After meeting the girls who live here - Cecilia the host (from Argentina) and Isabel (from Poland), who only moved in the day before, getting some local tour guides from them and some advice, it was time to head out. I decided on a day of culture, so planned to head to the world-famous Museo del Prado (Prado Museum), and the Royal Palace.
However, a stop on the way was necessary, as it was time to arrange my Spanish travels; as I have booked accommodation, I thought it wise to book getting between cities, and I also wanted to organise a day-trip to Toledo. Deciding that I should also find the train station that the next train I would need to take runs from, and knowing that, like everything else in Spain, it didn't open until 10am, this seemed like a good first destination - Madrid Atohca train station. What a pleasure it was to discover (with the help of Cecilia and Isabel) that Atocha station is a 15 minute gentle walk from the apartment - actually faster than taking the Metro.
Unfortunately, there was no photography allowed inside, so you'll just have to make do with the photo from the outside.
It is known as La Gioconda, Leonardo's atelier - meaning from Leonardo's workshop; and for those of you who don't yet know, La Giocondo is the famous Mona Lisa. So, while this one wasn't done by Da Vinci himself, it was painted by a pupil or follower of the artist at the same time as the
original.
You can really see the detail in this work, with the almost ethereal veil and lace-work - honestly stunning. And the really nice thing was that I was able to stand directly in front of this work, literally 30cm away, with nobody pressing around me, and no crowds to look over - the joys of travelling in the low season, and with unexpected lovely surprises such as La Gioconda.
Lucky me - this painting is only on display until March 13th!
And what an exterior it is - vast is a word that really doesn't do it justice, but I can't think of another more appropriate word. Seeing this sort of thing makes you understand why in certain places there are rebellions leading to republics; however, Spain remains a constitutional monarchy, headed by King Juan Carlos I, and by all accounts, the Spaniards have decided that they do like their monarchy, or "The Crown" as they like to call it locally, and at a total cost to the taxpayer of only some 7.4 million euros, making it one of the cheapest (economical?) monarchies in Europe, why not keep them around?