Madrid, Spain: Royal Palace

As the photograph indicates, it takes a while to walk from the fence surrounding part of the Royal Palace to a building entrance. Those who turn left in that square will have a great look at the surrounding countryside, as the facility sits on top of a hill. Those who turn right will see that the palace goes on and on for quite a distance.

This used to be where the Royal Family lived and ruled back in the day. Now it's just used for state functions - probably when someone needs to be impressed. The Royals, who are somewhat irrelevant now, live elsewhere. 

The Muslims built a fortress on this site more than 1,000 years ago. A palace of sorts went up in the 1500s, only to burn down in 1734. A new facility went up from 1738 to 1755. They didn't cut corners.

There are tours open to the public. Obviously the facility is so big that you can't see everything. In fact, the tours change course every so often so that people have the chance to see different areas on return visits. Now if we keep quiet and don't disturb anyone ...