November 3rd – Veering off

Today we decided to go to another of the little museums around Madrid, the Museo Cerralbo.  It is a townhouse that belonged to wealthy Madrileno, named Cerralbo who lived in Madrid in the late 19^th century and was a collector of art and things beautiful.  We left early and rode the bus down to the end of the route which is within several blocks of the museum.  We had a rainy walk down through the Plaza de Espana to the museum which when we got there had people lined up out the door, around the corner, and several hundred feet down the sidewalk.  Since they only allow 60 people in at any one time we could tell that we would have a long wait in the rain.  So, change of plans, we decided to go to a locally celebrated convent, Monasterio de la Encarnation, to see their collection of art and 17^th century construction.  But we had the same problem there; they had reached their capacity and were not admitting any more people.  

So we walked up into the quarter and looked around for a place to eat.  I finally got to eat paella as the first course for my lunch and it was delicious.  We had read that many of the paellas offered in the restaurants are pre-made frozen then heated in a microwave to serve.  One does see restaurants that offer eight or nine paella variations for a single price and I suspect that these must be of the frozen variety because the required space and time to offer that many would be impossible for a small restaurant.  Ours however had only one variety, seafood mixte, and I’m pretty sure it was made in the kitchen.  What we love about the cervecerias and small bars is that they usually offer a 2 course ‘Menu del Dia’ for around 9 to 12 euros, a first and second plate plus dessert and drink, water, soft drink, or wine included.   In Denver a similar lunch would cost at least 60 bucks and here it’s under 30.  Admittedly the wine is inexpensive but a similar quality in Denver would likely be 18-25 dollars by itself.  And on top of it you would pay 15-20 percent in tips, which are also included here.  I have a basic problem in that I only remember a photo after it’s eaten.   But enough of this.

Steam powered

After lunch we wandered back to the Prado and spent a couple hours viewing the Goya rooms, Goya is certainly one of Spain’s, and the worlds, most celebrated painters.   His paintings titled 2^nd and 3^rd of May depict the 1802 uprising of Madrid against the Napoleonic occupiers and its consequences.  You can’t be prepared for the impact of them from seeing the pictures in a book, each painting is around 15 by 30 feet and everything is life size or larger, almost overwhelming.  As usual, once the museum opens for free at 6:00 pm it becomes a madhouse so we left just before 6 and headed back to the apartment.  My goal is to get the cost of each visit down to .50 euro; it’s not very likely but fun to have a goal.  If we went every day until we left we could just about make it, but as it is we are playing on house money now.