The Summer Palace at Aranjuez

On Sunday, we headed out of the city to the Summer Palace in the city of Aranjuez. The trip was shockingly simple, after the typical challenge of just collecting ourselves to get out of the apartment. Parking was no problem. Everything was going great!

We enjoyed the gardens at what we thought was the front of the palace, but then we're pretty sure this was the back. Joey and Sammy took a few laps around the fountain and even showed a little brotherly love. Or is that choking? I'm not sure, but let's just say love for the record.

We brought a picnic lunch, since the palace gardens were advertised as a popular place to picnic by the river. Alas, the gardens were entirely closed due to something translated into English as a "whirlwind." As we peered through the gates, the gardens looked absolutely fine. But nevertheless, we were left searching for a new place for our picnic lunch. We walked by the river, where everyone (especially Lanna) enjoyed watching the ducks. But Jay was concerned that the security guard boded ill for a picnic lunch.

We then walked down a picturesque lane by the gardens, but it had no benches. After passing a large family of stray cats, we found a bench in what looked like an abandoned event parking lot. It was not picturesque, but there was a bench, and we had our lunch.

We then walked back to the Palace, where a kind stranger agreed to take a family picture. So we managed to get a picture of all of us without resorting to a selfie stick (which we have not yet lowered ourselves to purchase).

Then Jay took a selfie of himself and Lanna with his attached selfie stick (aka long arm). The clouds were amazing!

We then took a tour of the inside of the palace, which was my favorite part. I love the endless sequence of pointless rooms, all decorated to the hilt! The boys were pretty good at not touching everything, and Sammy only got in trouble once for playing in the curtains. Seriously, I don't think those were original curtains. There was even a display of royal wedding gowns, which I particularly loved.

We then treated ourselves to ice cream and popsicles. For some reason, Sammy wanted a popsicle in the shape of a foot. At first, I protested. But then, in wise parental form, I decided it wasn't worth arguing about. He enjoyed eating the toes.

All in all, a great day! Here are a few more pictures of the palace.