We start our Christmas trip in Madrid, staying with our good friend Koen and getting an insiders peek into the Spanish capital. Three days is far too short for a thorough view of the city but it gives us a good introduction on all things the city has to offer. We focus on the rich cultural offerings delivered by the Prado and Thyssen-Bornemisza Museums.

When we arrive around noon, and pick up and park our car, we go for a walk through the nearby neighbourhoods to get some lunch and let the children run wild in a playground as we eat and drink while enjoying the winter sun. Now we are ready for to take in some sights and take the metro to the city center to explore the main squares, the Royal Palace and see all the christmas decoration in the city.

We buy ingredients for a simple dinner at the local market, feed the children and put them to bed. The adults dinner is cosy and relaxed, the perfect start of our 3 week holiday in Spain!

Our second day is dedicated to the arts and we start with a visit to the Thyssen-Bornemisza museum. It has a suberb collection of European art from the Middle Ages until the 20th century. Highlights are the medieval works of Holbein and Cranach and the impressionist and expressionist works by the likes of Degas, Signac and Mondriaan.

The children amuse themselves with finding the paintings from the folder, and answering questions of Koen, such as counting the animals, or finding the most purple painting in a room.

Finding vegan food is a challenge in a meat-focused country as Spain with dead pig butts hanging in shops and restaurants to entice customers. We settle on sandwiches and get our strenght back to visit another museum. We visit the Maritime Museum. Since Spain had a huge naval empire it is interesting to learn more about their vision of the past. It starts with their discovery of America and expansion and is followed up with the Battle of Lepanto, in which the Catholic league defeated the Ottoman fleet breaking their dominance of the Mediterranean. We visited Lepanto, modern day Nafpaktos in Greece two years ago, it’s always nice if you connect your trips this way. Then there are a lot of paintings of Dutch and Spanish fleets destroying each other followed by the slow decline of the Spanish empire in the 18th and 19th century. There is nothing about the Atlantic slave trade, which was a key stone of the Spanish Empire and also nothing on the naval role in the Spanish Civil War.

The children enjoy themselves by finding Spanish flags, a game that will continue the rest of the holiday, and counting canons.

After this history lesson we meet up with Koen and visit the former post office, the Cybele Palace. There is a time slot for a visit to the top, so we get a free ticket to get in line for the big nativity scene. It’s a typical recreation of Galilee as seen in medieval paintings. Nothing moves and there are no lights, so I’m not sure why you would want to visit this. But nativity scenes seem to be big in Spain, we see huge lines in front of random governmental buildings to visit such scenes throughout Madrid.

Across the big square is the Círculo de Bellas Artes, this also has a viewpoint, sadly they charge 5 euro per person to go up. Which is a bit steep for what is a 15 story building. It’s a nice art deco style building which houses nice temporary art exhibitions. The view from the top is decent and there is a roof top bar so we get some drinks and relax.

Koen and Olga go out together while Tim puts the children in bed. While enjoying some vermouth, wine and tapas, Koen and Olga catch-up on their 20-year friendship, and go to bed a bit dizzy in their heads.

The next day is already our last day in Madrid, so we have to visit the Prado before we leave. We leave early so we can be there when the museum opens but stop for coffee along the way. The children are introduced to babycinno and are lost to the dark side at their young age…

Fully caffeinated, we are ready to tackle the huge museum. We go for our favorites and skip most of the Spanish stuff besides Goya. Highlights are the paintings from the Burgundian Netherlands, with great paintings by van der Weyden and van Eyck. Although you have to wonder whether these and many other paintings will in time also be asked to be returned to their country of origin as much was by Philip II. In two hours we cover half of the museum, before we call it quits and go for lunch.

After lunch it’s time for some fresh air in the Retiro Park. The early morning cold has disappeared and we enjoy the midday winter sun as we make our way through the park. At the northern exit of the park lies the National Archeological Museum of Spain which provides us with another superb history lesson. Especially the early Iberian pieces are unique, but we enjoy the whole museum. With this many rooms filled with art and culture behind us, we head back and go and have dinner.

There is time for a final exploration of Madrid by night to shoot some photos and find some of the Christmas atmosphere in the city.

We leave early on Thursday, but our departure gets delayed by a huge Christmas box full of presents for the children. Cleo and Zeno enjoy the “grabbelton” and leave Koens place full of paper shreds. Thank you for your hospitality, Koen!

We pick up our rental car to drive South, and explore Andalusia in Christmas time…