Madrid Day Four

We started today wandering through more unfamiliar streets to take us to The Basilica de San Francisco El Grande. It was open but only for guided tours. We went in any way and joined a Spanish speaking tour - but it was worth it. If we had bottled out we would have missed an amazing church and would not have been taken behind the scenes.

 Above: the main alter.      Below: the Sacristy normally closed to prying eyes.

 Above: more behind closed doors.     Below: part of the church's art collection.

 We both loved the dragon making up part of the chapel gates.

 Below: to give some indication as to the size of the dome. There are between 6 and 8 side chapels around it.

 Below: the Dome. It measures 33m across.

 The outside doesn't prepare you for what you see inside.....and it is still a working church.

After that we went to the Palacio Real. We were only allowed to take pictures outside so here is one of the inner courtyard.

 And here are a couple of visitors!

 

The palace was fantastic - full of magnificent chandeliers, sculptures and clocks. We took the audio guide; had a snack and still needed three and a half hours. For more details check out their website.

After that we walked past the Parque del Oeste where the cable car was and headed to part of the university where we went to the costume museum. Another great visit; no photos allowed! It was interesting to see how different much of the Spanish costumes were; and the how suddenly all of Europe began to dress in a similar way.

When we had finished there we walked a new route back stopping off at a little Spanish bar for burger and beer. Lovely - and we were the only non locals there. Very authentic (in a Wetherspoons kind of way!). We had had enough by now and took ourselves off to bed.