Day eleven on my own

Today was the day that the other ladies decided to take a trip to Toledo.  I opted to stay here and rest my foot for the morning and go from there.  Around 11 AM, I decided I could manage a trip to the Prado.  So off I went.  I discovered that I liked alot of Goya and also Velázquez along with an interesting Beuckelaer. Again no photos allowed but I did find some of these around the net.  In this Beuckelaer work, Jesus is in the background at the house.  Mary and Martha are preparing food.  Matha is hard at work, while Mary is listening to Jesus as she works.  It was interesting.

I really liked many of the Velazquez paintings.  Here is one that hit me as very nice.  Its all about myth legends.  

Next is some Goya.  He is famous for his monkeys and his strange faces at our school, but I found much of his work touched me.  Including three oval paintings of people working.  Very unusual for that time and I can't even find them on the web....maybe another day.

After looking at the art, I went out to eat at a place I found on tripadvisor.com.  It is called La Targantua.  A short walk from the Prado.  The restaurant only holds nine tables.  It is very small.  When I entered, a man said Hola and I said I didn't speak Spanish.  He pointed to a table and I sat down.  Most of the tables had customers chatting away in Spanish.  A waiter came over and said he spoke a little English.  Did I want the plate of the day?  I said yes.  This means for one price you get a drink, first course, second course and dessert.  He told me what they were in broken English and I picked based on a word or two that I understood. It was excellent.  I really enjoyed this experience. 

Rice and beef chucks in a sauce with cheese on top. Note the wine and excellent bread included.

Two meat patties with potato in between.  Lettuce on the side.  A mustard sauce and a balsamic  vinaigrette sauce drizzled all over everything...Wine is going down. 

Chocolate cake with whipped cream layers with chocolate on top.  Yum.

After this excellent meal, I started walking to see the Crystal Palace in the Retiro Park.  On the way I passed a garden.

I did find my way to the Palace which is the largest greenhouse room I've ever seen.  The pond in front seems to have a cypress tree and black swans or geese? 

Then back to the apartment.  Tomorrow we head to the airport first thing in the morning.