Charming Towns around Madrid (Day1)
It began when we landed via a non stop flight to Madrid at 8 am. Since check-in at the hotel was not available until 3pm, we had planned to check out the small towns of Aranjuez, known for its palace and gardens and Chinchon to have our first Spanish meal. By the time we got our checked luggage, picked a rental car, filled gas and picked up supplies, we drove to Aranjuaez, it was about 11.45 and we were kind of hungry. Since we wanted to save our appetite for a more grandiose first Spanish meal , we decided to survive on snacks and coffee.
The Palace of Aranjuez, declared a World Heritage Site by Unesco in December 2001, is located in the low lying meadow formed by the confluence of the Tagus and Jarama Rivers. The palace with its vast ornate and stunning gardens has been the springtime residence of the kings and queens for centuries. We roamed around in the beautiful gardens constructed with Versailles in mindalong with the idea to control nature in order to turn the garden into yet another room of the palace. The gardens have been divided into three main groups,the Jardín de la Isla with its extensive woodlands, grand avenues and numerous stone and marble fountains with statues from scenes from Greek mythology,the Jardín del Parterre, famous for its display of flowers, and the largest Jardín del Príncipe, featuring broad walkways numerous species of trees.
At about 1 pm, our need for food coupled with the hot sun took over and we drove for about 30 mins to a small medieval town of Chinchon. We walked around the plaza mayor to look at all the offerings of different restaurants and decided on one which had inside water cooled seating feasted on the jamon croquettes, sucking lamb and morcilla along with some cheap yet delicious local red wine. After a sumptuous meal, we headed to the Palacete hotel where the post wedding festivities were supposed to be held.
It was a beautiful Spanish wedding in an old church nearby followed by 12 hours of celebration, which was kick started with numerous hors d'oeuvres consisting of various kinds of tapas, jamon, and everything Spanish followed by a full sit down 5 course meal which went on past midnight along with wine and beer. The two of us were very jet lagged so we called it a day at about 3 am in the morning while the beautiful bride and groom along with some of the ever young lovely guests continued partying till sunrise.