Day 6 Madrid

Started off the morning with an espresso and a baguette with butter and cheese. Isn't it great when you can get a good baguette? Anyway, we headed straight off to what is called El Rastro. It's a huge Sunday flea market. It's supposed to be one of the must-do's on a Sunday in Madrid. I read a bunch of reviews and people either hate it or love it; there's not many in betweens. We tried to get there early but it didn't make a difference, it was already packed. The flea market started at the top of a hill and looking down I saw nothing but tents and people for as far as I could see. I said let's just do it and see what happens, so we waded in. It was no fun at all, but it was fascinating. For blocks and blocks it was tents with not much more than clothes, shoes, and accessories. This was pretty dull except there were so many people participating. After a half hour or so we got to the end and started back up a side road which was lined with at least a hundred antique merchants that had all their wares outside, and I mean these were real antiques, even older than Sylvia. (I just put that in to see if she really reads this gunk.) Anyhow, it was a pretty interesting event and I would recommend it if someone happens to be in Madrid on a Sunday; do go and have the patience to see it all and get ready to have a drink afterwards. It's worth a couple of hours.

Next up was the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum, but on the way we stopped for lunch at a small cafe between Sol and Plaza Mayor. Sylvia had chicken and I had cuttlefish which was tough. We got to the museum around 3 and walked right in with no wait at all. The Thyssen is the second biggest private art collection in the world, just behind the British Royal Collection. This is a serious collection that is really well organized and includes all the biggies, Rubens, Van Dyke, Rembrandt, Monet, Renoir, van Gogh, etc. I really enjoy the Dutch and Flemish artists and there were plenty of them. What surprised me was how much North American art was on display. It was really, really good. I love the National Gallery in DC, but this was way more structured than that. I just wander around the National Gallery. Also, it was strange there was hardly any Spanish artists, a little Picasso, Dali, El Greco and a few I don't know, but that's it. I'd go back, no problem. We've still got to do the Prado which should be awesome.

For dinner we went down the street to restaurant Bazaar. We shared an excellent goose mousse with goat cheese. Sylvia had duck breast with some kind of sauce and I had a veal cheek cannelloni with the same sauce. Both very good except for the sauce. For dessert we had a something Madagascar, essentially ice cream and stuff which was very good. It was a pretty good experience that could have been better if we had ordered differently. We chatted with an interesting gentleman seated next to us, which was fascinating because here was a Chinese man, from France, in Spain, speaking English. Pretty cool.

Tomorrow we try the Royal Palace and Mercado San Miguel again.

El Rastro