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One of my ancestors was a Spanish ship captain, so Spain holds a special place in my heart.
Maybe that is the reason why I am so captivated by the Spanish Armada, bullfights and the flamenco dance.
I know very little about this ancestor except that his surname is de Oliveiro and that he married a Siamese lady on one of his many voyages to our part of the world.
Unfortunately I did not get to explore any of these interests because I ran out of time, and energy.
What I managed to do was to get a glimpse of the glory days of the Spanish empire when I visited the Palacio Real deMadrid or the Royal Palace and soaked in a bit of Spanish culture during my tour of the city.
The Spanish set out to conquer the world in the 15th century motivated by God, Glory and Gold, though not necessarily in that order.
The riches they acquired can be seen in the rooms of this palace,
Outside this palace, their influence can be heard all over the world. Spanish is spoken by over 400 million people as a native language and it is the official language in 20 countries.
We decided to walk from our hotel to the palace because we were fascinated by Spanish architecture.
It is also only 30 minutes by foot and the weather was good.
After all, the rain in Spain falls mainly in the plains. And not in Madrid.
Sorry, I could not resist that.
After walking for 5 minutes, we arrived at Puerta del Sol (or sun gate).
This square is full of street performers, dressed in all sorts of costumes and doing all kinds of acts. Be careful of the statues in the square. Some of them will suddenly come alive. They are there to scare the tourists.
Another 5 minutes of walking took us to Plaza Mayor, a magnificent courtyard surrounded by 3-storey residential buildings.
There are a total of 237 balconies facing the plaza and the walls of the buildings are covered with beautiful paintings.
The plaza, measuring 129 metres by 94 metres, was built during the reign of King Philip III (1598-1621), so guess whose bronze statue stands in the middle of this courtyard.
We made a stop at the Catholic cathedral, the Santa Maria la Real de La Almudena, before going to the palace.
Although work on the cathedral started in 1879, there were a number of delays and it was finally completed only in 1993.
Great efforts were made so that the cathedral could blend in with the palace and neighbouring buildings.
The orientation of the cathedral was changed from the traditional east-west layout to a north-south orientation so that it could face the Royal Palace.
The style of its architecture was also changed so that it could be in harmony with the city's other buildings.
Entrance to the cathedral is free but you have to pay a fee of €6 to enter the church museum to see its religious treasures.
The fee also allows you access to the dome of the cathedral where you can have a panoramic view of the city, and also enjoy a grand view of the palace.
Spend some time inside the cathedral itself and like me, be amazed by the symmetry of the columns and how they seem to reach out to heaven.
But the cathedral's real treasure is the chapel of the Virgin of the Almudena in the western wing. The statue has a colourful history dating back to the 8th century and made its way from a small church in San Isidro to the cathedral.
There is a big parade ground, Plaza Armas, in front of the Royal Palace. How wonderful it would be if there was a daily Changing of the Guard ceremony here as is done at Buckingham Palace.
No such luck! Such ceremonies only take place on special occasions.
The palace has 3,418 rooms but the public is only allowed access to certain rooms.
Those rooms, however, are good enough to showcase the lifestyle of the Royal family throughout the Spanish history. There are works of art in all of them. And they are elaborately and exquisitely decorated from floor to ceiling.
The tour of the rooms took easily two hours and well worth the €10 entry fee. It is unfortunate that they do not allow us to shoot photos and videos during the tour.
Although I am spellbound by all of the rooms, two stood out for me -- the Grand Banqueting Hall and the Throne Room.
The banqueting hall came about as the result of the joining of three rooms. Now imagine a long table which can seat 144 people and the room lit up by15 chandeliers. This place can truly prepare a feast fit for a king.
What can I say about the Throne Room, also known as the Royal Audience Room? Intimidating. This is where all the ceremonial audiences are held, so just imagine a place which is decorated to give it the grandeur and power of the great Spanish kings.
Now it's time to journey back to the present. No visit to Madrid would be complete without stopping at Estadio Santiago Bernabeu, home of Real Madrid football club.
Unlucky for me, they were redoing the pitch when I visited the stadium which can seat 81,000 spectators. So part of the atmosphere of being inside such a huge stadium is lost.
Although I am a supporter of the rival Barcelona football club, I am still impressed with Real Madrid's achievements as I toured its museum.
This is one of the most successful football clubs in the world, winning more trophies than any other club. It has won 32 La Liga titles and a record 10 Champions League titles.
There are an estimated 287 million Real Madrid fans throughout the world. I feel my love of Spanish football has nothing to do with my ancestry but you can never know, right?
So who needs the Spanish Armada? Spanish football clubs like Real Madrid and Barcelona are winning over the hearts of millions throughout the world, exerting greater influence than the great armada ever did.
The new battle cry is Goals! Goals! Goals!
Or is it Goals, Gold, Glory, God?