I woke up EARLY this morning to get to the Museo del Prado before it even opened, to avoid a long line that would eat up valuable tourist time. Having almost all of your museums closed on Monday really cramps one´s schedule. I wasn´t about to wait for two hours just to get in, like we almost had to do at the Uffizi in Florence. I made it down there about 8:40, which turned out to be an awesome decision (by the time I left around noon, there was a line around the block that didn´t seem to be moving). The Prado is like the Louvre, however, it´s completely pointless to try to see everything. Whereas I had all the time in the world last spring to take in the Louvre section by section, I really had to prioritize at the Prado. I stuck to Medieval and early Renaissance artwork during the first half (since I love medieval history so much, plus it was interesting to see how much Italian and Flemish influence made it into Spain during the Renaissance). The second half of the morning, however, I toured around looking exclusively at the Spanish masters: Velasquez, Goya, and Murillo. Between those three, there was a good balance of secular stuff, religious stuff, court paintings, and - in the case of Goya´s later years - freaky dark demented subject matter. But, even though there was plenty more to see, after three hours I needed a break from art and needed to get out of there. I can´t do art hour after hour like I could history, so I called it quits after a ¨brief¨ three hour stint there. 
I wasn´t hungry yet, and no one eats lunch at noon in Spain anyways, so I made for the Museo de America up north within the Madrid University campus. Not a whole lot was in English, but they had some really interesting stuff there from Native American tribes (I would certainly hope so, since they helped wipe out two continents worth of natives). They had some Peruvian mummies, some crazy big collection of Incan gold statuettes, the Maya and Aztec codices (like the one that predict the world will end in 2012), and some other really great pieces. 
I was only slightly disappointed in the sense that, like the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, a bunch of the pieces didn´t have much labeling on them at all. For all I know, that spear could have been Olmec, Apache, or Eskimo. It was too bad that we weren´t allowed to take photos because I was having a pretty good time looking at everything; especially the evolution of maps from the 1400s onwards! I love maps, so I could´ve stayed in that room all day if they weren´t ushering me out (what museum closes at 3pm anyway?? Lazy Spaniards).
Since I had such a good time relaxing in Plaza Mayor yesterday, I went back there for a lunch and wine/reading time. I had to be diligent and pay attention to time, though, because the Convert that I wanted to go to, the Descales Reales, was only open from 4-5 during the week. So, I plan my whole afternoon around this monastery, and I show up at 3:50, only for them to let about 30 people in come 4 before announcing that the place was full. I´d never seen so many disgruntled tourists before in my life. I was only about number 50 in line but never stood a chance at getting in, apparently. Too bad, because it is supposedly a crazy-rich art depository, since back in the day a lot of rich women entered the convert and brought dowries (since they were becoming the ¨bride of Christ¨) and the place got pretty darn wealthy in art and sculpture. Oh well. Instead of the convent, I walked down the Gran Via to Paseo del Recoletas and walked up to the Museo Arqueologico Nacional (the place that I tried on Sunday and was already closed for the day). This time, it all worked out. It was a really small museum, and they had a couple of good pieces but I was overall disappointed in the size. It´s my feeling that, if you´re going to have a history museum, DON´T put in a section unless you can really fill that section. They had a ¨Egypt and the Middle East¨ section for THREE pieces. I mean...donate those pieces to Iraq or something. Stick to what you´re good at. Speaking of that, their Visigothic and Moorish-era pieces were quite interesting, just small in number. They had a selection of Visigothic crowns from before the Moorish invasion in 712 that were really striking, however. I´d seen some of their counterparts in the Cluny Medieval Museum in Paris last spring. I only spent about 30-45 minutes in the Museo, however, because of how small it was.
Flamenco was too expensive to do for a second night in a row, even though there were a number of other places that I could have tried. Therefore, after getting a shower, I decided to head straight back to Plaza Mayor and go back to my book. I wasn´t all that hungry, so I just got some more wine and olives and continued reading about Ferdinand and Isabella expelling the Moors in 1492. I made it back to the hostel early, around 10:30, since I was planning on waking up around 6:30 the next morning for my morning train to Seville.
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