After a couple days in Madrid, the first two weeks of this trip have faded to some serious farmer’s tan, no problems walking up hills, and a little less belly fat than before. Oh yeah, and an entirely different angle on viewing life. Today was another hot one. So warm, that Paula and I decided to spend most of the day indoors. It’s Museum Day! My view on museums changed when Paula and I went to Washington DC a few years ago. She asked me to give her a list of museums to hit and I gave her 14. In four days. Since then, I try to keep it to one museum a day, but hit it hard. Since today was so warm, we went for two. Sue me.

First was the Reina Sofia Museum. Amazing. It’s more contemporary art and most well-known for housing the incredible Guernica by Picasso. Offhand, I can think of three pieces of art made by man that have just blown me away. The Sistine Chapel and David, both by Michelangelo; and Guernica. It’s a huge (11 feet by 25 feet) canvas and probably one of the most powerful anti-war, anti-fascist paintings ever. Words don’t do it justice. But also, the museum has tons of other interesting exhibits, and they were using old media – film projectors and slide projectors – to show them. It just feels like Spain has been so cutting-edge when it comes to contemporary and modern art.

We weren’t allowed to take many pictures, but I snuck one of Guernica. Look below for a couple of videos as well.

As we headed back to our hotel, our street had been turned into a fun art market for about three blocks. We wandered and purchased a couple of things. Just another day in Madrid.

Next up was the Prado, a more prestigious museum for sure but not nearly as “fun.” As Paula says, “You can only see so many Pietas.” But it did have one of my favorites from the early period: my man Heironymous Bosch. I have no clue how he painted what he did in the early 1500s, but he did. Not only that, but wiki says he was a fairly popular painter who got a lot of work. Sadly, almost none of it survived, but the triptych The Garden of Earthly Delights did. The Prado has quite a bit of El Bosco’s work. They wouldn’t let me take pictures, but they did direct me to the museum website where I could download images. Bosch below. Reminder that these paintings were done in the early 1500s, a good 400 years before some guy named Dali started doing his own stuff. You’ll have to zoom in on these wild rides.

Just before dinner, we met up with Janet1 and her sister, Annette, for a drink. As they were leaving, I made the mistake of calling her Carmen. “Will!” She said. “Carmen is for work. Janet is for fun!”

Last full day in Madrid is tomorrow. We’re probably going to wander El Rastro, the huge Sunday flea market that takes over several blocks near us, I might do some laundry. Fun enough for you? I promise we’ll make it interesting.

-Will