Vacation Journal, Day 4 - Our Last Full Day in Madrid

Our last full day in Madrid began at the Jose Ramirez guitar store, where David played some guitars.

Next, we headed to the Palacio Real, where we saw the interesting but long changing of the guard ceremony and toured the gardens around the palace.

We made it over to Plaza Espana so that David could take some photos with the monument to Cervantes and his classic novel, Don Quixote.

We had been walking for hours, so we headed to lunch to have our first taste of paella. I enjoyed the meals in Spain; a two-hour lunch beginning around 2 p.m. is completely normal, even for business people. Our meal ended with one of the things I miss most from Spain -- a cafe con leche. It is the perfect blend of espresso with milk that was absolutely perfect with one packet of sugar. I've been researching espresso machines since we got home because I would love to have one of these every morning. The only problem is that the 1% milk I buy won't taste nearly as good as the whole milk used in the Spanish version.
After napping and relaxing after lunch, we headed to an out-of-the-way flamenco bar called Las Carboneras, where we had a great dinner, great wine, and saw an amazing flamenco show. I was completely amazed by the passion and grace of the dancers --they exude a sexiness that is hard to explain. It was a great way to end our time in Madrid.