After leaving the park, I headed over to the Prado Museum of Art, where they were having a Joachim Patinir exhibit. The last time I was at the Prado was in 1982, and so this was a real treat to go back and see what I could remember. The ones that stood out, for obvious reasons, were the Goya paintings. “Saturn Devouring One of His Sons” and “The Shootings of May 3, 1808” are classics in their own right. I was impressed with the Rubens and Velazquez paintings they had on display, but it was the temporary exhibit – the Patinir – that really impressed. His use of landscapes and color was striking, and I really enjoyed checking it out. Also of significance was the Tesoro del Delfín collection, in a vaulted area in the basement. These treasures of glass and crystal were truly magnificent.
After exploring the rest of the museum, I had some lemon Fanta to relax in the cafeteria, before starting the walk back to the hotel. In total, it was about 5.5 miles of walking, which isn’t too shabby. Luckily the time that I left allowed me to do a lot of travel in the shade, which helped cut down on the heat. I probably shouldn’t worry about gaining weight this trip if this keeps up though – I’m probably sweating away (and burning from all the walking) anything I eat! For those curious, today’s route is here. Now I’m just relaxing a bit in the hotel before grabbing some solo lunch, and then heading to the airport with Julio to pick up David Arnold and John Scott, before heading back to the hotel to pick up some other people, and then we’re off to Ubeda!