On our first day in Madrid the forecast was for rain so we decided that would be a good day to visit a museum. As we headed out to walk to the museum it began to rain.

We figured with the rain there would be no lineups and we could get in fairly quickly. As we went along the rain came down harder and harder until it was pouring.

We headed to the museum of Prado which is the Spanish national art museum.  It has one of the world’s finest collections of European art, dating from the 12th century to the early 19th century. Once we got to the museum we were surprised to see a line up outside of the museum to get in.

We got into the line at the museum of Prado and waited for it to move. When we were standing there in the pouring rain and a person came along the line selling umbrellas. So we bought a $1 dollar umbrella for $5 euros which was a major mark up but timing is everything. So we waited outside in the rain with our cheap umbrella for approximately 15 minutes.

When we did manage to get out ticket we had to go back outside and into another lineup to get inside for the security check of bags etc before getting into the museum. Luckily this line up was smaller and we were inside in a few minutes.

The museum is massive and there were lots of areas to see. We headed down the main corridor and I took a picture with my phone of one of the paintings.

A security guard came over and advised me in no uncertain terms     “No pictures allowed” I thought it was odd that we were in a museum and not able to take pictures. I put the phone away and we walked through the museum for approximately 2 1/2 hours. There were stunning assorted paintings some from the size of a house to small ones no bigger than a postcard. The details and colours were vibrant and stunning.

When we left the museum the rain had stopped and the weather was clearing up. We exited the museum near an ornate old church. We decided to take a few picture of the church but not go inside.

We headed back to the hotel to change into some dry clothes and on the way we took some pictures of the outside of the Museum of Prado.

It was a good way to enjoy a rainy day in Madrid but next time we will pack an umbrella.

“adios y que tenga un grad días”