Madrid walkies

Finally made our way onto the mean streets of Madrid for a walkabout. We're a bit off the beaten track, so we caught a Metro up to the Plaza de Isabel II with its nice view of the Teatro Real (rebuilt in the 90s after being blown up a few times). Made our way through the lovely Jardines Cabo Noval to the Plaza de Orient outside our first stop, the Palacio Real de Madrid.

Built from 1734 onwards, this monstrosity has 2,800 rooms (a quarter of that planned by the architect before his premature death). It's yet another grand affair, and somewhat blinding in the sun due to the white stone of the facade and the massive white gravel courtyard. We have yet to figure out how people of ages past kept their eyes open without sunglasses.

Much like the Palazzo Real in Naples and the Doge's Palace in Venice, the visit comprises room after room of opulent trappings - including a room whose very walls are made entirely out of porcelain relief sculptures. There's also an impressive collection of chandeliers, clocks, Stradivarious instruments and Goya portraits, as well as the Farmacia Real (Royal apothecary) and the Armeria Real (Royal Armoury). This later exhibition was very interesting, and included a number of ornate suits of armour for children (one hopes - unless the Spaniards of yesteryear were very short).

We also popped our heads into the neighbouring Catedral de Nuestra Senora de la Almudena which, despite its fancy facade, is refreshingly simple on the inside, without the baroque frivolities or Gothic over-detailing we have become used to. Outside we saw the remains of the Arab Wall from the 9th C - now home to a colony of vagrants.

Finished off with a nice promenade to the Plaza Mayor - in its time a thriving a public space, now only notable for the frescoes on the outside of the Casa de la Panaderia - and the Plaza de la Puerta del Sol. Sol is considered Point Zero in Madrid, and is a bustling semicircle of roads and shopping arcades. There is a lovely statue here of the city's symbol, a bear nuzzling a madroño (strawberry tree), who has been silent witness to the uprising against French occupation in 1808, the assassination of a prime minister in 1912 and the proclamation of the Second Republic in 1931.