Got myself up, groomed and out of the room, and... I had bfast at the McDonald's next door. Haha. I've been being good in general with not giving in to American temptations, but... I had to do it once in Madrid, right? I have to say I was quite let down with the coffee -- am I becoming a cafe con leche snob now?
Anyway, finished grubbing down and caught the tourist double-decker bus to head down to the Museo. Got there, paid my admission and got the audioguia to aid me in navigating all things notable.
I was there a long time. Over 3 hours. My contact lenses dried out a few times and I had to re-moisten. And I still didn't listen to all of the audio, nor see all of the exhibits. Lots of good shit though, this heathen acknowledges. A lot of works by Diego Velazquez, Francisco Goya, El Greco... and also a lot of still lifes of fruit and chiascuro portraits that make my eyes glaze over after awhile.
I think the most notable painting was Jardin de las Delicias, or Garden of Earthly Delights, by the Holland painter El Bosco (Hieronymus Bosch). That painting was a trip. The painting was done in the 1500s, but uses the elements of early 20th century surrealism (such as in works by Salvador Dali).
After getting through most of the museum I hit up the gift shop, then the cafe. It was already past prime time midafternoon Spain eating, so I got some empanada thing that was translated to "Galician Meat Pie" -- it was good. And they had Cruzcampo beer -- what? Odd to see Andalucian beer in Madrid, for sure...
After food I left the museum and decided that since the botanic garden was next door, I might as well check it out. 3 Euros later (I was able to rid myself of a lot of pocket change, haha), I was in. And... underwhelmed? Hmm. Why did seeing some rosemary make me miss Santa Barbara (rosemary grows everywhere in SB, including my own yard)?
I gave the garden the proper respect of a full stroll, then left to head back to my hotel. Stopped off for some beers at a market -- the plan was to take in the sunset from that sweet hotel terrace.
Ended up getting some chips too -- ham flavored?! Yeah, they weren't that good haha. They tasted just like a ham steak -- in chip form.
The sunset view from the terrace was def nice, though. Very nice. I could get used to this.
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