Once again, how do you not notice that you have the Mona Lisa hanging on your walls?

On a personal note, I am rather sad that this news breaks now rather than a couple of years ago. Two Januaries ago I was in Madrid and had an opportunity to spend a few minutes (only a few minutes sadly) at the Prado. I would definitely have tried to see this picture if I knew it was there. And the Prado is a very nice museum by the way. They have some wonderful works by Goya and Velasquez including the latter’s Las Meninas (The Maids of Honour). This alone is worth the trip to the museum. The collection is very large and it is worth the best part of a day. As I recall it, photography was not allowed inside.

The street with the Prado also contains two other major Madrid museums Thyssen-Bornemisza and Reina Sofia. From the latter comes this photograph of Picasso’s Guernica Composition Study. This was the only museum that allowed photography (must be because most of the stuff was ugly modern art). The only major work was not allowed to be photographed.

Probably not the sight most people remember in Madrid. but this one was really good in a silhouette.

There are a few photos from the Museo Raina Sofia. This was the only museum that I visited that allowed photography. However its collection is mostly crazy modern stuff. So I picked a few Picassos and Dalis here. Dali’s Girl at the Window is one of his best and is really worth the trip to the museum. Most people would visit it for Picasso’s Guernica – though I could not really find it  to be extra special. The Guernica is one painting they do not allow anyone to photograph. In the neighbouring room, there is a study of the Guernica (included in the gallery above) along with many other details from the grand picture.

Among the three museums, Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza was the one I liked best. Strangely, I found the collection of Carmen Thyssen to be the more interesting and nicer. The collection  of paintings range from the 13th to the 20th centuries. They had a special exhibit called Lagrimas de Eros (Tears of Love), which featured famous art pieces depicting love and death.

I had very little time after this for the biggie: Museo del Prado. The importance of this museum is stressed in the fact that all three museums are connected by one road called Paseo del Prado. It has a good collection of Spanish art including many by Velasquez and Goya. I especially liked the painting called Las Melinas (The Young Girls), showing the daughters of the royal household.

Among other sights to be seen are Puerta del Sol (Gate of the Sun), Espana (where there is a memorial to Miguel de Cervantes – author of the Don Quixote story), some churches (Madrid Cathedral, San Francisco and San Andrea are in the gallery). Thanks to the extreme cold, I did not venture out into each of these places. I did brave the freezing conditions to get some snaps taken here and there. Was I ever happy to get back into the taxi and warm clothes then!

Right in the heart of the city is an Egyptian temple – Debod – taken out brick by brick and reassembled in Madrid. It was offered to Madrid by the Egyptian government as the temple would have been destroyed under the lake created by the Aswan Dam. Around the temple are some nice walkways (file away for a later visit in better weather) and a breathtaking view over some forests and the city.

For another trip to Spain, there is much to explore in Madrid. There are also the other cities like Barcelona and historical sites such as Alhambra to be seen. Till then…

It was at a fantastic location. Very close to the Puerta del Sol (the plaza which houses the famous bear and tree statue) and the Plaza Mayor, it is at the very center of the old city. Bounded by the Gran Via (Broadway) to the North, the “golden triangle” of museums to the East and the Palacio Real (royal palace) & Cathedral to the West. The second night I was there, I walked up to the Espana square – a 15 minute walk even in the freezing conditions. I did not realize it then, but I was just one block away from the palace itself.

Espana houses a fountain and a column dedicated to Miguel de Cervantes. The column has a statue of Cervantes and he looks upon statues of two of his most famous creations – Don Quixote and Sancho Panza. Not too far from this is the temple of Debod. This temple was to be a victim of the building of the Aswan dam in Egypt. Anwar Sadat offered the temple to Spain and it was shipped stone by stone and reconstructed in Madrid. It is a beautiful monument.There is something incongruous about an Egyptian temple surrounded by modern European office buildings, though.

My taxi driver informed me that the monument at the entrance to the the garden that houses the temple was erected in memory of the people killed in the terrorist attacks in Madrid on March 11, 2004.

PS – photo above taken with my N900

Update: Fixed a typo “s/wound/would”