May 22, 2011

Well, it's Sunday night and our last day in Spain.  It has been great and we have covered a lot of ground.  Today we decided to visit the Prado Museum whose permanent collections include the works of Velasquez, Goya, El Greco, Rubens, Tintoreto and many Dutch painters as well.  We decided to go there first and then to the Reina Sofia Museum afterwards to see Picasso's Guernica.  We spent 4 hours in the Prado Museum and we know we only scratched the surface.  We saw many incredible works by the Masters and used the audio-guide to help direct us to the most representative works of each master.  We ordered 5 digital prints of paintings which we especially liked.  After picking up some small souvenirs in the gift shop we headed to the Reina Sofia.  Unfortunately the museum closes at 2:30 on Sunday and we missed our opportunity to get there.

We opted to go back to the cathedral to see the inside of this gothic masterpiece.  We arrived just in time for a Mass and without planning, we ended up attending Mass in the Cathedral.  Afterwards, Mario took some pictures and I said the rosary which was led by one of the women who is obviously part of the staff.  We were shooed out of the cathedral before the next Mass started as no "visiting" is allowed during Mass.

We called Pepe and agreed to meet between 8 and 8:30 for dinner.  He picked out a Belgian place which is informal and specializes in breads, cheeses and middle Eastern spreads (hummus, etc.)  Mario and I had gazpacho and the three of us shared a bottle of red wine.  It was quite relaxing and a perfect way to wrap up our last day of our trip.  Tomorrow, it will be back to reality.  Thanks for following us!