Finally, we are at the last pitstop – Madrid. By far, I wished we had more time in Madrid –  so that we can tour around and discover the place by ourselves. I think it will be as wonderful as Barcelona, with one plus point – Madrid is more tourist-friendly. At least the metro are all in English, easier for us to navigate ourselves through the busy city (especially on our last day at Madrid).

Day 1:

We arrived at Madrid and we did some visits to Palacio Real (Royal Palace), Santiago Bernabeu Stadium and Cibeles Fountain. The Palacio Real is considered by many to be one of the finest palaces in Europe. The interior decoration is really “over the top”. I recalled a room that has gold paintings all over, another room that has silk on its wall, another room with red and gold velvet and also some rooms in navy blue and gold decorations. It gave us an inspiration on some songket designs that we wanna look out for in the future 😉. Also, every room has a huge chandelier. These chandeliers were aligned such that you can see the first chandelier in the first room to another chandelier in the second room and so on. It gives the palace a whole new perspective. Sadly to say, we couldn’t snap any pictures when we were inside the finely decorated rooms. Although I am always keen of breaking the rules, by sneakily snapping some pictures. I decided to be a ‘good’ girl.

 

Next, we head over to the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu located at the heart of the capital. Fuyoo. This was definitely the highlight for us in Madrid. We wanted to visit this place so badly that we decided to forgo the ‘tax refund’ exercise at the Airport, just to get a few hours at the stadium. We ditched the group on the last day, only to join them back at the boarding gate. Two words – worth it!

Not forgetting, we always have to pass the roundabout that has the Cibeles Fountain. This fountain was sculpted in 1782. The fountain has been adopted by the Real Madrid Football Club, whose fans used the area to celebrate its triumphs in competitions. It was named after Cybele, Roman Goddess of Nature, depicts the goddess sitting on a chariot pulled by two lions.

After the tour round Madrid, we head over to Toledo for the afternoon. At Toledo, we visited the Toledo Cathedral and did some shopping at the La Rozas Shopping Village.

We shopped over $600. Gone just like that in one shopping village. But, it’s okay la, get bonus to spend right? *headache*

In short, we had such a great time all over Spain, Portugal and Andorra. I couldn’t imagine touring around the world without my best friend, Irman. He truly is a gem, someone so patient and ever-so-caring. He took good care of me (and my finances, so that I won’t go broke at the end of the trip). Thank you for the memories we shared as #irmanadztravels around the world!

Now, where to next? Hee

Adios, #irmanadztravels will be back in 2015.

Meanwhile, we will start our cooking adventures real soon! Tata!

 

• Cathedral
• Cibeles Fountain
• irmanadztravels
• Madrid
• Santiago Stadium
• The Palacio Real
• Toledo