Madrid

We have decided to spend one long day in Madrid and will concentrate on the art. On the metro by 9am we are caught up in the rush hour and become victims of a pickpocket who removes our camera. Fortunately we have tried to make sure that we download the photos to the laptop each evening so we have not lost anything that is not replaceable. Although John confronts the man who he suspects of being the thief a search of his bag shows that he must have passed the camera on to an accomplice.

Although angry we decide not to let this ruin our day and once off the metro we head down the Gran Via, in the rain, turn right at Banco de España and head for the Museo de Prada where we spend four hours trying to understand the paintings on show mostly originating from the 16th to the early 19th century - the audio guide proves helpful as we study Rafael, Caracci, El Bosco, Velazquez, Goya, Rubens, El Greco – plenty of female nudes as these paintings, the guide explains, were mostly commissioned as the acceptable erotic art of their day using religious and classical themes for validation.

The Prada is obviously investing heavily in the young and we encounter school groups of twenty to thirty children (some as young as five or six) being given the opportunity to experience great art with the support of their personal guide.

The rain clears and by early afternoon we take a break and picnic in the Parque del Buen Retiro where there is no shortage of benches. Even in the changeable weather locals are strolling and jogging during their extended lunch hour.

Back to the galleries and into the Centro de Arte Reina Sofia and the art of Spain from the 19th and 20th century. Plenty of Dali, Picasso and Miró with one high spot being Guernica with many of the preparatory sketches and a collection centred on the Spanish Civil War.

In another room they are showing a short film by Bũnuel and John is taken back to his university days when the local art college where big into Goddard and Bũnuel and it was definitely the place to take and impress a new girlfriend. A foray into the upper floors finds us in an installation, a dark tunnel of noise and subdued lighting, it leaves us bemused and we thought Bũnuel was difficult to understand.

Enough of art for now and since the shops are beginning to open again we head for Sol to get another camera and then, after a snack in plaza, we tour a little of the city to take some photos as a reminder of what we have seen. Madrid is definitely a capital city. It has an elegance and confidence which we did not find in Barcelona. The wide avenues with excellent traffic control make it easy to wander amongst and view the many grand buildings which line the city’s streets many of which are topped with intricate roofs and statues.