We anchor our Madrid trip with a long second day, beginning with a run on my part back to the Parque del Retiro. I only got a couple of miles in before asking myself why the hell does Madrid have so many hills? I no joke ran uphill both ways to the park and back to the hotel, where I tenderly awoke Laura as all husbands should to begin our day.
From here we headed to Federal Cafe for breakfast, on our way to the Royal Palace. The breakfast cheeseburger (I’ve done it again and ordered a burger) was just okay, aside from my decision to have coffee with orange. Not sure if we’re talking OJ or essence of orange, but it kind of grew on me.
The Royal Palace, however, was a great deal more regal than I anticipated for some reason. Silken walls, massive dining tables, immaculately carved ceilings, beautiful frescoes of Greco-Roman heroes, and of course the Caesarification of a series of underachieving Spanish monarchs who squandered the boundless material wealth afforded to them by the New World. Some might be offended by this description but realistically speaking, few European countries built so little lasting power with so much gold on hand.
Even taking out the historical component… did Charles IV really compare himself to Julius Caesar? Come on bro. That’s the equivalent of your modern bitcoin/ETF hawker telling you “yeah but Jesus was persecuted for encouraging investment in watermarked imagery too”.
But the palace was absolutely gorgeous. The current king seems like a decent guy as far as modern kings with little to no power go. Laura told me his daughter, the heir to the throne, gets a ton of “yaaaassss queen” comments on her Instagram which I think is hilarious.
A quick siesta back at La Posada Del Dragon preceded our visit to the Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, another of the golden triangle of Madrid’s museum establishments. A crop of stunning impressionist paintings make up most of the collection, along with famous portraits of Henry VIII and works of Italian masters among others. To my delight, several Rodin sculptures also took center stage, including a room devoted to two in particular.
Less to my delight was the Kandinsky collection. Though boasting three or four pieces, I kept saying things to Laura like “He hasn’t spread his wings yet” or “You can tell he’s not free yet!” Kandinsky is one of my favorite painters, beginning with seeing his Black Lines at the Guggenheim. It’s the end of the short-lived Blue Rider Period that I enjoy the most, along with his return to Russia. One of his works here, Picture with Three Spots, came close to scratching that itch. But ultimately fell just a little short for me.
That the real owner of much of the work exhibited here is the celebrity wife of the former baron, the baroness Carmen “Tita” Cervera, is one of those funny peculiarities of history. Her father-in-law (not that he knew it at the time) purchased several pieces from wealthy American families down on their luck during the Great Depression, including the famous Portrait of Giovanna Tornabuoni by Domenico Ghirlandaio. Fifth wife to the Baron Hans Heinrich Thyssen-Bornemisza, the two accumulated hundreds of pieces of art, and Cervera was instrumental in its exhibition in Madrid. Now, Cervera more or less extorts the state for the privilege of showcasing the collection, with a recent agreement granting her around $8 million a year until 2036. Honestly, probably still a pretty good deal for the Spanish government.
After the museum, we opted for a couple of pre-dinner cocktails at a welcoming enough hookah bar nearby, though we were the only people in there for most of the late afternoon. Dinner took us to Casa Mortero, a Michelin guide restaurant a few minutes’ walk away, but for some reason I was felt terrible! Maybe the sugar in all those mojitos. We did not get to savor the experience, but split a delicious tuna and potato salad dish. Laura also opted for another tomato and onion salad with tuna to no one’s shock.
Tomorrow we head to Segovia just north of Madrid, a gorgeous city boasting over two thousand years of history.