Day II: The Prado (or how i learned to stop worrying and love the virgin mary...)

as i alluded to in the last post, i spent most of thursday at the museo nacional del prado.  all kidding aside, it was a very impressive collection, even if there were a LOT of paintings of the virgin mary and the crucifixion.  actually, something i found interesting is that an image, say for instance, the immaculate conception, would be painted by numerous artists.  with each painting pretty much the same, save a few small differences.  in the case of the immaculate conception, i saw probably four or five paintings, all by a different artist, in which the virgin mary was standing on top of the earth, with the serpent under her foot.  apparently it was a common image during the baroque period, which is why most of the paintings share many similarities - though Goya's stood out as substantially different.  the works of Goya the museum presents are very extensive.  with many pieces from each of his periods, i found myself at times really enjoying his exhibits, while at other times i was far from impressed and, i am almost embarrassed to say, wanting to get through the room quickly because i did not care for it at all.  actually i think i may have appreciated Velazquez more than Goya on the whole, though certain periods of Goya's work were better (in my opinion anyway...).

ok, enough about the art (though if you find yourself in Madrid, be sure to go there).  before the Prado, i stopped by a cathedral that was adjacent to it, San Jeronimo El Real.

 

  

there are a couple of more photos of the cathedral (as well as other sites from my trip) in the online album i have set up to accompany this blog,  located on Picassa, here.  i think i can sum up my experience in the church best quoting a journal entry i made immediately after my visit, "...i found myself being moved or somewhat in awe of what i was looking at.  i don't know if it's because of the history of the building - well, i don't know the history so i mean the fact that it has so much history...but it was also just filled with reverence and emotion."  there was quite a bit more, but that's as much of a peek into my psyche as i am willing to give just now (besides, i am pretty sure that some of the stuff i wrote would offend a great number of you, and that is not something i am looking to do :-).

fast forward to when i left the Prado, i walked around for a bit, mainly looking for food since i had not eaten for the past 9 hours - and finally decided upon a little tapas bar that was near the hotel.  once i was seated though, i opted for Paella de Mariscos

and i was NOT disappointed.  there was a surprising variety of seafood in the dish, enough for some in just about every bite.  Paella is very popular here, and i am sure i will be sampling some at a few of the other establishments as well.  mmm....just thinking about it makes me hungry....however, it is 4am, and that is late even for Madrid - lol.  

sooo, i guess i better get some sleep.  i will just have to grab some Paella tomorrow...

until next time....