I found myself awake quite early again today. Even though it was after 5am this time I am still looking forward to being able to sleep in until a bit later, maybe about 6 or 7 would be nice. Having said that I did not jump straight in and start writing my blog, I suppose my body is gradually adapting to being on the other side of the world.
The kids slept in a bit longer. We headed down to breakfast in this very flash hotel about 8.30 to be greeted by silver cutlery, a man pouring us coffee at our table, 'con leche senor?', 'si, gracias' says I only to have hot milk added to our morning constitutional. HOT. Magnificent I tell you.
Of course the brekky was a full buffet and wonderful. I had coffee poured for me by a man with a white towel draped across his arm no less than on 3 separate occasions during the meal. I was going for more but Monica made me stop.
The head waiter was a lovely fella, he was very patient with our Spanish, spoke English very well of course and encouraged our kids to us the local tongue. He very graciously prompted them and taught them some key things to say and when to do so as well. It was very welcoming and a positive addition to a lovely moment on our journey so far.
After breakfast we strolled down a tree lined avenue in the middle of the main road that sort of disects Madrid, the Paseo de la Castellana. It took us about 35 or 40 minutes to reach the main part of Madrid, not that we were really walking very fast. It was just such a beautiful morning and such a pleasant thing to do that we took our time. We thougt a good place to start in the Spanish capital was the Museo de Prado. We were right.
The Prado is the most famous Museum in Spain and one of the most important in Europe. It houses many millions of dollars worth of art particularly works by Goya, Valazquez and Ruebens. It was stunning. The overwhelming theme that I was presented with though was nudity. Man there are a lot of naked people, mostly ladies, in museums. There were enough naked men to make Zoe uncomfortable and we tried to assure her that when it was 'art' naked sculptures and paintings were okay. It was all a good bit of fun. Harry has decided if they are 200 years old or older then looking at images of naked ladies is perfectly fine, indeed probably an important thing to do as part of your education, I agreed, his mother gave us cautious approval.
A great moment though was when I was explaining a particularly important painting to Zoe. We each had audio guides, those electronic devices that you hold to your ear which give you info regarding what you are looking at. This of course made me an instant expert. After hearing the commentary on 'Las Meninas' by Velazquez I was explaining to Zoe how the picture was framed, who was in it, why it was important and how wonderful it was to be in the same space as such an iconic art work. She replied, 'Yeah dad, I know I listened to the commentary. Did you know that there are 11 horses and 26 dogs in this room?' Priorities. She is an animal lover my girl, she loved the Prado because of the high number of animals depicted in art. Didn't really care at all whether Goya had captured the ephemeral nature of leadership with blurred brush strokes or whether a painting had hung in Napolean's palace but she counted every dog, horse, chicken and lamb in the joint. She may not know art but she knows what she likes. A beautifully innocent moment from a lovely little girl.
After leaving the Prado we hooked up with Sam and Ellen, my sister Jackie's two oldest kids. They are currently travelling and living in Europe and Ellen is on her way back to Aus after this visit to Madrid tomorrow. We met up with them after lunch and spent the afternoon with them. It was truly wonderful to see family in such a distant place. It was more wonderful to see what fine young people the have become. At 21 and 22 they are a credit to Jackie and Des.
We wandered together through the Parque del Retiro and looked at the Palacio de Cristal and spent about half an hour looking for the Palacio de Velazquez which ended up being about 200 metres from the Crystal Palace. The trees were pretty big. Walking through that park though just reminded me how much I love Europe in summer. The grounds, the hedges, the trees, the grass, the locals, the lakes and fountains, the hot afternoons. I can already feel the pressure of life and work sliding away as I breathe in the joy that is being on the continent in July. If you haven't been over here, come.
By about 3pm we returned to our hotel for our siesta. We all slept solid through to 7pm and got up to meet Ellen and Sam for tapas and mojitos at Plaza Mayor at 8. The tapas was great, the mojitos and San Miguels flowed freely and as we made our way back to our hotel after 11pm the evening had finally cooled to the late 20's, perfect weather. As we went off to bed the locals were still very much being served meals and sitting and chatting late into the night. They know how to live these Spaniards.
Another beautiful day on our adventure over and done. My Spanish had opportunity to flow a little fit more freely, particularly after a couple of beers, we had a great day on a foreign shore and I fall happily to sleep anticipating more of the delights of this magnificent town on the morrow.
Buen Camino Peregrinos.
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