The Museo del Prado is one of the world's leading galleries. While dwarfed by the Louvre, it is still a massive space. It was initially built in 1785 as a museum and has grown ever since. Surprisingly it does not attract as many tourists as Reina Sofia or Thyssen-Bornemisza. This may be because its collection is largely, though not exclusively, of Spanish masters. I didn't find this to be a bad thing. No queue and relatively easy access to the works. The highlig...

Toledo had the benefit of our presence today. From pre Roman times to the mid 15th century, Toledo was the capital of the local caliphate / kingdom / empire. Today it is still the religious and military centre of Spain, although more from a heritage than practical perspective. The coach took us from just behind the hotel on the one hour journey. Toledo is located on a high bend on the Tagus River. Its most famous structure is the Alcazar fortress - not part of...

Today was walking day! The weather continues to be fine and over 30C. It's a very dry heat and not unpleasant. We headed out on an extensive search for breakfast (next door) which cost €6 for us both, better than €40 being charged by the hotel. Fortified, we caught the metro to Atocha to visit the Centro de Arte Reina Sofia. This place was difficult to navigate and half closed. After roaming through frankly boring exhibits, we found Picasso's Guernica. This ...

Today we moved from Amsterdam to Madrid. Getting to Schiphol airport was just so easy. We closed the apartment door at 8am and were at the check-in counter by 8:50. The tram to Centraal Station was mostly empty; train connections leave every 15 minutes and while the train was packed, it took less than 20 minutes to get there. There is an amazing (and user friendly) baggage self-check in, although our bags were over 23kg so we had to deal with a human (and a very...