madrid dia uno

well, i made it to madrid! here are some pictures of the places i went when i got into town at 10 am in spain. after checking into my hotel and freshening up, i headed to the plaza mayor.

After that, I headed to Palacio Real and the Cathedral de Nuestra Senora de la Almudena. The Palacio Real is the royal palace for Spain but the royal family doesn't live there anymore. It was pretty cool, I had to wait in a line for about 30 minutes though but it wasn't too bad. I did an audio tour instead of sticking with a group. It was much nicer. 

I couldn't take pictures inside, I wish I could have though. 

After walking through the palace, I crossed the courtyard and went into the church. I climbed to the dome and took some ariel pictures of Madrid. The church inside was also very pretty. It's similar to St. Peter's Basilica but not as old. Inside the church there were many many bright colors, not like your traditional church. 

  

(taken from the balcony of the church)

(the dome of the church) 

After visiting the church and palace, I ate some lunch and then headed back to the hotel for a nap. Later on after my much needed nap, I just roamed the streets and just happened to stumble across the shopping center :) I bought two nice tops from this store called Cortefiel. I found the H&M, which I was hoping to buy a lot from, but didn't find anything. The store was pretty unorganized and there were a ton of people in it. Oh well, I guess I'll survive. Here are some other pictures from my first day in Madrid. Tomorrow I plan on visiting the Prado Museum. 

(the market de san miguel where I plan on eating lunch tomorrow)

(the bear and strawberry tree, the official symbol of Madrid)

(some cool shoes I thought about buying. I decided I couldn't pull them off, even if they are men's shoes)

(my first glass of Sangria that I had at dinner!)

Well, catch ya later!