MUSEO DE PRADO

---

Day 3 – May 6

We managed to get a bit of an earlier start, or at least we got down to breakfast sooner so the hot items were available, but the breakfast room was crowded.

A muse about travelers

This is my first muse or aside for this blog and it was inspired by this morning at breakfast and the last couple of days on the metro. The short version is that people are simply rude no matter what country they are from. It is not reserved for New Yorkers or US citizens, but other nationalities can just step right up to the plate and take their lumps with the rest of us. That is not to say that the people of Madrid our rude, but rather it is a commentary on those that are tourists. You see it all the time in New York, tourists, own the world and literally on one else matters but them. It is not much different here, tourists are just jerks. I hope and pray they we stay out of this category, but alas, when your tired and struggling with the language, your filters sometimes don’t work. I do think what Jerry and I are much better tourists than most for a couple of reasons 1) we always try to speak as much of the host language as possible 2) we try and remember what we hate about tourists in New York, and do the opposite 3) we just are mindful that there are other people in this world besides ourselves and it isn’t all about us.

This was really evident at breakfast this morning and at the Prado. It is amazing what pigs people can be when it comes to unlimited access to food. I believe some of them were feeding their children for the entire day to save money, while others, just didn’t care that anyone else might want to eat something as well. At the Prado people just wouldn’t move, only they need to see the art because others are not important and god forbid you would look up from your phone to see an amazing Velázquez or Rembrandt in front of you. They ban cameras in the museum why don’t they just ban phones as well, it’s not like everyone isn’t taking pictures with their phones.

The Prado

Now that the muse, or perhaps rant, is behind me, I can continue with our day. Most of it was spent at the Prado, truly one of the world’s great museums. But like all museums I have my art limit. It is not that I do not appreciate art, it is just very hard to absorb that many different periods of art and artists. My brain hurts after a few hours. We had the Madrid Pass so sailed right in shortly after opening. Without the pass you got to stand in the rain for at least an hour. Avoiding the lines alone is worth the price of the Madrid Pass or any city Pass.

The Prado has a very large collection of art spanning many centuries, styles and artists. The Fodor’s guide gave you the top six paintings you had to see and the museum had a list of 50 that they recommended. We did both and only one of the top 6 was not on display. We were not allowed to take pictures so I have no visuals for you and I cannot even begin to describe what we saw. I can tell you that Goya was the main featured artist (obviously because he is Spanish), they also had works by Titian, Raphael, Rembrandt, El Greco, Velazquez, Rubens and many more. While it is overwhelming it is overwhelming in a different way than the Louvre, you can actually see most of the Prado in one day (unless you want to do the audio and listen to every description of every piece on display that would likely take a month) whereas the Louvre you would kill yourself just trying to see the main part in a day. The Prado is also limited mostly to painting, while the Louvre has all art forms and much older works on display.

I enjoyed the museum, Jerry probably more so than me, since I tend to like the impressionist of France much more than the what was displayed here in the Prado. It is however a must see while in Madrid and is one of 4 or 5 we will be visiting while here.

Connected to the Prado is the Jeronimos building which houses special exhibits and the cloister. This was a quiet place of reflection for King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella. Now it is enclosed in a modern building and is a quiet place of reflection from the bustle of the Main Museum.

Lunch

When we left the museum the rain and begun, a pretty consistent and heavy rain, but not bad enough to keep us from the next stop which was lunch. The original destination was Casa Alberto on Called de Huertas. Above this restaurant Cervantes penned part of Don Quixote. We did not eat there, not because it wasn’t good, but it was small and seemed very busy already so instead we went across the street to El Caldero, a nice restaurant specializing ne Murcian and Madrid Specialties. They had several paella and rice dishes on the menu, but most were full of seafood and made with seafood stock, so given the clam allergy this was not an option. We did have a good lunch. I started with Octopus Croquettes and Jerry had a wonderful dish of artichokes cooked in olive oil onions and garlic, it was very good. Next we both had a tomato based salad, Jerry’s was full of tuna, white fish, onions and olives, mine was roasted red peppers and onions. We had a nice bottle of Conde de Valdemar Rioja wine.

It was a nice lunch, and forced us to use mostly Spanish, as almost none of the staff spoke English, or at least didn’t really want to, which is fine, it’s their country they can speak whatever they want. This was especially true when we wanted to ask them the name of the after lunch aperitif they brought. We managed to ask them to write it down, it is called Karlova, which is similar in a way to lemoncello but not as much lemon and much thicker like a syrup.

Least if forget dessert before I move on, Jerry had a chocolate roulade and I had a caramel custard bread pudding. Both were good and needed to be walked off. By the end of lunch, the rain had stopped we did a short walking tour of the Barrio de Las Letras area, which historically is where the writers and playwrights hung out. Now it is a posh and trendy neighborhood full of “thumping” nightlife, that is there word not mine. We strolled by another house were Cervantes lived and in fact died and Casa Museo Lope de Vega, who was a contemporary of William Shakespeare but the Spanish version. We did not tour but did go into look at the inner courtyard.

That was the end of the day and it was 5:30 already so we headed back to home base for a bit of rest before dinner. While I blogged Jerry went and made reservations for tomorrow night at a Flamenco club just a few blocks from us. Tonight we are eating at the oldest Restaurant in Spain and one of the 10 oldest in the world, some say the oldest, but we know better as we ate at the oldest in Salzburg Austria. It is called Botin a favorite hangout of Ernest Hemmingway when in Madrid.

Botin

We arrived early to the restaurant but they had a table for us anyway, well almost. The reservation was under White, I think I need to come up with an easier last name. The restaurant is several floors each with its own kitchen, the main kitchen is on the ground floor. We were first taken to the second floor and the table they were going to seat us at was in the process of being commandeered by another couple, who had a bad table right by the busy doorway. They offered us that table, but we asked if there was something else. We waited about 15 minutes for another table to open, and I am glad we did, much quieter section of the restaurant in what one can only assume use to be the wine cellar. We were in a room off the main dining area on this floor. Only three tables two 4 tops and 1 two top. One table had 2 couples from France the other two couples for New York and unfortunately all they talked about was politics, Donald this, Hillary that, all of which is the last thing I want to hear on vacation.

Fortunately, they were done soon and left, but replaced by 4 men from Sweden. They were fine and didn’t’ talk about politics didn’t talk about much of anything. Enough of that, as I said earlier this restaurant was first opened in 1725 and has been in operation ever since. It was also one of Hemmingway’s favorite restaurants. The food is very traditional and very meat based. We ordered a very good bottle of Rioja a Muga Gran Reserva labeled Prado Enea, it was a 2006 vintage and it was big and bold. It went perfect with Jerry’s steak and my Roast baby Lamb (ok I thought a lamb was a baby so I am confused.) I will get right to the meal:

Jerry:

Started with Ensalada riojana; basically a Spanish version of a Nicoise, and with the best tomatoes of the trip. His entrée was a Solomillo a la pancha also known as a filet mignon, cooked a perfect medium rare and deliciously seasoned. His dessert was Tarta Botin, a cake with custard filling and meringue on top.

Chris:

I started with Gazpacho made in the traditional way with all of the sides. My entrée was cordero asado, roasted lamb. I also ordered a side of Alcachofas salteadas con jamon iberico (sautéed artichoke hearts with iberico ham.) My dessert was an apple tart.

After dinner we walked to the Opera, which is across plaza de oriente in front of the Royal Palace. It was a nice evening and the after dinner walk is always a good thing. We then headed home on the metro. For a Friday night in Madrid it is actually pretty tame, but I am sure that all of the hot spots are in places outside of the older section of the city.

Tomorrow is our last full day in Madrid before we head to Lisbon. Already seems like we have been gone a long time, but only because each day is pretty full.

---

Photos

San Jeronimo el Real
Once the private church of the Royals