It is difficult to believe that this grandiose buidling is the post office! It was the first sight to see when exiting from the Metro station, on our way to the Prado.
The Prado was overwhelming. It contains an immense collection of Old Masters, so many that it is very difficult to take it all in.
We focused on a few artists. I learned to enjoy Hieronymous Bosch on this trip (pictures below are from El Escorial), and the Prado has Bosch's enormous masterpiece, The Garden of Earthly Delights.
Then we viewed the large collection of El Grecos, before walking through the very classical statuary collection.
After the Prado, we visited the very large National Archeological Museum, which had a vast collection ranging from paleolithic to Gothic eras. The best parts were the Greek vases and the Roman mosaics.
Finally, tiredly, we had to recognize that our vacation was about over. We went back to our neighborhood and stopped at the local bar, where we were beset by an older, very nice gentlemen named Jose Ferrera, who was determined to talk to us even though he didn't speak English and we didn't speak Spanish. (He first thought we were German.) With the help of a kind bartender from Santo Domingo (who also didn't speak English), we had a hard-working chit-chat about Madrid and Chicago!
Then we went to a neighborhood grocery to pick up some deli fixings for dinner (and some agua con gasseosa). At the butcher's counter, we were somewhat laughlingly but vehemently beset by the butcher and his assistant and a customer who wanted to make sure we understand how much they disliked George Bush!
Then we went back to the apartment, ate our deli delights (pollo tofruda), and did a little housecleaning before going to bed for a good night's sleep.
For once, we did not have to get up at an awful hour to go to the airport. Our Iberia flight left at noon, so we had plenty of time to have our usual breakfast (bread and oranges or marmalade), return our keys to Raquel and get back our security deposit, then flag a taxi to Barajas.
The airport was packed and security was similar to Chicago's: long lines, but they seemed to move fairly quickly. Before we knew it we were on-board and headed back to the 6 inches of snow and sub-zero weather waiting for us in Chicago.
Our next trip? Who knows? I'm partial to Turkey, or we might hit the American West, where I've never been. Stay tuned!