Spain: Day VII (Madrid)

Tuesday, August 9^th:

Retiro Lake and the Monument to Alfonso XII Inside Buen Retiro Park:

            Another day in paradise! I still can’t get over how much I have lucked out on weather on my entire trip. I think I can count the days it has rained on one hand! Today was another awesome day, and perfect because we got to relax a lot. Max slept in again while Collins and I decided to head to the Museo del Prado.

            The Prado Museum ended up being far larger than I had thought, and I was definitely impressed. The museum showcased some of my favorite artists’ works, including many by Goya, Velázquez, and Bosch. Many of these works are extremely dark and odd, which is in stark comparison to much of the work I have seen on my trip so far. It was definitely a breath of fresh air seeing modern art again after spending so much time observing classical Christian themes. We spent the majority of the morning here before deciding to enjoy the sunshine outdoors.

Crystal Palace Inside Buen Retiro Park:

            We decided that for the rest of the day we would wander around the massive Buen Retiro Park in Madrid’s city center. Just before entering the park, we grabbed an outdoor table to fuel up called Harina. I ate a delicious chicken and dried fruit salad with goat cheese. Love the food around here! The Buen Retiro Park is absolutely enormous, and it was truly beautiful to spend such a nice day wandering around enjoying the sunshine. Some of the highlights were the Crystal and Velázquez Palace buildings inside the park. Both of these buildings have little function outside of being works of art and small greenhouses. Sunflower seeds in hand, we also got to watch a traditional Spanish dance lesson, complete with traditional dress and music. It was quite the treat!

San Miguel and San Benito Church from Buen Retiro Park:

            It was really nice to relax today, as I was starting to feel pretty run down after bouncing between sights in different cities all around the continent. We had planned on going out again tonight, but after starting to not feel too great I decided it was a better idea to get a good nights sleep before an early rise to head to Paris in the morning. Matt and Max decided they were going to paint the town red, and by the 4am drunken knocks on the door, I knew they had accomplished that feat. Oh well, Adiós España!