Saturday April 20, 2019

The Royal Palace

Our breakfast in Madrid routine is set. Carol makes coffee and I go to the Dia Supermarket right across the street and buy pastries. Today is jamon y queso ( ham and cheese) and a croissant covered in chocolate. Carols cafe con leche and a glass of fresh squeezed orange juice goes well with them.

My Royal Entrance

Today we are going to visit the Palacio Real, the Royal Palace. We purchased tickets on line with an assigned time of 1000, which is when they open. We leave the apartment at 0925 and walk the 15 minutes to the palace. There is a line with several hundred people in it. I go near the entrance and see a much smaller line, where the sign says people with tickets. We are now happy that we have tickets as we are about 25 or so back. I go and take a good picture of the palace through the wrought iron wall with no crowds in the courtyard. The palace is the largest in Europe, with enough square footage to fit about a thousand modest sized homes. The exterior is mostly stone to prevent fire. We go through security, pick up an audioguide for Carol, and walk through the courtyard to the palace lobby. This is where carriages would drop off dignitaries. The palace is still used for official functions so today the horseless carriages stop here. Then you climb up the grand staircase. At the top landing is a bust of King Philip V, who began the Bourbon dynasty and built the palace in 1700.

Tiepolo Fresco

The first room we enter is the Guard Room, where the Royal Guards were staged. There are impressive tapestries and the first of several ceiling frescos by the famous Venetian painter, Giambattistta Tiepolo. This shows the hero, Aeneas ( in red with the face of Charles III) standing in heavens clouds looking up at his mother, Venus (with the face of Charles’ own mother). The hall of columns is next, which used to be a ballroom but is used today for formal ceremonies.

Royal Family

There is a portrait of the Current Royal family. This is the room where Juan Carlos I, the first king after Franco died ( and who restored democracy to Spain) abdicated his throne to his son, King Felipe VI, in 2014. There is also a bronze sculpture of Charles I calming the fury.

Is that George Washington?

We soon enter the antechamber. This was Charles III’s dining room and has four paintings by Francisco Goya. One of Charles III’s son and successor Charles IV looks suspiciously like George Washington. We go through several rooms including Charles’s bedroom. For a small fee, you can visit my King Charles Suite in St George.

Disassembled During Civil War

After the bedroom, we enter the Porcelain Room, which is not large, but amazing. Even the ceiling is porcelain. To protect this, it was disassembled during the Spanish Civi War which seems crazy and next to impossible. We pass through the Yellow Lounge which was the Kings Study. It is definitely yellow, maybe golden,even.

Dinner for 144

Then we step into the Gala Dining Hall. It is indeed gala. Seating for up to 144, chandeliers galore (15), Chinese vases, and a ceiling showing Christopher Columbus kneeling before King Ferdinand and Queen Isabel.

Hot Chocolate Anyone?

We go through the Silver, Crockery, and Crystal Rooms. We like the fancy serving set for hot chocolate. WE check ou the Royal chapel and then enter the Queens part of the palace, passing through her various antechambers and her bedroom into the Stradivarius room. Only 300 of his instruments survive and in here is the only matching quartet set, two violins, a viola, and a cello. A single Stradivarius can cost around 20 million dollars today. The Crown and Sceptre room holds, what else, a Crown and Sceptre, from the last Hapsburg King, Carlos II.

Throne Room

The last major room we see is the Throne Room. Crystal chandeliers from Murano ( famous glass island near Venice), lions, bronze statues, 12 guided mirrors representing the 12 months, the last great ceiling fresco by Tiepolo(88 x 32 feet) celebrating Spain’s empire, including conquered native Americans. Of course there is also a throne with the coat of arms above it. A very impressive room to end the tour in.

WWI Poster

We exit the palace and enter a temporary exhibit about Spain’s neutral role during WWI. They helped find people both soldiers and civilians for many different countries. There are some very interesting photo exhibits of the war in here. We go across the courtyard and visit the Armory. Some of the armor was for fighting but the majority was for sport or ceremony. No photos please, is the motto here. There is the personal armor collection of Charles I (aka Holy Roman Emperoru Charles V) and Philip II here. This concludes our visit of the Royal Palace. We have spent almost three hours here and head out to find something to eat.

Can You Ear Me Now?

We end up at Casa Toni, a small local place known for their specialties of Pigs Ears and Lamb Brains and kidneys. We pass on the internal organs but do get an order of pigs ears and sautéed green peppers (piementos). Carol gets a Sangria and I decide to try Vermut. The peppers arrive first and are very good, seasoned with sea salt. Then the pigs ears. Very interesting. A combination of soft ctexture ( maybe cartilage?) and crispy bacon like exterior. I like them, Carol is not sure about the texture but does eat her fair share of them. We have a big dinner reserved for tonight so we finish up and go back to our place for siesta.

Let the Wine Flow

We had read about Los Montes de Galicia restaurant, rated number one in Madrid ( out of almost 11,000 restaurants) and had decided since we didn’t celebrate our anniversary alone, that we would celebrate here in Madrid, two months later. That day is today.

Pepper Pate Tapa

We have to take a metro there. I looked at google maps and it looked fairly straightforward from the metro. Make a right and a five minute or so walk. Our reservation is at eight and we get off the metro at 0725. There are several marked exits but none with the name of the street I am looking for. We walk around and then find the main street on the hand drawn map I made. The street we want Calle Azcona is supposed to be off this street. We walk three blocks right, no luck. Turn around, walk three blocks left, no luck. Ask a girl, she does not know. Look some more, no luck. Ask a man and his wife. He gets out his phone and maps it and points where to go. It is about 7 blocks from where we are. We walk fairly fast as it is approaching our reservation time of 2000. We walk about 6 blocks with no familiar street name. See another couple and ask them. He looks confused but she says Azcona and points to the next street. Sure enough we find it and follow the addresses to our restaurant. It is 1959 and a minute later they open the doors.

Cecina Cured Beef

We get seated, I am sweating so we ask for some water. Our waiter, Anthony speaks very good English. He brings us English menus which should make it easy. We tell him we plan on doing the set menu so he brings that. He explains how it works. We get six appetizers, then a choice of the main course, dessert, soft drink, beer, water, coffee and two bottles of wine. We also get one drink of rum or something else of our choice. Sounds good. Our meal starts with some white wine and a complimentary tapa, a red pepper type of pate, which is incredible. After that, we get a cold soup, that is very much like a lobster bisque. It is really really good. When Anthony comes back and asks if it is a good start, I tell him it mine did not taste right, I need a replacement. He smiles which I like, a waiter with a sense of humor. The next tapa, Cecina a dried cured beef, which we had tried in Salamanca. It is sliced thin and incredible. I swear I can taste a hint of Parmesan in it. Just melts in your mouth. Nothing is rushed, we take our time enjoying each bite.

Tuna Tartare

Tapa numero tres is a tuna tartare, with a tomato crudite, and celery with sesame in teriyaki. More incredible goodness, Carol won’t let me have any of the raw tuna, so you know it is good. We are not sure how they made the celery taste so darn good.

Cod Doughnuts

Next up, cod donuts. Sounds yummy right. Well they are. They actually remind us of the crab cakes recipe we have from Carols grandfather. Smooth and creamy on the inside, golden brown and crispy on the outside. The white wine we have been drinking is getting low. Guess who has drank more? Tapa 5 is Galician octopus with paprika and oil. The octopus is very tender and you can taste the paprika. As good as it is, I am surprised that so far it is the least favorite one we have had.

This is Really Good

The last one that comes is a duck fois gras, (duck liver) in a Pedro Ximinez sweet wine reduction. We are skeptical, but try it and oh my goodness, it is so tasty. They served it with toasted baguette chips and we enjoy every last bit of it. This concludes the appetizer portion of my meal.

Gin and Tonic Smile

I ask Anthony for a beer and he asks Carol what she wants, beer, wine,a drink. She of course says gin and tonic. He asks what kind of gin she likes and she says tanqueray. He than asks if we want dinner or to take a little break. We choose a little break, as we are enjoying the meal, appetizers, and each other’s company. Anthony brings the beer and then a bottle of tanqueray and tonic. Carols glass is the size of a large margarita glass. He pours in the tanqueray and asks her to say when and I say wrong question. His response is I will just finish the bottle and pours the remaining in. Glass half full takes on a whole new meaning. Then the Spanish tonic. I can see by her face that it is really good and so I have a taste. Incredible. The tonic here must be much better than what we get. We sit, talk, laugh. Find out more about Anthony, His mother is Dominican and his father was American and lives in New York. They separated and he came to Madrid with his mom but he still visits his dad regularly. No wonder his English is so good. He brings another beer and pours Carol another equally generous gin and tonic. Right at the table so you can see how much is going in. Happiness is definitely setting in.

She Got My Goat

We eventually tell him we are ready for the main courses, we ordered slow roasted goat shoulder and aged steak. It has been a culinary adventure today so the goat shoulder fits right in. The food comes and the goat shoulder is very good. Perhaps a little more games than our palettes are used to but it is cooked perfect, lots of meet and a crispy skin on the outside. The steak is cooked perfectly and very tasty also.

Lemon Sorbet with Cava

After the dinner comes dessert. We have a choice of Galician cheesecake. Or a lemon sorbet with cava. In trying to decide, Anthony says no worries, I will bring you two of each. The sorbet is in a champagne glass wit a straw and we are told it has champagne in it. Wow, another hit. We eat our cheesecake, also very good and cleanse our palettes with the sorbet. Anthony comes back and asks if we want another drink.

That’s a Lot of Rum

One more gin and tonic for Carol and I get Boltran an 8 year old rum they advertise with some Coke on the side. He again comes with a bottle and fills my glass half up with rum. A coke bottle in Coke green glass is served on the side. We sit, sip, and get a bit giddy, if truth must be told. I am thinking about all the pigs running around with no ears and the shoulder less goats and feel kind of sad, or maybe it seems funny. After slowly finishing our drinks, we each have a cup of café con leche to end the dinner. Dinner end time is 0040, which is midnight plus forty. We wobble our way to the metro station which is in fact five minutes or so from the restaurant and walk the underground labyrinth to the platform. We are on the metro with all the young kids on their way to party all night. We get back to our apartment and call the kids and one mom before crashing a little after 0330. Good thing we do not have an early morning activity planned. Happy Easter to all.

Expenses
Apartment Atocha 88.13E
Pastries for Breakfast 1.10E
Palacio Real 23E
Casa Toni Pigs Ears and Peppers 17.70E
Metro 10 Trip Card 14.70E
Dinner Los Montes de Galicia 150E (10E Tip)                                     Walked 4.5 Miles