Excitement is in the air as today is the final of Euro 2012 and Spain are favourites to win. Before that though there were parts of Madrid that I need to see. So after breakfast the day began with a visit to the Almundena Cathedral. Being Sunday there was a service taking place. I respectively observed from a distance though one thing did disturb me. People were taking photographs while the service was taking place. In my eyes it is not very respectful to those who were listening to the service.
Next door to the cathedral is the Palacio Real. No longer the main residence of the Spanish royal family it is now a major tourist attraction. I found it to be a great way to spend the morning.
After that things started to go pear-shaped. For this trip I had chosen to use MTrip iPhone app for Madrid. I had read good reviews for it so I decided to give it a go. The app itself can create itinerary for you to follow depending upon your interests. However, I was starting to suffer problems. The first one was not being able to read the display in the glare of sunlight. Also I found the map was steering away from the course I wanted.
I eventually found my way to the Plaza de España. My god! what a disappointment. There had been an event taking place on the previous evening and there was a smell of stale urine in air from the portaloos. I quickly moved to the Museo Cerralbo. Another disappointment to report. It is a rich mans house. It is alright if you are into antiques. In hindsite my frustrations with MTrip may have clouded my view and they were about to get worse. I just found myself walking yards that I did not need to. In the end I gave up and made my way back to the hostel.
My mood improved with the sea of red that was heading towards the city centre. Because of the state of my feet I decided to watch the match from the hostel. Spain won 4-0, awesome performance. I went outside to experience the amazing atmosphere. Being English I felt really jealous.
SteveWhittythoughts1965 