Madrid to Lisbon

We slept amazingly well, given the loud street noise all night--but then we were really tired. Nature called about 3:00am and the party was still going strong in the street below. (Note to self: never get a room facing the street on a weekend night in Spain.)

The high point of our last day in Madrid was a visit to the Prado Museum, a world-class art museum that ranks right up there with the Louvre and the Guegenheim. At first we (at least I) hesitated, given the length of the line, but Jeanette convinced me, and the line went amazingly fast. The museum's permanent collection is mainly old masters, with an emphasis on Spanish masters like Goya and El Greco--not my favorite art genre, but nevertheless well worth the visit.

Later, it was time to head to the train station to catch the so-called night train to Lisbon. You'd think the once-daily train between two major European capitols would at least be one of those modern, 200-mph rockets, but no, this was the 1940's milk run, with no less than 14 interim stops along the way. But we made it. And for the next four nights we're staying in a cool little studio apartment in the heart of the Baixo district in the old town area of Lisbon. It's a mix of neo-60's modern/hipster and Andy Warhol meets Ikea design-wise. We're looking forward to these few days of R&R before flying home on Thursday.

A protest march in the street outside the Prado.

Overview of Lisbon from an observation tower.