Saturday in Madrid

Plaza Mayor
 

It was crisp, clear and sunny as we set off on a self-guided walking tour. First stop was Plaza Mayor: a vast, cobbled square that's seen a lot of history, including "trials" during the Inquisition. We looked in some of the shops: a hat store, coin and stamp shop, a bar full of bull's heads and bullfighting memorabilia.
Next we went into the San Miguel public market, a steel and glass structure from 1916 - it was packed with people at the wine and cheese bars, deli stalls, fruit stands and so on. Around a few corners and up a narrow lane we found the oldest door in Madrid, made of wood and iron, in the oldest building in the city, built in 1480!
Soon we were at the Almudena Cathedral, an enormous one only finished in 1993; it took 100 years to finish! Inside we enjoyed the sun lighting up the large stained glass windows, the Neo-Gothic interior and painted ceilings.

The Royal Palace

Next door, we lined up for tickets to the Royal Palace, at 1.5 million square feet, it's Europe's largest. We moved from one over-the-top room to the next. While not lived in by the royal family anymore, it's still used for formal occasions, ceremonies and dinners. One highlight was the Gasparini Room, the King's dressing room: Rococo in style, with a frescoed ceiling, silk-embroidered walls, chandeliers, and multi-coloured marble floors.

After all that we actually thought we would carry on down to the Prado, but each road we tried was blocked by police barricades, and we eventually realized there was a huge demonstration going on - thousands protesting the government austerity measures. People coming up the hill were carrying" No Cuts" signs.