Toledo - Madrid - May 20th

We got up that Friday morning, repacked our bags, took showers, etc. then checked out of the hotel and made our way back to the train station to head back to Madrid. The plan was to catch a night bus from Madrid to Barcelona and we'd figured we'd check out some stuff in Madrid for the day. Left the train station and stumbled across the block to the more "modern" art museum, Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia...haha, what a mouthful. It is famous principally for tourists because of the huge Picasso painting they have, "Guernica". But, we check out some other stuff as well.

We first saw an exhibition by a Japanese artist, Yayoi Kusama. Some of it was really fun and trippy to look at, some just meh, but overall I enjoyed it. Here are a couple pics from her stuff:


Some weird tentacle like pillows looking like they're sprouting from the ground.


One section in her exhibition was a room of mirrors with tons of lights hanging down, and the lights all changed colors back and forth, it was fun.

But we were mainly there for the Picasso, so made our way towards it, seeing some stuff by painters Salvador Dalí, Henri Magritte, Joan Miro, etc. The museum stewards were watching the crowd pretty good, and you were supposed to take pics of the stuff, so don't really have any to show here. This is what it looks like though, just with a lot more people milling around:


Then we rested for a bit in the courtyard of the museum, still recovering from jet lag and just exhausted from walking everywhere. We had stashed our bags for the day at the bus station already, so thankfully didn't have those to haul around all day. From the Reina Sofia we caught a bus a few block north to go to the Hard Rock Cafe in Madrid so Lisa could get her a glass from there to add to her collection, and we had a hamburger and a couple drinks. Then we made our way to the Palacio Real (Royal Palace) to check it out. Sat and people watched in front for a while, just cooling it really.


The main facade of the palace, taken through the gate.


Then we made our way back towards the bus station, first going towards Plaza Mayor, the main square of old Madrid. Stopped at a place and had a couple beers, saw a bunch of people out taking their nightly strolls and eating, etc.


A market stand near the Plaza Mayor in Madrid.


The Casa de la Panadería, finished in 1619, on the north side of the plaza.

I also have a few videos! I forgot about them. The first one is one I took in Toledo from the roof of the hotel, just surveying the scenery:


Here we are sitting and relaxing in front of the Palacio Real, just people watching, etc.


Here is us walking into Plaza Mayor...it is after 9:00PM.


And here is a video of the crowd of protestors a couple blocks over still, at the Puerta del Sol, another main square:


We then left and made our way to the bus station, retrieved our bags and got on the night bus to Barcelona.