El Prado and home

We arrived home yesterday evening. Now it's five in the morning and we're all up since we went to bed at eight. On our last day in Spain my sister and I visited El Prado musuem-finally I've gone after many trips to Madrid. I left Maria with her grandmothers so it was a little break in that sense-and it was pretty interesting. They have a lot of Goya there as well as Velasquez, in fact there was a special Velasquez exhibit. The painting that was most recognizable to me was "El tres de Mayo" by Goya which depicts the French army killing Spanish resisters, which marks the beginning of the Spanish War for Independence. I knew of this painting because Paul has told me about it. Another one I was familiar with, which Tina especially wanted to see, was "Las Tres Gracias" (The Three Graces) by Rubens. The three graces are women who represent the ideals of giving, receiving and returning and so they stand, linked, in a circle to signify a neverending cycle. Enough art history! Afterwards we met Paul, Maria, Mom, Dad and our friend Chus in Retiro park which is like Central Park but much smaller. There are some beautiful structures in the park-just wait until I post the pictures!