Day 99 of 111. Madrid, Spain

One of the biggest attractions of this overland trip was the chance to spend some time in the Prada Museum. Unfortunatly, absolutely no photographs were allowed inside the museum. Ron had a list in his head of the masterpieces he was hoping to see and I think we saw at least 10 of them. Our guide was knowledgeable and we learned a lot about the Spanish painters, Velasquez (who did the painting above), Goya and Murillo. We also saw paintings by Rembrandt and Ron’s favorite El Greco (he was born on Crete in a house just a few miles from where we docked in Iraklion).


Paintings caught our eyes. “Fable” (Paul’s choice) by El Greco shows a boy blowing on an ember. The boy is surrounded by a monkey and a man with a foolish expression. I was attracted by the interesting use of light. A picture that impressed Ron was “The 3rd of May in Madrid” or “The Executions” by Goya which commemorates the Spanish Resistance to Napoleon during the Peninsular War in 1808. Goya painted the picture in 1814.