Ah, Madrid!

Madrid has squeezed every waking hour out of me.

Hence, the one day delay in posting to the blog.  The first night after we arrived, I left Steve sleeping and walked up to the Plaza Mayor, just to see it at night, watch the Paseo, and reconnoiter for the shoe shop I wanted to visit the next day.

All the way to the Plaza, there were people in the street: eating at outdoor cafe tables, chatting on street corners, and walking.  It was 8 o'clock and this was a LOT of people.  But, it was nothing compared to what I saw when I climbed the ancient cobbled incline into the Plaza Mayor itself.  I swear there were at least 1000 people there.  I sat down at a front row table, ordered a Coke (my new caffeine drink of choice because that is what there is) and watched the people go by: young, old, families, teenagers, some sitting on the grass (which turned out to be turf over cobbled Plaza).  It was amazing and absolutely everything I had been told.  For the price of a very expensive Coke, I could has stayed for hours.  But, after an hour, I had to go back to prepare for the next day.

Yes, that's my coke and it was delicious!

Afterwards, I wandered out to find Cash Hernanz, the shop where amazing espadrilles are sold.  It was not open on Sunday, but I could window shop and be ready for the next morning when I came back to beat the crowds.  I eventually bought a pair of bright red espadrilles, made in Spain, and fitted them with Dr. Scholl's inserts of course.  The Doctor is international apparently.  Still not sure if I like them, but for 13E how could I resist.

The next day, Monday, after I got up early and hiked to the Plaza for my beautiful espadrilles, Steve and I headed for the Plaza, food, and the first of three art museums.  It turns out that you can buy, online, a Paseo del Arte pass (30E each) that gets you into all three of the major art museums (Prado, Thyssen, and Sofia) for 20% off the total entrance fees.  You can get in quicker, get in once to each of the museums, and it's good for a year.  We discovered how great this was when we came out of the Prado.  Yes, all the museums are open at 7pm for free, but the line is several people wide and covers at least 2 city blocks.  At our age, I don't think we could have stood in a line like that and then walked all over the museum.

Plaza Mayor by day, when they apparently roll up and remove the sod.  Who knew?

This is for you, Mom.  I know you love these. They were in a shop on the Plaza, which wasn't open when we were there, unfortunately.

The Addams Family seems to be in town.

Velasquez in front of the Prado.

Goya in front, too.

This is the "free" line after 7pm.  Photo taken at 6pm.

The Prado was fantastic!  https://www.museodelprado.es/en No pictures allowed (even with flash turned off), but that let us really focus on the art.  Yes, Gary, I saw some amazing Velasquez paintings.  He did paint light beautifully.  I discovered another artist who was good that way, too - Anton Raphael Megs.  I never heard of him, but I really liked the way he painted. Of course, there were all the masters, but I didn't find the impressionists that I was looking for: Manet, Monet, Renoir, etc.  Those were at the Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza. https://www.museothyssen.org/en   

Today, after fixing a travel snafu at Atocha station, we went to the Thyssen and it had a lot of the works that I had hoped I would see in the Prado.  The Thyssen was less, shall we say, aloof than the Prado and I was able to take a few photos of my favourites (without flash, of course).  Tomorrow, I will post a few of my favourites and a couple from the Botanical Garden that we found nearby.  But, we have to prepare for an early train (and bus) ride because we are going to Granada in the morning!

More later.