Our first day in Madrid started with a short bus trip to the Museo Nacional de Prado.  

The guides we had read had stated that you would spend about 2 hours here. We might not know a Rubens from a Rembrandt, but two and a half hours later, we were still wandering—and still not done with the must-sees!

It is quite something looking at paintings by Rembrandt, Rubens, Goya etc, learning about their composition, style, subject, not to mention the artist’s back story all while being very aware that you are looking at something painted hundreds of years ago. 

After a not too successful lunch and now late lunch break we took a walk to and around El Retiro park. A park originally built in the 1600s as part of a royal retreat for the Spanish monarchy. It’s a beautiful and expansive park and being a Saturday, it was filled with tourists, but also locals and families picnicking and enjoying the not so hot afternoon (only 31 degrees) in the shade of the trees.

After a short rest back at our Airbnb we returned to the centre of Madrid for a food and flamenco walking tour. 

Arantxa took us to a Flamenco store that had been running since 1943 (the owner is still alive as she started here business when she’s was 14). Here we learnt about what goes into putting together a Flamenco costume. It was also possible to be a bit of a voyeur watching locals fitting and purchasing their outfits. 

Our next stop was a restaurant where we had some Cava and an individual charcuterie board of the various hams and cheeses. We were also further schooled in the art of flamenco. This background and understanding made such a difference at our next stop, Las Caboneras. Here, over drinks and tapas, we watched a Flamenco show.  It was over an hour of intense story telling through music, song and dance. What the stories were we certainly didn’t know but one felt the emotions that were communicated through these mediums. I certainly had always seen flamenco as a joyous dance but it turns out that it’s much more sombre portraying more heartbreak and sorrow then celebrating joy, although there is still that element to it in certain songs. 

How the dancers kept going was beyond us as they danced to a song and then clearly improvised with the single guitar playing for around 15mins per song. 

After saying goodbye to our local guide and fellow group members we searched and found some Gelato before making our way home, tired but it had been another great day. 

Roy