Entry 3 from Madrid

Hola!

Well, we are starting to really feel like Madrileños now! We have been all over the main part of the city and have been taking in lots of tourist and local sights. This first week has been a really great introduction to the city and to life in Spain.

Yesterday we visited the Prado, one of Europe's largest art museums. I have to say, it is pretty special to be able to tour the world's great museums with your own personal art historian! I'm a very lucky man! Jen gave us an incredible tour to this museum's incredible painting collection. The Prado's collection is mainly centered around 16th and 17th century paintings, and we saw many by Velasquez, Goya, and El Greco. I enjoyed it and the kids were really great - they tromped around that museum for several hours without any complaining; well, OK - not much!

Some of my favorites were:
Bosch's "Garden of Earthly Delights"

Goya's "The 3rd of May"














Velasquez's "Las Meninas"


















and Medrazo's "Countess of Vilches".

Max got a kick out of what we called the "Lactating Marys". He really thought those were funny. I am truly more of modern art aficionado and I am really looking forward to visiting the Reina Sofía and seeing Picasso, Miro, etc.

We have been enjoying the local food. The jamón here is delicious, especially the jamón ibérico, the ham from the Iberian pig, said to be the best in Spain. We have also enjoyed the pulpo - octopus prepared in various ways. Max even likes it! Maddy, our little culinary adventurer, loves it of course. The tapas are delicious and great ways to sample lots of different foods. We've also visited a couple of Irish pubs with David and Linda which has been fun. It almost feels like we are back home at the Black Sheep, only smaller and smokier!

Today I start some music adventures. I'm heading over to Juan Carlos's this morning and I plan to check out a flamenco concert at a club tonight. Finally, the holidays and Sunday have passed (we had 3 of the past 4 days that smaller shops were closed) so I'm also going to scope out at least 3 flamenco shops today - can't wait!

Adios!