The picture doesn't at all do it justice - the interior was magnificent, with fabulous pictures and stained glass and exceptional pink marble all around the dome, purportedly the lasgested domed structure known to man. The story goes that when it was built it was examined by the then "department of works" who found that the columns as planed would not hold the dome, so the architect had to rethink. Apparently, in those days you could still correct an architect!
I had to return to the Restaurant Botin for another try at their food - the roast lamb this time, accompanied by a splendid glass of Spanish red, preceeded by garlic soup with egg and followed by their special cake. So much for having to eat at 9:30 - I probably should never eat again!
Perhaps because the trip was coming to a close, I was very aware of the street decorations on every wall and building. The following are but a few examples.
I closed out the afternoon by returning to Atocha Station, where there was an exhibit of photographs from a train trip from St Petersburg to Vladivostok, just the one I want to take! That was happenstance, though; I actually went to see the memorial for those killed in the bombing in the station in 2004, which Hank and I had missed on our first visit.
And then home, to an evening with Wine and Kindle (what a godsend that has been. I have been totally amused on all those Metro lines, having long ago learned not to miss my stop)
No pictures today, as I spent the whole day - or at least 5 1/2 hours - revisiting the Prado, this time with audio guide. I have still only barely scratched the surface. Of note: tucked away in a corner of the museum upstairs where perhaps 30 pictures by the young Goya, when he was still cheerful and optimistic. Of particular irony, especially given his later pictures, was a charming one called "Boys Playing at Soldiers". Also of note were what were called "cabinet paintings", basically drafts - but done in full oil on canvas - for a lot of the murals and other large works done by the greats. It was fascinating to see how much work went into even the drafts.
Given that I clearly couldn't see everything, I concentrated on the Spanish painters, so I saw about every El Greco, Goya, Velazquez, Murillo and others in the museum. It will have to do.
Before the day started, though, I ran into two markets, near the Metro station. One, a produce market, was huge, and the variety of wares would put Granville Island to shame. The other was a clothing market, where, in spite of my resolve, I bought two pairs of shoes. I've already jettisoned one pair of old ones, and another was going to get tossed anyway, so I will have room..
More general notes: I saw a horrific car accident today, the third that I have seen. The roundabouts are great when they work, but when people get impatient or forget that the center has the right of way, it is horrible. I have been trying to listen to the news in Spanish. I probably get every fifth word, but since their news cycle repeats as ours does, and it comes illustrated, I think it is helping my language skills. In any event, it appears some things are the same the world over. The weather, for example. I almost didn't go out yesterday, as the weather report said is was going to be beastly out. Either I was wrong (possible) or the weatherman was wrong (probable); the weather was a glorious fall day. They have bait cars here, to trap the auto thieves (they are immensely helped by the cameras which seem to be everywhere). TThey have street racing. They have people pie-ing politicians. And protests are increasing (I ran into another one yesterday) about the economic conditions and against the bailouts of banks, not people.
I'll sign off now for a few days. I'll be mostly at home, doing laundry, cleaning the house, and, of course, doing the marathon trip home. I will let you know when I am back in Vancouver, and what the verdict is on continuing the blog. It is still time to get your votes (no tweets please) in!
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