The Prado and Sorolla Museums were my main reason for visiting Madrid. They are both excellent museums, but different in nature. Sorolla Museum was his home and studio and focuses on his work only, while the Prado is a the large modern musem most of us know. My reason for going to the Prado was to see the works of Goya, and those of Diego Velasquez.
We were immediately distracted by one of two special exhibitions featuring small paintings. This was an intensely good exhibition. It was a thrill to see an self-portrait by Durer, dressed as a nobleman. He looked right into you with a little mischeif in his eye. An interesting painting by a followerer of Bosch called "Landscape of Hell", and an interesting round format multiple painting by Bosch himself called "The Seven Deadly Sins". A series of paintings by David Tenier (will have to look up that spelling) about monkeys was delightful and made us smile. All of his paintings were lighthearted and well painted. He was my favorite discovery in the Prado.
Tired from hours in the museum, we went home for a siesta, before walking to La Latina section of Madrid. It's the oldest section of Madrid with narrow streets and the real neighborhood feeling.
Eventually we wound up in Botin, the oldest restaurant in the world - 1725, so says the Guiness Book of Records.
I was going to get roasted suckling pig, but a man from Virginia said it was good but layers of fat inyertwined. We opted for a filet, twice the size of any I've ever seen. Best steak I've ever had, and with a mushroom sauce. Martin told us to eat well.
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