Heading back to Madrid required driving over this terrain. It wasn’t for the faint of heart. Especially when we got a wind alert and the rain we encountered was crystalizing. Yep, just like snow.
This didn’t happen to us, but it definitely looked like a mess. Bottom center was one of the workers.
Drove through a number of tunnels going through the mountains and not over them. Hard to see in my photo below, but not all of them had a concrete ceiling – just a net attached to the ceiling of mountain rock.
Within an hour of reaching Madrid we started looking for lunch options. Adrienne found this place – another winner in a somewhat small unassuming town.
Started with wine and some (home-made) potato chips? Yep, we were given them several times throughout this trip.
We continued with tapas, sharing each of the plates.
Just enough room left for three desserts to share.
Another winner for lunchtime.
Back to the Madrid airport, drop off the rental then catch a taxi to our next AirBNB. Nice place in the heart of the historic center. We did have to walk up two flights of stairs to get to our place. Man – those suitcases are getting h.e.a.v.y!
Getting access was very easy and different than most others. Halfway down the street was a small holding room for luggage, packages and also keys. We had been given the code to enter and the code for our key box – easy peasy.
We had a nice view from one of the balconies.
Our favorite Madrid tapas location………just around the corner. We became ‘regulars’.
Lest you think all we do was eat…………….we added some ‘culture’ to our visit. The Museo del Prado is the main Spanish art museum in Madrid. It houses collections of European art, dating from the 12th century to the early 20th century, based on the former Spanish royal collection, and the single best collection of Spanish art. The numerous works by Francisco Goya – the single most extensively represented artist – were some of the highlights of the collection. The collection currently comprises around 8,200 drawings, 7,600 paintings, 4,800 prints, and 1,000 sculptures.
No photos allowed inside the Prada, but we could take one outside……..
It was a journey. If I didn’t mention it yet………..we had a lot of rain, I’m talking a lot of rain. Drenching, soaking through your clothes kind of rain. Adrienne packed an umbrella, but we had to make a double purchase. BTW – so cheap, they stayed in Spain in our last rental for the next inhabitants.
Another day we visited Museo Arqueologico Nacional.
The museum was founded in 1867 as a depository for numismatic, archaeological, ethnographical and decorative art collections of the Spanish monarchs. Its current collection is based on pieces from the Iberian Peninsula, from Prehistory to Early-Modern Age. Visitors enter the building at basement level, and pass to the prehistory section. We you move up through the building, artifacts become closer to our current time on earth.
It really was an interesting museum. Eric enjoyed the Prado Museum, I enjoyed this one more. They had really great displays, interactive, video and narrative and as mentioned above, this was based on the Iberian Peninsula – not something I had ever studied. We spent too much time on the Pre-history section where you first entered.
Culling through my photos, there were way too many and not nearly as interesting as actually being there. One thing that stuck out as we moved upward in the museum (and upward in ages) were their rooms of mosaics. These things were massive. A great many had been framed & supported and placed on walls. The photo below was one of them.
One last photo outside in the museum garden.
What is a blogging trip without some flowers?
Darden Travels 