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 highlights for me: Las Meninyas - Velazquez being cheeky by putting himself into a portrait of the Royal Family; the Goya doubles of (allegedly) the Duchess of Alba clothed in one portrait and then less modest in the other; Goya's other doubles of the 2nd and 3rd May 1808 about the rebellion in Madrid and its aftermath. The next painting was a vibrant depiction of King Ferdinand VII known as the felon king against whom the country was rebelling. It showed the King as a less than attractive personality as within a few short months of his restoration after French occupation, he suspended the Constitution and assumed absolute power. During his reign, Spain lost its South American empire. He sounds like the Mugabe of that age.
There was a room of El Greco's work, mostly religious pieces and Goya's black paintings were quite disturbing.
In the basement was a display of the Dauphin's treasures. The father of Spain's Felipe V was the Dauphin of France (this title meant he was next in line) however he died of smallpox before he could assume the French throne. He collected jewellry, glassware and hardstones as well as an interesting array of designs carved in rock crystal. Anyway, Felipe inherited this from his father and placed it on display at El Prado, where it remains today.
Clearly I had undertaken a micro tour of a macro museum. I checked-in with Bruce who was now suitably espadrilled and was about to visit the Museo Lavanderia. That's actually the laundry!
So I fortified myself with a large coffee and headed across the street to the Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza. This is a private collection of works dating from the 13th to early 20th century.
The Holbein portrait of Henry VIII is a stand out of the earlier work. There is a good collection of Impressionists including Monet, Seurat, Van Gogh, Renoir and Degas. I particularly was glad to see Monet's painting of Charing Cross Bridge in fog. Very evocative. There were also many American impressionist works by painters I had not heard of before.
An interesting side note is the chat I had with an American couple on the Metro heading to El Prado. They had both been born in Antwerp and escaped the Nazis in 1940 when they were children - her family to Lisbon, his to Madrid. Eventually they made their way to New York where they met and married. They had to be over 75 and looked good for it. She talked about the attraction of Madrid over Lisbon. He talked about Thyssen and his role with the Nazis. WWII seems so long ago and yet here before me was a personified representation of some of its aftermath even today.
So suitably kulcha'd up, I headed back to the hotel. On the way I dropped into El Lavanderia and Bruce was nearly done with his masterpiece.
We rested in the room for a spell and then headed to the roof terrace for a last drink. They were setting up for a wedding and made it evident that we guests were in the road. Announcements every ten minutes that the area was closing at 7pm were not helpful. Still, I waited until I'd finished my drink and left in plenty of time for them to finish preparing.
Bruce had already gone to a meeting where he had been invited to speak so we met later at La Latina. This area had plenty of tapas bars and restaurants and we selected one in Calle de San Bruno. A nice meal and then a stroll back through Placa Mayor (passing an ice cream store) and Puerta del Sol. There was an anti-Olympics demo at Sol.