"¿Which calle is this calle?"

Finally getting acclimated, and I think I can get used to this.  After a night out in the city, the entire crew enjoyed the opportunity to sleep in.  The first priority of the day was to rehydrate and get some food on our empty stomaches.  As any good McAmerican would do, we did not think twice about where to go.  We headed straight for the beautiful golden arches of McDonalds to get a quick bite of McTapas (otherwise known as a double cheeseburger with fries).  However, calling this place McDonalds does not give any credit to it at all.  Jim Skinner (McDonalds' CEO - yea, I googled it) would be embarrassed by how luxurious it was and might even disfranchise it for misrepresenting all the other McDonalds around the world; in fact, if it were not for the familiar greasy burger and salty fries, I might have considered it fine dining.  McDonalds is not supposed to be an enjoyable, comfortable eating experience... bienvenidos a España I guess.
After we marveled over how un-American the most quintessentially American icon was, we got an official start to our day.  Unfortunately we were not allowed to go into the Royal Palace because there was some sort of "official event" taking place.  My guess is the lesser known Prince Pedro is having a royal wedding of his own to Kristina Medioton, but as history has dictated since the Armada, the British royalty stole Spain's thunder.
After being rejected by the Spanish royalty, we did successfully get to go into a small Cathedral and watched as the church members took communion.  Afterwards we walked through the quaint Mercado de San Miguel and then went down to Plaza Mayor to enjoy a tapas and sangria lunch.
The highlight of the day was walking down south to the Polvo museum.  En route, we went to the top floor of an old former bank.  We got a 360 degree overlook of the city that was breathtaking. Finally we made it to the Polvo where they featured paintings from Diego Velazques, El Greco and Goya.  All in all, it was a successful tour of Madrid.  Its a shame this is the last day we have in the city, but I hope that I'll be able to spend another day or two before I leave.
With thoughts as bold as thought can be / Loving life and becoming wise / In simplicity. - The Who


note: the above photo is McLuxury.  Also, I added a picture to my post from yesterday of the crew that got into Madrid early - from left to right: Jorge, Me, Shannon (who also is writing a blog at shannonburleson.blogspot.com), Colin and Hillary.