Day 8

The best day of the trip

Again I awoke to the young Dracula’s ending their night of bacchanalian excess (oh gosh I sound old) and heading back into their coffins but this time I went back to sleep and slept until 10:00 am. Off we went to Starbucks. Oh yes, Starbucks. One can only stand so much frou-frou coffee with milk in it before it can no longer be taken. Finding this Starbucks less than a block for our hotel last evening prompted Ann to ask why I had not told her it was there. Never having been in this city or area before, my only answer was, “Sorry Ann”, which calmed her immeasurably. I HAVE learned something in 39 years of marriage. A grande black drip made me happy in a very caffeinated way.

Being Sunday morning we went to the Prado Museum, the jewel of Madrid by walking up the Passo del Prado, strolling along the tree-lined, wide avenue to get there. It is free on Sunday as Ann had researched. We waited in another horrendous line but fortunately it moved much faster than yesterday at the Royal Palace. When we arrived at the ticket window they wanted $9 each for us to enter. It is free after five o’clock in the afternoon. Rats.

When I was in Copenhagen for a semester at college in 1968, I took the course “European Art and Architecture of the Renaissance”. I enjoyed the class (which included field trips to the Louvre and the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam) but now realize how thankful I am that I took it. Looking at Raphael, Fra Angelico, Titian, Velazquez, Tintoretto, Bosch and Ruebens, stirred a latent interest in renaissance art. By far the most interesting was El Greco, certainly my favorite artist of the time. Two hours there allowed us to selectively see everything we wished. It was a wonderful experience. The Goya paintings were a new experience for me and quite interesting since some related to the Spanish War of Independence.

Culture out of the way we headed for some fun in the sun at the Plaza Santa Ana for tapas and beer. The entire plaza was a mass of tables and chairs - unfortunately all previously filled with people showing no interest in leaving in the near future. BUT, we found a table, in the shade to boot. This guy at the adjacent table said it was occupied. Yea right - it was empty, wasn’t it? I was angry. The table next to it was empty too but in the blazing sun. We took it anyway then soon were able to move to a table in the shade next to “that man”. To make a long story short we became best of friends with the six of them, three men and three women – from Norway. “That man” and Ann , along with the rest of us, talked for two hours through drinking and tapas. I don’t even think Ann realized she had two large beers. Exchanging cards with these real estate agents from south of Oslo, I think Ann worked out an exchange deal with them for next year. I will wait and see about that! That was a classic Sunday afternoon in Madrid. We were Madrilenos for a day.

After a short rest we headed out again to the metro. A greater mass of humanity I have rarely seen. People were everywhere; cars were in total gridlock on the gigantic roundabout Carlos V. What is going on? This is the big celebration of Spanish heritage parade with blasting music and a parade of each Spanish country in the world. Up the Paseo del Prado the parade continued seemingly forever. Members of the parade were in their colorful national dress whirling in national dances. What a celebration into the night.