Palace Life

  Aranjuez, Spain
Sunday, June 4, 2006

Sunday morning came along and having woken up early we all jumped in the car and headed towards one of the Royal Sites of the Madrid surrounding area. We were to visit the Royal Palace of Aranjuez which is a palace located about an hour drive south of Madrid, destined to be the Spring home for the Spanish Crown in the 19th Century. Apparently the palace was inhabited by the Royal Court during the months of April to June, when it got too hot to remain in their normal palace of residence. Their Summer home was farther away from Central Spain, in a cooler location from the infernal Spanish heat. Pretty sassy kings : one fabulous palace for each season.

02 Sofi and Tifi

We reached the little town of Aranjuez located on the valley between the Tajo and Jarama Rivers. When we arrived at the palace gates we found out we had an hour before the guided tour started, so we decided to take advantage of the free time and explore the Royal Gardens.

In contrast with the arid landscape of most of Madrid and its surroundings, the Royal Gardens of Aranjuez were green and lush, almost unaware of the dry and rocky habitat it is in. This of course had to do with the nearby presence of two rivers, but also with the fact that these gardens were of French design. Its Baroque arrangement of roman classical statues, white marble water fountains guarded by pagan gods and goddesses, neatly designed bushes, tall towering trees, pompous bridges and gates, struck me as odd to be found in hot, dry Spain whereas France is wet and green. Maybe the effort of trying to keep a garden of French taste alive in this climate was to shade and cool the royal residents from the heat.

06 Hercules, Hydra and Us

As I walked through the avenues of trees past the fountains of Venus, Apollo, Bacchus and Neptune, we realized the hour was almost over and our guided tour was about to begin. Seeing my dad waving his hands in the distance like a madman, motioning us to hurry the hell up was a clear indication.

I wish I had missed the guided tour. I think most of you all know by now how I feel about tour guides, but this time I was definitely not impressed. Not only was she not friendly, but she did not provide us with any witty, funny, surprising, interesting details or explanations of the palace. She just walked us around a few rooms and chambers describing what they were who slept there and blah blah blah.

27 Chandelier

So I decided I was going to block out her crappy explanations and walk around with Ed taking pictures and enjoying the details for myself.  I did however pay attention to the must-know details like who it was comissioned for, and who later remodelled it, and what century it was all done in.  Information which now I have forgotten.

30 Royal Chairs and Couches

My background in Furniture Styles made me notice that most of the rooms were designed and adorned in Empire style, which was the style imposed by the reign of Napoleon in France, trying to go back to the purity and regality of Classical art. The ceilings painted with roman myths and the walls decorated with compositions of animal, floral, fantastic and human elements were typical of this period. The roman-style vases gilded with spirals and flower garlands, the rich Damask fabrics in royal blue, gold, jade-green, and flaming red, and the intricate furniture made of noble wood made the entire palace seem like a life-size dollhouse. Every room was so exceptionally preserved and taken care of that it seemed unlived in, untouched.

74 yummmmm....

After the tour our ravenous stomachs made us cross the Arms Courtyard to a cute little restaurant with huge pink umbrellas to shade the table from the sun. We ordered typical Spanish food such as prawns in olive oil and garlic, and Norway lobster with mushrooms and a reduction of Balsamic vinegar for starters. We also ordered grilled salmon and potatoes as main dish for Ed and I and the famous Spanish suckling pig dish for the rest of the family. For desert we had Aranjuez fresones (larger than normal strawberries) which apparently are well known all throughout Spain.

After lunch we drove the short distance to The Prince's Gardens, which were the personal living quarters and gardens of the Prince, just in case he wanted a wild Spring soiree away from the disapproving eyes of Daddy King and Mommy Queen.

80 Peacock courting Ed

We walked around the gardens and saw squirrels and pheasants.  We met an elegant peacock Ed and I drove crazy until he unexpectedly displayed his magnificent green and gold erectile train of feathers adorned with blue-green eyes on the tips. Apparently this is not something that happens very often when in the presence of a peacock so we chased it as long as his tail was up. Ed said he was woeing me.

84 Town of Chinchon

When I thought the day was about to end, my dad mentioned he was going to take us to a little Mideival village on a hill. I was tired and didn't really feel up to it, but I'm glad he insisted. Half an hour later, we reached the village of Chinchon at the top of a hill.

We walked through some of the narrow crooked cobblestone streets with its olden houses and low buildings. We suddenly came to a huge opening which turned out to be the town square. Circular in shape and facing downhill, it had an upward view of the old Romanic omnipresent church, a large fountain of fresh water, and the perimeter was lined with cafes and restaurants. The sun was lowering itself to the west so the golden auburn shadows on the old houses and walls was quite the view.

85 Poor Donkey

We sat down for a cold afternoon beer while we took picture of the surroundings and the poor donkeys that were waiting to take a little kid around the square for a ride.

98 Fortress

 We walked in a 13th century monastery turned into a beautiful cozy 4 star hotel which we just had to enter to take a look. Everything seemed to be in its original place except for new glass doors, modern flower arrangements and cool lighting. As I walked around I noticed lots of foreign families there. I thought this would be a nice place to stay in for no more than one night, as the entire village could be walked 3 times over in just one afternoon.

There was an old fortress in the village limit which was drenched with the imminent sunset hues of the sky so we took the opportunity to take pictures of the countryside bathed in rose and apricot lighting.

99 Us

  The perfect ending to a perfect day (with the perfect cliché) with Ed, sitting on the stone edge of the Medieval fortress walls, looking straight into the dusky night secretly thanking everything and everyone there is to thank for bringing us together and taking us to see the world.



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