Tintoretto, El Rastro and more

Carole and I met Claus and Billy at the Prado at 10am in order to avoid the lines for the Tintoretto show. This Venetian painter was well worth racing to the feet of the Prado. I avoided Venice on my only trip to Italy because I was traveling solo and wanted to wait until I could see it with my true love at the time. Big mistake. Lessons learned....

Tintoretto rocked and must be the next best thing to visiting Venice. I love his use of classical narrative and interpretations of great stories such as Helen's abduction from Troy. Afterwards we scanned the gift shop and managed to find a few affordable books, etc. The weak dollar has really made me thriftier than I'd like to be.

Our reward for getting out and spending time with our muse was an invitation to eat brunch in the Ritz Madrid's great dining room. It reminded me of the Jefferson's spread without the jazz combo. Instead it featured Beckham, Posh Spice and the little spices with grannie. They were enjoying brunch across the dining room. I haven't spent any time visiting their place is celebrityland but I must admit I can see the attraction. Beckham is a true Adonis. I had NO IDEA.

After a few glasses of champayne, an espresso and a sampling of every great tapas I could imagine we left the gilded dining room of the Ritz and made our way across town to El Rastro, the famed Madrid flea market.

I like to visit a citie's flea market since it tells me so much about the place and its people. FYI - El Rastro is a tiny market and doesn't come close to the numerous markets in Paris or London or even Glasgow. Even though we arrived late I knew from the lay of the land its more like a one of the small neighborhood markets in Paris than what was implied in the travel guides. It was a bit of a walk there and back - which ended when Carole had to get back to the Paseo del Prado for work.

I managed to squeeze in a short visit to the Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection which was well worth the reduced three euro entrace fee. Their portrait collection was the most memorable for me... with a striking Rembrandt and some of the best Ducth painters. I hope I can squeeze in the Portrait show that opens on the 6th, the same day as the Chuck Close retrospective at the Reine Sofia.