As everyone is finishing their final projects and studying for finals, including me, the day trip to the Palacio Real of Madrid was perfectly timed for a diversion. This past Friday, after presenting a movie about Celiac Disease at the first annual SUMC Film Festival headed by Dr. de la Fuente Marcos, i headed down to the center of the city, grabbed a coffee at Starbucks with my cheque gourmet, and met the small group in front of the Opera House that faces the Palace. Our guide was Prof. Angel whose hysterical side-notes to Spanish history made the impressive state rooms and furniture alive. He was an absolute encyclopedia, knowing almost everything about every room we saw in the palace. When we finished, he took us across the courtyard and through a small door to the royal armory. The armory was fantastic, with full suits of armor set-up, and a pleasure for even those of us who did not like jousting and war memorabilia. Every kind of armor was there from almost every era of Spanish royalty, everything from horse and dog armor, to armor for children. When the tour finished i crossed the courtyard to see the royal pharmacy. Great blue and white porcelain jars contained the herbs used for the royal family, some still with the original herbs inside. I spent the rest of the day doing the end of my Christmas shopping, later heading to El Corte Ingles Castellan for Mazapan de Soto and Turron for Christmas and some gluten free cookies for me.
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