Well, this trip seems fated to have its problems. After my wonderful long sleep, I got myself together and was finally ready to set out around 1:00 p.m. As mentioned in the last post, my plan was to get myself to the Palacio Real - built in the 1700’s, but on the site of Madrid’s center of power since the 800’s - a Moorish castle, then a Christian fortress, next a Renaissance palace, and finally what sits there today - a building with 2800(!!!) rooms with a total space of nearly 1.5 million square feet, making it according to Rick Steves, Europe’s largest palace. A few pages later he says it is Europe’s third greatest palace but I think he’s basing greatest on magnificence or whatever.
Anyyway, I never made it there. First, I got, thankfully, not too far from the hotel and realized I didn’t have a map with me. Went back and got that and got further before I decided to take a picture with my camera (which I had checked continuously up through last night to make sure the battery was charged) and clicked it open, lined up my shot, snapped it, and the camera closed and informed me that I needed to charge the battery. Apparently it now always indicates a full battery so in order to test it I will need to take a picture and see what it says then.
Even though I also did not have my phone with me - I’m a little scared about someone snatching my purse and there goes my phone - I decided I would walk the rest of the way to Puerta del Sol which is the center of not just Madrid, but Spain and that would help me decide if I wanted to try the palace again in the next two days. Depending on the weather, I might but the jury’s still out on that.
So I started walking back and decided to stop for a late lunch. Found a place that was quite busy and had a menu similar to the hotel restaurant last night. I ordered scrambled eggs with bacon and truffle oil - that’s what the menu said. What came was scrambled eggs with many, many mushrooms, some wafer thin brown chip type things on top - even eating one by itself I couldn’t discern a bacon taste so I don’t know what they were - some other orange-ish chips which I think were maybe sweet potato and not as many eggs as mushrooms. I also ordered Rioja wine again and the eggs came with bread. So, the eggs or perhaps I should say mushrooms just weren’t for me, the Rioja was no where near as good as last night’s, nor was the bread - it seemed very much like “store-bought”.
But it staved off starvation and I came back to the hotel where I am charging my camera and think I will take my phone for a walk and at least take some pictures of buildings or something. I saw the twin spires of what looked like a really pretty church on my walk back and may try and find that. And I can search out the proper entrance to the Prada Museum cause I’ll probably go this evening. So, I will muddle through and maybe after the Prado, treat myself to what I can be pretty sure will be another good meal at the hotel restaurant. I could certainly eat that fish again although probably not those big-headed prawns. :)
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