We woke up early this morning (well early by Spain standards) to catch the AVE from Sevilla to Madrid. The train itself was a lot shorter than I thought it would be but I guess it can only be 8 cars long in order to top out at 193 mph.
After the two and a half hour ride, we arrived in Madrid and made our way to our hotel, driven by a cab driver who quite an attitude but it was not really an issue. We then set out for an afternoon of exploring, heading towards the Mercado de San Miguel where we had a light lunch.
From the mercado, it was only a short 4 blocks or so to the Royal Palace of Spain. The place honestly makes the White House look like a log cabin in the woods. The architecture and detail in both the exterior and interior makes you realize why there was a civil war in the 30's. Pretty hard to justify living in poverty when your king lives there. Maybe thats why the White House is so much smaller.
I would have taken more photos today but the Spanish government decided to be extremely weird about photos being taken inside the palace.
ON RANT. Apparently the x-ray of my bag and person was not enough to make them believe that my camera bag was not a bomb. Also, I can understand not allowing flash photography to protect the paintings but come on Spain, its not like people aren't sneaking photos with their smartphones while you aren't looking (or DSLRs for that matter cough cough armor photo cough). I know people are not usually able to turn the flash on their iPhone on and off on command but thats beside the point. Maybe rather than staffing the place with the photo police, maybe use your country's tax dollars towards something that actually matters? I'm no politician but that seems like a no brainer. Ok RANT OFF.
We head to El Prado tomorrow and the flea market so that should be interesting (although, if I had to bet, they won't let cameras in El Prado. Photos of paintings on walls are boring anyway).
