The alarm rings at 8:30am - it’s Trisha’s birthday so we send her our sandy birthday card via Facebook, get a little bit of work done, take a quick shower and we are out the door just after ten. The elevator opens at the second floor for the hotel breakfast. Monique eats her fill and Dave waits craving a coffee con leche and a pastry that he will pickup as we walk to our destination. Our luck with weather continues with a forecast of sun and a reduction of temperature to 94F. It is even cooler in the morning so it feels nice as we walk but we still look for the shade along the way.
Within fifteen minutes we find the entrance to the Prado Museum.(Museo Nacional del Prado) There is a long cue for tickets. It's a good thing we have the museum pass because we are directed around the corner are go right in. This museum has over 3,000 canvases and entire rooms of masterpieces dedicated to superstar painters. It has the best collection of European masters hands down. The Prado has a large number of paintings by the Spanish painter Francisco de Goya, for obvious reasons. In addition to Spanish works, you’ll find paintings by Italian and Flemish masters, including Hieronymus Bosch’s fantastical Garden of Earthly Delights altarpiece. The museum does not allow pictures to be taken but I can tell you without a doubt this is "thee" place for painting. The masters are called that for a reason. Everything we studied in college is right in front of your eyes. Amazing.
Long ago Dave worked at the Milwaukee Art Museum and handled large pieces of art - but this place has paintings so large, with frames so thick, that it would take a small miracle to move them anywhere. It is hard to put into words the magnitude of the collection. We just happened to stumbled upon a duplicate of the Mona Lisa - painted at the same time as the original by maybe one of his students - maybe Leonardo??. It was made in his studio at the same time and shows all the irregularities of the other version. The background is different and is bright in color and depicts a nature scene. There are no big crowds like the one showing in the Louve. We saw that one when we were in Paris. Funny thing is we both prefer this version. This museum has so many major works it makes your head spin. They have whole rooms of paintings by a single artist. It takes us three hours to see one floor.
A mental break is needed so we stop for lunch in the museum cafe. We share a plate of veal roast with mashed potatoes and cooked carrots. Not the usual museum fare. The place is busy - we were lucky to find a place to sit. Our lunch has been devoured when we notice two woman who cannot find a seat and offer them a spot at our booth but then learn there are three of them. We let them in anyway and Dave stands to finish his drink. They are from Portugal and speak very good english so a conversation begins. They learn we are from the US and the first thing out of one woman's mouth is “You have a problem don't you - with Trump. All of us in Europe are worried about him." We get into a political discussion and agree the world leadership is going crazy. We talk about the US being like Britain in its wanting a political change. But like Britain, repercussions of a choice like Trump, cannot be known (Be careful what you wish for). They are fun to talk to and we give them all cards so they can check out our blog. They where really interested in where we have been and where we are going. They think we made a mistake in our change of plans eliminating our stop in Portugal - of course.
Break is over so we venture back into the museum on the ground floor for more. We focus on Raphael and Durer which takes another two hours. There are many more rooms to see but we are out of time. To allow enough time see the Palace Real we must leave. So we exit, hail a cab so we hail a cab and 8 minutes later we are dropped off in front of the palace. The sun is hot and we scurry for the shade of the building and find the entrance.
The Palacio Real De Madrid stands on the former site of the Alcazar palace of the Spanish Habsburgs. That palace was destroyed by fire in 1734. Philip V, the first Bourbon king of Spain commissioned a new building which was completed in 1764. Today it continues to be the residence of Their Majesties King Felipe VI and Queen Letiza of Spain. It is also used for various state ceremonies and functions. Again, unfortunately no pictures are allowed once you enter the palace. We take pictures in the courtyard and of the grand staircase - after that you must put your camera away. We have seen a lot of chateau's, palaces and castles as of late. They were grand places that only the wealthiest of the wealthiest could ever afford. Let me tell you this, the richness of this place tops them all. It's way over the top. Every inch is covered in expensive detail.
Many of the artists we saw in the morning at Prado were commissioned to paint the huge frescoes on the ceilings of the palace. They have master paintings on the walls, bronzes and a superb collection of clocks assembled by Spanish monarchs. There are amazing French chandeliers in every room. Some so big you wonder how the ceiling supports the weight. There is a porcelain room where the walls and ceilings are covered top to bottom in porcelain crafted by the Buen Retiro royal porcelain factory during Charles III reign. The banquet hall and ballroom was created in 1879 by joining three rooms together. It is so over the top with Flemish tapestries, French and Chinese porcelain vases and fifteen bronze and crystal chandeliers it is hard to take in. It is still in use today for state banquets. We wonder what it takes to be invited to dine in a place like this - Monique wants to figure it out because that would be awesome. In the Stradivarius room there are instruments crafted for the Spanish court by Antonio Stradivari between 1667 and 1709. They are unique as they are a set and are priceless in value. I am skipping over rooms that are just as amazing as the last. There is a crown room, of course displaying the crown which is made of gold and seems extra large and would be heavy on the head. What is weird is it lacks all the gems like others we have seen. The throne room has sculpture groups placed in the space and are all made of bronze. There is an amazing ceiling fresco painted by Giovanni Battista Tiepolo in 1764. From the ceiling hangs a unique Venetian chandelier made of silver and rock crystal imported from Murano, Italy. This palace is amaze balls.
Our dogs are tired - fortunately we have a relatively short walk back to the hotel - and on the way we see a cafe with an open table and drop into the chairs. Within minutes two cold beers are in hand and we watch the street entertainment. It's Friday around 19:00 and the people are coming out to stroll - the crowd size grows fast. Dave hears English behind us and strikes up a conversation with a couple of people at a table next to us. They work together as consultants and just completed a big project so they decided to meet up in Madrid for the weekend. She was from Poland and he was from Denmark but is living in London. We all talked about travel. They liked the idea of traveling for 3 or more months and gave us the thumbs up on our change from Romania to Montenegro. The woman had been to the town we were researching and confirmed it was very nice. We learn of their plans to party in the the bohemian section of town. They say goodbye and disappear into the sea of people. We stay on and ask the waiter when the kitchen opens only to find out we can order from their small offering right away. We are not that hungry but know we need something more than than beer so we order an empinada de pollo and a bruschetta with tomato and mozzarella. We eat and order one more empinata and another two beers. The waiter brings us some free tapas too which we eat. We are avoiding going back to the room. Our plan is to work on the blog and other digital things that need our attention. We also leave early in the morning so we need to pack.
Instead we stroll with the mob of people right past our hotel. The square is bustling with people of all ages. Dave is in the market for a T-shirt so we walk to a store that we saw earlier in the day. There are people everywhere eating, drinking, conversing and laughing. You can feel that it is Friday night and the whole city is out and about. We see people selling various things and even a person dressed like Pikachu. The variety of humanity is unmatched. A mariachi band with a trumpet and a woman singing grabs our attention - after a brief stop to watch we finally tear ourselves away and enter our hotel - Greece is our next destination and we leave in the morning. We will miss Spain - it is a welcoming place with creativity, great people, a slower pace and a unique culture - I am sure we will return.
The Prado Museum features one of the world's finest collections of European art, dating from the 12th century to the early 20th century, based on the former Spanish Royal Collection, and unquestionably the best single collection of Spanish art - including works by Francisco de Goya, the single most extensively represented artist here.
Right next to the Palace Real is Santa María la Real de La Almudena - a Catholic cathedral and the seat of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Madrid. It was consecrated by Pope John Paul II in 1993.
Plaza de la Armería inside the royal palace. The square as it exists now was laid-out in 1892, however, the history of this square dates back to 1553, the year in which Philip II ordered a building to house the royal stables. The palace has 135,000 square metres (1,450,000 sq ft) of floorspace and contains 3,418 rooms. It is the largest royal palace in Europe by floor area.
The Grand Staircase was built by Sabatini in 1789, it is composed of a single piece of San Agustin marble. Two lions grace the landing, one by Felipe de Castro and another by Robert Michel. This is one of the only places inside you can take photos - calling it a grand staircase is a bit of an understatement - if you aren’t impressed by this, then I’m not sure what will.
The frescoes on the ceiling are by Corrado Giaquinto and depicts Religion Protected by Spain.
The Spanish people sure love their ham (jambe). These stores are everywhere!
Pikachu in Puerta del Sol - the square right by our hotel.
The mariachi band we saw - they were pretty good.