Dos Palacios

From early February to now (I know, a rather vague period of time), I had the chance to visit two palaces: the Royal Palace in Madrid (Palacio Real de Madrid) and the summer royal palace in Aranjuez, a small town 40 minutes outside of Madrid. Both housed the Bourbon dynasty, and are similar to each other on the exterior and interior. The Royal Palace in Madrid was home to the Bourbon family until the 20th century, while the summer palace in Aranjuez was used by both the Hapsburg and Bourbon families, although it´s currently furnished as it was during the Bourbon´s time in Aranjuez. In the 21st century, the palaces are tourist attractions, attracting people like me :)

I think that´s enough historical background for today. My laptop is not working, so I won´t be able to upload any fun images of yours truly. There are enough fun pictures of me on Facebook, so if you really want, just superimpose my face on a picture of the palace - it´ll probably look more or less like the actual pictures. I will, though, show some pictures of the exteriors of the palaces, courtesy of Google Images.

Royal Palace in Madrid


Royal Palace in Aranjuez


Aren´t they imposing? The rooms inside look alike (not surprising since they ended up being used by the same family). For example, the throne room of Aranjuez is modelled after the throne room in Madrid. Here is a not so legal photo by Susan of the throne room in Madrid (take a look, close your eyes, open your eyes, and now pretend the image is the throne room of Aranjuez - it kind of works).


My favorite room (considering all the rooms from both palaces) came from the palace in Aranjuez, and was furnished after La Alhambra in Granada. In the middle of all this Baroque architecture and design, you walk into a room that is completely different from anything else in the entire palace. Here is a picture of the Alhambra room (it was used by Francisco de Asisi, the "husband" of Queen Isabel II and a rather flamboyant man).


The palace of Aranjuez was located next to a huge garden (in fact, there may have been more gardens than people in Aranjuez - I kid, but not really). The gardens were gorgeous, even with the naked trees (it´s still winter despite the temperature, which was in the 70s), and there was even a wedding in one of the gardens. Chelsea, Evita, and I took long strolls in some of the biggest gardens, and watched families with crazy kids and old people who were also walking in the gardens.

- I would have placed an awesome picture of me in the Jardín del Príncipe -

The visits to the palacios reales were educational and actually interesting. The interior designers hired by the Bourbons had a tacky color scheme, but it made the rooms more enjoyable to see. Some rooms had outrageous themes, like the "Porcelain Room" (the walls were made out of porcelain) and some kind of an exotic room, complete with Chinese figures and Chinese writing (I´m guessing that the figures were Chinese...). It´s difficult to fathom for a simple girl like me that such a building was used to house only one family (and all their servants, court, guests, etc.). It seems a bit over the top, especially compared to El Escorial, home of the Hapsburgs (the ruling dynasty in Spain before the Bourbons). I say this now, but that's because I haven't visited Versailles or the Austrian palaces. Nevertheless, for a moment, I wanted to live in a palace and be Princess Susan, until I got tired from walking. The palaces are nice, but that's not worth the foot cramps. I´m happy with my apartment in Madrid, and at least I won´t have to take a hike to get a snack from the kitchen.

Susan