Up at 08:30, next door for breakfast. I´m just about getting used to the strong European coffee. Went up the main road (called the Gran Via which means “The Main Road”), and bought some shoes. Back to the hotel to drop them off, then back on the road. Today we decided to visit the Botanical Gardens and the Retiro Park. The weather was great again, we´ve been really lucky. Before we went into the park decided to get some lunch. Found a place that was full of locals, offered a 3 course meal for 11.90 Euro. Very average. I had vegetable soup, battered whiting and Creme Caramel, Song had French Bean Soup, Grilled Sea Bass and Creme Custard.
I enjoyed the Botanical Gardens, Song didn´t like it so much. They were laid out in an organised manner – herb garden in one block, tulips in another, cacti in another etc. Song didn´t like the regimentation. After about an hour and a half there, went next door to the Retiro Park. This is a huge park with a formal garden, lots of trees and grass, a boating lake, a museum and the Crystal Palace.
It was now around 18:30 and we decided to go to the Queen Sofia Museum because it has a famous Picasso work, Guernica. We found out that from 19:00 to 21:00 it´s free, so stopped for a coffee and then went in.
We´re not really fans of modern art, but open minds etc. We wandered about a bit, and my feeling is the same – I´m not a big fan of modern art. I was regarding a cubist stainless steel sculpture with a hole in the top, thinking how it represented the post-industrial world and the void within, but it turned out to be a rubbish bin.
We pushed through the crowd to look at Guernica and, well, meh. It was supposed to represent the horror of war and the destuction of the town of Guernica by the Luftwaffe, but all I saw was a deformed cow and horse. And some screaming women with their eyes on the side of their faces.
Left disappointed but glad we hadn´t paid for it and went to get some dinner. Found a place called Los Gatos, which was quite good. We had a selection of canapes.
Walked back to the hotel, decided to have a lazy day tomorrow.