A Novice’s First Impressions: Madrid Pt. 2

Hola and welcome to part two of my quick look at Madrid, the capital city of España! Let’s jump right into it, shall we? First on the list is the beautiful Royal Palace of Madrid. Do you like huge empty rooms and kings with big noses? If so, then this is the place for you. Basically, the Bourbon dynasty came to Spain right before the French Revolution, and wanted to make sure the Spaniards knew that they meant business and were not to be messed with. So what did they do? Build a giant castle, obviously. With white marble everywhere and huge stone columns, the castle is a real stunner. Oh, and the face of Charles III, the first king to live in the palace, is everywhere. Like, everywhere. Overall, the opulent rococo style is amazing, and each room has something new to add. The armory is cool, too, but also a bit terrifying considering the amount of child armor suits on display. But if palaces aren’t your cup of tea, the museums of Madrid are quite nice as well. While I would love to share pictures of some of my favorite works, after getting yelled at by several employees I discovered that photos are prohibited in just about every museum or show in Madrid. I did manage to get one picture of an Anguissola portrait of Philip II while walking into the Prado Museum, but was overall quite disappointed that I was not allowed to take my own images of many famous works. Picasso’s Guernica and Goya’s The Third of May, 1808 are among many I would have liked to have captured, but as the saying goes, “memories capture what a photograph cannot.” Alright, well I think I’ll end it there for today, folks. Catch you next time – cheers!