We woke to cloudy skies – but no rain. Which meant we were able to walk to the bus stop to catch the A1 to the airport.

This has been the view from our room early each morning. Actually, not that early. This was taken at 7.30am. The way these businesses set themselves up each day, then pack up again for a siesta break, and then repeat in the afternoon for the evening is exhausting even thinking about it.

Mick kindly took both bags as I have hurt my back sleeping on some of the hardest beds ever. Particularly in Portugal – they must love hard beds. As we walked, we passed by some protestors with CNT banners which I later learnt meant Confederación Nacional del Trabajo. This morning they were protesting in solidarity with Palestine, but have recently also been involved in protests about over tourism and the impact on the local housing market.

We enjoyed our time in Palma and were pleased to arrive at our accommodation for the next three nights – right in the centre of Madrid city, in the Plaza de Oriente. We had spent three days in Madrid city in July 2015, but we stayed in a different inner city location. I am keen to see if we can refresh our memories of our last trip as well.

We are a few steps away from the main theatre in Madrid, the Teatro Real.

And, we are also very close to the Royal Palace of Madrid, known as Palacio Real.

“It is the largest functioning royal palace in Western Europe, with over 3,400 rooms and 135,000 square meters of space. Built in the 18th century on the site of a former Moorish fortress.”

It does look massive. I was hoping to go on a tour here – Mick not so much, but there are no tickets available while we’re here.

Nearby there are some beautiful plazas with restaurants, and bars galore.

We needed some milk for breakfast and found a small Dia grocery store less than 200m away. The building below with the full mural is in the same plaza as Dia.

Once settled in and freshened up, it was time for us to head out for some dinner and a show at 7.30pm. The first stop was a bar behind the theatre – yes, we didn’t make it very far. As we sat inside, looking out the door onto the square – these two made a great photo.

After one drink, we headed off, a little closer to our destination, passing along some major shopping streets, filled with people, before reaching the Puerto del Sol. There was a protest just starting here too in support of Palestine, but unlike what we saw in Palma this morning, the police presence here was significant, and included armoured vehicles. Unless of course they were expecting something else?

We then found a restaurant across the road from the theatre where our show would be performed, or so we thought. In fact – this was the back door.

We enjoyed our meal of seafood and a glass of RIoja wine, and I was pleased to be able to use and practise my limited Spanish once again. And no, this is not the same place we had dinner.

We had to walk down a smaller alley and Mick was distracted when he found what looked like a great restaurant – but we had already eaten.

But, we eventually found the right door. This looked really cool.

We had it on very good authority that this Flamenco Show was a stunner. I had booked us the very front row and as we walked in we were handed a glass of Sangria. There were four musicians and three dancers. My photos is rubbish, but the one hour show was so energetic and soulful – at the same time. The performers had a later show to do as well. By the end, all performers were dripping in perspiration, and they surely would have needed a break.

Walking back to our apartment – Mick found a friend.

Madrid is a cool city!