Palacio Panorama

Madrid: backblip 3 of 3

Palacio Real de Madrid
Only worth seeing in large ("L").

This is Madrid's royal palace from the Plaza Armeria. The Almudena Cathedral stands on the opposite side of the square from the cathedral so the area feels rather resplendent.
This is a panorama of three photos taken with my arms held through the bars in the gate that stands between the palace courtyard and the Plaza Armeria... It is as symmetrical as I could get it, but it is amazing how skewed the picture feels because of the large wing on only one side of the palace!
We spent our last day over on the west side of the city centre: we saw the Teatro Real, this (subtle) palace, the cathedral, and enjoyed the bars and restaurants of the very nicely groomed Plaza de Oriente. The Jardines de Sabatini are on the other side of the palace making this part of the city feel very spacious and opulent.

I was struck by the fact that Madrid's bustle felt rich with locals; perhaps it is because it was May, but I felt like a tourist amongst locals (for the most part) as opposed to one of a throng of visitors, which was nice. I was also struck by the number of people trying to sell annoying squeaky toys, tacky hats, and cheap sunglasses. In the evening, there are also people who move around trying to convince you to go to their bar/club/disco/restaurant. Does this happen everywhere? I've never been approached by so many people; it provided quite a lot of amusement in our group with each of us employing different tactics to get rid of them. My older brother bought a hat on the first day and proceeded to try to sell it to every person who approached trying to sell us hats or sunglasses. I played mind games: I'd say "Lo siento, no hablo español, pero hablo japonés.". The touts would then speak English, to which I'd reply "Gomenasai, Eigo ga dekimasen.", which confused them into retreat... There is also massses of graffiti in the city; much of it feels intrusive and disrespectful, but there are occasional works of art that make the graffiti culture seem not all bad.