Back to the land of the 7 euro breakfast, and we were off an running to yet another museum! Today it was the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum. This turned out to be my favorite in Madrid. For one thing, you can take photos of pretty much anything you want! I am posting my favorite works of art. The first is by some French dude named Renoir.
Then there is Van Gogh. He’s not too shabby.
I’ve never heard of this guy before (Theo van Rysselberghe), but I love the colors and the Maritime theme.
This was so stunning in person. The photo doesn’t do it justice. Another guy I’ve never heard of before (Maximilien Luce).
Now we have my 2 favorite pieces in the gallery, by somebody who is also new to me, John Atkinson Grimshaw. The use of light and intricate detail is amazing! You can’t see any brushstrokes….I don’t know how he did it. I would love to have these in my house!
Another Renoir. Looks like a field in Livermore!
This is Sundown at Yosemite by Albert Bierstadt. This guy was a mountaineer AND a painter. There is a 14,000+ foot peak in Colorado named after him that I hiked with Fletcher when he was 6 years old. This is the first time I’ve seen his art. I love this gallery!
Time for the bizzare. This is Salvador Dali, and the piece is called Dream Caused by the Flight of a Bee around a Pomegranate a Second before Waking up. Just to be clear, the hallucinogenic properties of LSD were discovered in 1943, and this was painted in 1944. Coincidence?
I loved the broken window and the glass shards showing the view from before it was broken. Very cool painting! Thanks Rene Magritte!
We had our 7 euro breakfast and went across the street to the Prado Museum. No lines when you have to pay! Pretty amazing museum….way too large to see on one visit, so we stuck to the most famous pieces. I was able to snap a photo of what turned out to be my favorite piece in the museum, Bosch’s “The Garden of Earthly Delights”. What an amazing piece of intricate and bizzare artwork! This is worth looking up on Wikipedia and exploring more in depth. Proof positive that really good weed existed back in 1490!
I was attempting to take a good photo of Bosch’s “The Last Judgement” when an employee started reading me the riot act in Spanish. Apparently there are no photos allowed in the museum? WTF? I wasn’t using my flash or anything. Anyways, this is the only shot I got from here. I think they want you to buy their 50 euro 25 lb book on the way out. Thanks….the internet has lots of photos, and I don’t have to haul that around Europe with me!
Regardless, the Prado Museum is well worth the visit. After we tired of looking at art, we headed to the San Miguel Market, a very famous place to get Tapas and beer/wine. Nearly impossible to find a place to sit, we were able to snag a little corner of bar to eat our Tapas. You want a cone of meat? No problem!
A big old hunk of burrata. Easy peasy!
Great food, but very crowded. Check it out when you are here! We got a bottle of decent Albarino here for 21 euros. Love the wine culture here!
This guy was performing in the famous Plaza Mayor. More wine culture! Ok, wine “glass” culture.
Then we were off to the Royal Palace of Madrid, which is still the home for the royal family. Here is a shot of the exterior. Kind of stark in my opinion. No plants? No color?
Pretty cool armory here, considered one of the best collections of medieval armory in the world. Again with the “no photos” BS, but I took a couple of shots regardless. I just love the armor for the dog!
I don’t know who had it worse….the knight or the horse. I can’t imagine wearing all of that armor. I find it inconvenient to go skiing simply because of all the gear!
Here is a shot of the royal gardens adjacent to the palace. They bought up all the land when they first built the palace so they wouldn’t have to look at poor people. Finally some color!
Here is a portrait of the current royal family. It’s ok to take a photo of that!
This is a panoramic shot of the ceiling in the main staircase entering the palace. Everybody was taking photos so I guess this is also ok.
The rest of the palace was just as austentacious, although I admit the “Porcelain and Glass Room” was pretty cool. Every panel was made of porcelain, and the vines you see entwined cover all of the seams. Truly beautiful room! I didn’t take this shot….there were museum employees trained by the Mossad who were ready to take me out of I pulled out my phone. Thanks Google!
Here is the church adacent to the palace where the royals can convientely get redemption for all of the sins they plan for the day. For you from California, those are called rain clouds in the background.
We ended the day with dinner at Botin, the “oldest restaurant in the world”, according to Guiness (the record book, not the beer). This restaurant was founded in 1725. We had the “world famous” suckling pig. It was pretty good, but not something I think I’d order again. Here is the kitchen where the pigs meet their ultimate demise.
