El Reino de Espana - in which we are cultured

Day two: Still swollen. Mary and I decided that if we had time we would see the art museums that Madrid is famous for: El Prado and El Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza. The two of these museums hold the largest collection of Spanish paintings (duh) including great works of Dali, El Greco, Goya, and Velazquez. Makes sense since The Prado is the largest gallery in the world.

But as I type this I get a kind of twinge because... we didn't go there. Instead, Mary and I went to see what really interests us... shrunken heads and codpieces. Bright and shiny early we trekked to the university district to visit el Museo de America because honestly it elicits more of a reaction from me than a painting. Instead of an "oh pretty" prompted by a painting that I don't really understand I can expound for days on the cultural legacy of Spain in the Americas... or something. For example, this photo is of some guy with a bola of coca that would get him kicked him out of Peace Corps for sure:

And this guy had an unfortunate run-in with some dessicating agents. I actually recommend that you google "shrunken head." The results are fascinating and include ones for sale and a how-to.
But seriously folks. The below is a traditional Bolivian costume worn for Carnaval. The flowers on the skirt are kantuta, the national flower because its petals are red, green and yellow, the colors of the flag.
Next we moseyed over to El Museo del Traje which had (according to some tourism guide or the other) the best Basque restaurant in Madrid on the premises. The menu was fashion themed (because traje means clothing...yes we went to a clothes museum and there was a whole display on stillettos) and I accidentally ordered liver or oxtail or something weird. Luckily portions in Spain are small.

The museum showcased a history of clothing from the fig leaf to the harem pant (which is way popular in Spain right now) and included several opportunities to try things on. We took full advantage of this opportunity to take embarrassing photos of each other:

Oh yeah baby. You're too sexy for your ruff. Too sexy for your ruff. Too sexy.

After this we started walking back towards the center of Madrid, through the University grounds and Parque Bombilla. Unfortunately I miscalculated the distance to the nearest Metro and we had to stop in a department/grocery store to refuel. Tidbit: they don't let you touch the fruit and vegetables. Don't touch them!

While at the store I redeemed myself by successfully finding the correct adaptor for gringo appliances...which required asking more questions than one might think necessary. Then, as far as I recall in my hunger haze, we sat on a park bench and ate Nutella on crackers and several nectarines before hopping on a train to the Prado.

Generally, a Prado is a glorified, vegetated median strip dividing a main thoroughfare (not just a museum). We sat there looking at a map to determine where dinner might lie. To be more specific, Mary looked at the map......and I took photos of random thingsAs you may have determined, there is another barrier to our successful participation in Amazing Race. Flaw #2: We get lost a lot.

The next installment: We go to Toledo for no apparent reason.