This was the last full day of our journey. We were a little road weary and more interested in being in cafes and doing fun family things than in doing a heavy forced march or a day of many museums. We brought the newspaper and a book to amuse us as well as the letter we were writing (more about that later) but no dog. We walked down our street to the Palacio Real with its nice gardens and this statue in the square. Our first stop was outside the maze which we began to explore until we got to this tree at the center of the maze.

We wanted to go to the playground but after a few minutes this rope came up and we were told we had to go elsewhere because they would be doing filming. We first explored the statues in the neighborhood. The Palacio Real loomed large so we decided to go there. This was good because they had a sign telling us how to get to the phone booth should we need it.

Our first stop was at the Farmacia which wasn't like the ones we keep seeing on the street. These were the containers for chemicals including Asparagus Officinallis used to make individual remedies. Next we got in line and waited for our guided tour while Suzanne grabbed an extra second of shopping.

We first saw a few ceiling paintings

and this statue that is a copy and sits below the sign saying that in this room, Spain joined the common market (1986) and this was the room where the Middle East peace agreement was signed in 1991. The next room had this chandelier that made Jane nervous maybe because of the ceiling Next it was on to the porcelain room with this remarkable ceiling which made us nervous once more. Our next stop was the dining room with this table that could seat 145 people. We concluded with a visit to this garish (maybe gaudy?) room that was used for smoking, the chapel dome and the armeria where they would not let us try anything on.

All of this sightseeing made us hungry, so we headed off to the Plaza Mayor. On the way there, we passed the home office of the Paradores that had defined our trip in Spain. At lunch we managed to take individual pictures in confused fashion getting too many of some and not enough of others

and so we invite you to use your imagination to see us all having gazpacho, sandwiches and salads.

Next we went to this delightful café across from the Lacoste store where Jane and Benjamin had this nice ice cream while David enjoyed his beer while Sarah waited for her sandwich. We passed our time doing counting surveys of the people walking by and recording the results on this envelope Since the sky was looking very nice, we decided to walk back to the hotel and mail the letter and have our siesta.

When we got started again, we had to decide where to go for dinner. We saw this place but I guess I now have something in common with Ernest Hemingway. We did go to the Restaurant Botin as seen by their sangria bottle and by their listing in Guinness as the world's oldest restaurant. Their silverware inspired Jane to take artistic photographs and Suzanne was convinced to have the specialty of the house roast suckling pig. As you can see, Sarah Jane Benjamin Suzanne and David all enjoyed the meal (or at least all were happy that they would never have to pose for pictures over dinner again).

After dinner, we stopped at the chocolateria for churros and the thick chocolate drink that is their specialty. The chocolate rush led to various character studies including Benjamin

Suzanne and Sarah We did a good job on the food as you can see.