We usually look for history, art and nature when we travel. This trip was no exception, except that the paintings were mostly at the beginning of the trip. First, the Thyssen-Bornemisza National Museum in Madrid on our first day there. Sadly, the Metro ticket operation was so confusing that we had to ask for help, and I’m still not sure we could do it again. But once we got the tickets, it worked well. We walked down the Paseo del Prado to the museum, spotting a magpie on the way, bathing in a fountain.
The Thyssen is a private collection started by the Thyssen and Bornemisza families in the early twentieth century, bought by the Spanish government and housed in a former palace. The website touts paintings by “Dürer, Rafael, Titian, Rubens, Rembrandt, Caravaggio, Manet, Renoir, Cézanne, Van Gogh, Gauguin, Kandinsky, Picasso, Hopper, Rothko.” They were all there although, as Rick Steves says, it’s a collection of minor works by major artists. But we very much enjoyed it.
Our old friend Memling
Holbein’s Henry VIII in a lovely frame
El Greco, who is an acquired taste which I hadn’t yet acquired at this point in the trip
a Rembrandt
Kirchner, whom I remember from Switzerland
and this lovely orange dress on St. Casilda, by the Spanish painter Zurbaran.
Unfortunately, the Caravaggio we wanted to see was not on display.
It was a LOT of art to see at the end of the day, but it was just right.
We Metro’d back and all was well until we tried to leave the station. Many signs saying Salida but no way out! We finally found our way and walked back through the Puerto to a restorative glass of wine outside the hotel. 
Caroline's Garden and Travel Record 