Spain day 7/8 - The Prado Museum, then Home Again
On our last day in Spain, we went to the Prado museum, and boy am I glad we budgeted most of a day there. The Prado is enormous! We got in line for tickets right when it opened around 10am, and were inside around 10:30. I kid you not, we spent over 6 hours in this museum. We got the audioguide and hit it hard. At the start we did the audioguide wherever we could find it, but we soon realized there was no way we could do that and make it out alive, so we focused on the lengthy list of masterpieces in the pamphlet (50+?) and made it our goal to see all of them.
In hindsight this was a really ambitious goal, but it was worth it. I can't believe neither of us got bored in that time, as I never thought I'd spend that much time in an art museum, but each room (and there are over 100 rooms in this museum) held such stunning works that we couldn't give in. We did stop for lunch in the museum cafe, and somehow made it to every room in the permanent collection. Perhaps it's because we had to miss some other museums that we had the stamina to make it through.
I can't decide what my favorite painting was since there were so many that were just amazing, but it was really neat to see paintings by some very famous artists like Rembrandt, Velazquez, El Greco, and of course Goya. I kept being amazed by the fact that the paintings were real paintings and not prints because you could barely tell they had been made by a brush they were so masterful.
After our lengthy Prado stay, we took a leisurely walk in the park behind the museum. The weather was absolutely perfect, and the setting idyllic, and it was a perfect way to end the trip. We saw the crystal palace, and a handful of monuments and statues, but mostly just enjoyed the day. Then it was back to the hotel for some tea and snacks (they had complementary tea time each day at this hotel, which was a really nice touch as we were often tired and hungry around 5:00 when they started tea) and then to the train station to catch the evening high speed train back to Barcelona.
Though the trip back to Barcelona was a bit arduous - we caught the very last train to the airport, a surprisingly long shuttle bus ride to another terminal, then finally a shuttle bus to our hotel - it went smoothly. Then it was just one sleep before heading back to the airport to trek home.
Interestingly it was only a 6 hour flight from NYC to Spain, but a 9 hour flight back from Spain to Atlanta, where we had a 7.5 hour layover. Luckily we were able to purchase day passes to the Delta lounge where they had free food, drink, and Wi-Fi, as well as a quieter and more comfortable seating area than the rest of the airport. Finally, we were home, greeted enthusiastically by the cats, and more than ready for bed.
Spain wasn't originally near the top of our list of destinations, but I'm glad the cheap flight deal we got took us there, because it really is a beautiful and interesting country. I'd love to go back some day and explore more of it, and of course catch the few things we missed due to politics. Until next time, happy wandering!
In hindsight this was a really ambitious goal, but it was worth it. I can't believe neither of us got bored in that time, as I never thought I'd spend that much time in an art museum, but each room (and there are over 100 rooms in this museum) held such stunning works that we couldn't give in. We did stop for lunch in the museum cafe, and somehow made it to every room in the permanent collection. Perhaps it's because we had to miss some other museums that we had the stamina to make it through.
I can't decide what my favorite painting was since there were so many that were just amazing, but it was really neat to see paintings by some very famous artists like Rembrandt, Velazquez, El Greco, and of course Goya. I kept being amazed by the fact that the paintings were real paintings and not prints because you could barely tell they had been made by a brush they were so masterful.
After our lengthy Prado stay, we took a leisurely walk in the park behind the museum. The weather was absolutely perfect, and the setting idyllic, and it was a perfect way to end the trip. We saw the crystal palace, and a handful of monuments and statues, but mostly just enjoyed the day. Then it was back to the hotel for some tea and snacks (they had complementary tea time each day at this hotel, which was a really nice touch as we were often tired and hungry around 5:00 when they started tea) and then to the train station to catch the evening high speed train back to Barcelona.
Though the trip back to Barcelona was a bit arduous - we caught the very last train to the airport, a surprisingly long shuttle bus ride to another terminal, then finally a shuttle bus to our hotel - it went smoothly. Then it was just one sleep before heading back to the airport to trek home.
Interestingly it was only a 6 hour flight from NYC to Spain, but a 9 hour flight back from Spain to Atlanta, where we had a 7.5 hour layover. Luckily we were able to purchase day passes to the Delta lounge where they had free food, drink, and Wi-Fi, as well as a quieter and more comfortable seating area than the rest of the airport. Finally, we were home, greeted enthusiastically by the cats, and more than ready for bed.
Spain wasn't originally near the top of our list of destinations, but I'm glad the cheap flight deal we got took us there, because it really is a beautiful and interesting country. I'd love to go back some day and explore more of it, and of course catch the few things we missed due to politics. Until next time, happy wandering!
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