The gems of Madrid are undisputedly its museums and we were lucky to be able to visit the 2 big ones - Centro del Arte Reina Sofia and the Museo del Prado.
The Reina Sofia is well-known for Picasso's Guernica but it didnt speak to me as I felt detached from the Spanish civil war. However, the Dali exhibition was well worth every cent. Luckily I already bought tickets online cos the queues were horrendous!
The Prado had many Goya paintings and other Spanish artists throughout the centuries... It is to Madrid what the Louvre is to Paris. It wasnt my favorite.
But the one painting worth seeing is the Garden of Earthly Delights by Bosch.
To this day, no one can accurately give a full and complete analysis of this painting depicting heaven, hell and our world.
This is the amazing Caixa Forum which is hard to miss as you are walking towards the Museo del Prado. A modern art gallery with a garden on a wall!
However, if you only have time for ONE museum in Madrid, let it be the smaller Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza which to me, is one of the BEST museums in the world.
The reason for this is its size which is very accessible being smaller than most museums and the fact that this museum is essentially a private art collection. Hence many major artists from the different art movements are represented. We saw Chagall, Renoir, Gauguin, Monet, Van Gogh, Degas, Manet, even Lichtenstein... it's an amazing amazing museum. I highly recommend it if you ever go to Madrid.
And as the sun continued to smile over Madrid, we packed our bags and headed back to grey Paris, our hearts heavy but well-fed with art, food and the sun.
