We structured our trip trying to alternate more low key days in Madrid with more on-the-go day trips, and our fourth day let us settle back into the groove of Madrid.

Before we left, we had booked tickets to tour the Royal Palace, but the earliest time we could get was 12:30. So I took advantage of our open morning to take us to go see some more art -- specifically Picasso and Dali at the Reina Sofia. 

I remember studying Guernica in art classes and boy seeing it in person was just really something. It's huge and the gallery was crowded because it's the one art work that everyone was intent on seeing, but I looped us through the room twice because the piece was so impressive. 

I also really enjoyed seeing some of the Dali works, and got a chance to appreciate some of Juan Gris' paintings too. 

Again with a toddler this was a fairly quick trip, really focusing on just the highlights, but it was definitely worth it. 

We treated our kiddo to some playground time, and then we all made a pit stop for some churros con chocolate before touring the Royal Palace. 

The Royal Palace was massive -- apparently bigger than Versailles -- and so cool to walk through. I have to say, I also like the flow of this Royal Palace tour better than Versailles too. We did the self guided tour, and while some rooms were definitely crowded, it didn't feel like the crush of humanity we experienced in Versailles. 

The pictures of the palace don't do it justice. 

The gardens however were a little lackluster in comparison to the ones at Versailles. We enjoyed strolling through them, but they definitely didn't wow me as much. 

We spent our Saturday evening with our friends at Madrid's Christmas lighting. Apparently every year in Madrid there's a big event in the city with musical performances before the more than 13 million Christmas lights across the city are all turned on at once. We were lucky enough that we happened to be in town when the event was taking place, and this year it happened to be the earliest that Madrid has turned their lights on. 

They lit up city hall, projecting a movie on the walls before we listened to songs and then celebrated with an awesome fireworks display. 

It was such a cool event and I'm so glad our friends invited us along. So much of our trip was about seeing the sites and being tourists in a new place, and it was really nice that on Saturday night we got a break from that and got to enjoy this experience with the residents of Madrid.