Back to Europe for a while..

These are some more shots of my Tour to Europe in Sept - Nov 2012. I has been a while since I last saw them.. great to be able to catch up on them at last!

We are travelling from Valencia to Madrid Oct 16, 2012 Spain. We have just reach the town of Aranjuez.

Aranjuez is a town and municipality lying 42 km south of Madrid in the southern part of the Madrid Region or Community of Madrid. It is located at the confluence of the Tagus and Jarama rivers, 44 km from Toledo.

It is one of the Royal Estates of the Crown of Spain since the times of Philip II of Spain in 1560.

The Royal Palace of Aranjuez is a residence of the King of Spain, located in the town of Aranjuez, Community of Madrid, Spain. The palace is open to the public as one of the Spanish royal sites.

It was commissioned by Philip II and designed by Juan Bautista de Toledo and Juan de Herrera, who also designed El Escorial. It was completed during the reign of Ferdinand VI by the mid-18th century; Charles III had two wings added to it.

The huge gardens, built to relieve its royal residents from the dust and drought of the Spanish meseta using the waters of the adjacent Tagus and Jarama rivers, are Spain's most important of the Habsburg period. The Jardín de la Isla is on a man-made island bounded by the River Tagus and the Ria Canal. The Jardín del Principe contains a miniature palace (the Casa del Labrador, built for Charles IV) and the Museo de las Falúas Reales, housing the most important extant collection of Spain's royal pleasure barges.

The Concierto de Aranjuez is a composition for classical guitar and orchestra written by Spanish composer Joaquín Rodrigo, who was inspired by the palace gardens. The work attempts to take the listener through sounds of nature in and around the gardens during the period in which it was written.

The palace's important art and historical collections include the Museo de la Vida en Palacio, describing the daily lives of Spain's monarchs.