Aranjuez

Yesterday a few of my new Madrid friends and I decided to take a day trip to the city of Aranjuez. It's about 45 minutes outside of Madrid by the Cercanías trains, which meant I took my first train ride! The main train station in Madrid is Atocha, so we met there and off we were.

Cercanías ticket

Aranjuez is in the southern part of the Comunidad Autónoma of Madrid (there's the city of Madrid and the province of Madrid, kinda like New York, NY) where the Tajo and Jarama rivers meet (much like the Mississippi and Missouri rivers in St. Louis!) It's famous for it's Royal Palace (Palacio Real) and was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2001. Construction began on the palace in the 16th century and wings were added on up until the 18th century. It was basically used as a summer

home for the Spanish royal family to escape the difficulties of city life. It's good to be king. Aranjuez is also famous for its strawberries, which aren't in season at the moment, so no strawberries for me on this trip. :(

Here are some pictures of our arrival into Aranjuez.

Yesenia, Me and Theresa

Train station of Aranjuez

Ayuntamiento

Pedestrian street

Having fun at the Tourism Office

Entering Plaza de San Antonio

Jump!

Fuente de la Mariblanca (fountain)

And here are some pictures of the Palace and surrounding areas. Unfortunately, we were not allowed to take pictures inside.

Can you see Theresa waving? Yup, that's how big this place is!

There was also a Plaza de Toros in Aranjuez:

And lots of beautiful gardens with more fountains around the Palace.

Black Swans!

And that was our trip in a nutshell!

~Caralyn