and weapons used by the Royal family in past battles. Some of the items were over 500 years old! Angus, you would have loved to see the armour for the little princes and the dogs.

The Prado is three floors of very old artwork. Some of it was even up to 1000 years old! Most paintings were quite religious and were commissioned by the church or by the kings of the time. We liked some of the paintings, but others were very dark. We managed to look around the whole gallery in 3 ½ hours. By then we needed some fresh air and sunshine.

On Monday we did a food tour to some of the more secret locations in Madrid that locals go to. We did a tour with the same company in Paris on our last holiday. This tour was great. Jorge, our guide, lives in Madrid and knew so much about it's history. We had 6 different stops and they were all delicious! We started with Torta de Segovia, a light sponge cake layered with apricot jam and marzipan. It was so yummy! Ella and Angus, you would have loved the shop/cafe where we had this. It was over 100 years old and had so many beautiful cakes and biscuits. We wish we could bring you some home!

Next stop was jamon from two different types of pigs. So good! Third stop, a Madrid classic, calamari boccadillos. These are soft bread rolls filled with seasoned calamari rings that are straight out of the deep fryer. They were amazing. We might have to try and make some at home!

After this we had apple cider and cheese and learned how to pour cider the traditional way. Next was tortilla, which is like an egg, potato and onion omelette. We have had this in Barcelona, but the version we had on the tour was much lighter and just beautiful.

Our last stop was for Vermouth, a herbal drink that is usually quite bitter. This version was quite sweet and mummy and daddy both loved it. After the tour we were very full!

We haven't been to any other galleries or museums over the past few days, but have enjoyed walking the streets and looking at the beautiful old buildings. We've also done quite a bit of shopping. Some for us and some for presents. I wonder who for?

For our last few night we have been staying at Palacio de los duques, a very luxurious hotel. It was the old palace for the dukes to the king of Spain. They were knights who helped the king. Our room is on the first floor and looks over the courtyard. It's been nice to just relax here and make use of the amazing rooftop pool and spa. Every day we have gone out to explore the city in the morning and then come back to swim and read on the deck. Such a tough life. It's a shame that the water in the pool is freezing!

We have had some amazing dinners here too. The first was at Casino de Madrid, where we had a degustation dinner of lots of little courses. This restaurant has two Michelin stars and the food was amazing. As well as being delicious, it was also fun and whimsical. You guys would have loved it. We also got to meet the chef at the end of the night.

Last night we had some suckling pig at a restaurant by Plaza Mayor. It was so tender you could almost cut it with a spoon! The skin was crispy and delicious!

We also had another Madrid specialty, which is tripe (stomach lining of a cow) in a rich tomato sauce with chorizo and bacon. Mummy wanted to try this but daddy wasn't so sure. We were both surprised by how good it was! That's why it's so important to try things that you're not sure about.

For our last night here tonight, we're having dinner in the hotel restaurant, which is quite fancy. I'm sure whatever we eat will be delicious.

It has been a truly wonderful holiday, but nothing will be as good as getting home Saturday night and having big hugs and kisses from our little munchkins. We have missed you!

It's going to be a long trip home, but we can't wait.