Day 8 - The Prado

Lauren and Tim had already scoped out the neighborhood and found a nice little breakfast buffet place for one-fifth the price of the hotel breakfast. (!) We met them there for breakfast and walked to the Prado Museum for some art. Kate Gridley had loaned us the Prado guides to El Greco, Goya, and Velasquez, but they were in the computer bad that was stolen, so we got a whole set of new little books, which will be fun to have. We each got an audioguide and split up into pairs to roam the museum, meeting up for lunch (which we decided was second breakfast, since it wasn't 2 p.m. yet) and then again at 3:30.



We won't even try to describe the art at the Prado. They have amazing collections of Goya (including his dark and disturbing Black Paintings), El Greco (who we'd seen a lot of in Toledo), and many other painters from Rubens to Velasquez to Raphael to Titian, and there was a special Tintoretto exhibit, too. Jordan said that he could die happy if he could see one painting -- Hieronymous Bosch's "Garden of Earthly Delights," and it was even weirder in person than in photos.

We walked to the Plaza Santa Ana for lunch (or third breakfast) at a little table outside.



Jordan decided that since our brains were full we should be entertained this evening. He and Meg found a little, less-commercial flamenco place near the Plaza de España, called Las Tablas. We had no idea what to expect, but it was a small place with a few dozen people, four musicians, and three dancers. As the flamenco started up, it was hard to tell how good it was going to be, but the musicians and dancers got more nad more into what they were doing and the whole experience was fantastic.