Madrid in January Day 3 Thyssen-Bornemisza National Museum, Palacio Real

It's cold during the night but our apartment stays warm and snug. We get out about 9.30 and go to Mercadona which is still quiet so early and stock up for a few days: some calamari, aubergines, more artichokes and secreto pork meat as well as jamón. We have a second brunch or early lunch of jamón, rye bread and a round dome of white bread together with cooked aubergines and some cheese, followed by coffee and some of Andrea's biscuits.

It's about a ten-minute walk to the Thyssen-Bornemisza National Museum which is currently free on Mondays from 12 until 4pm. We arrive at about 12.15 and there’s no queue so we go straight in. There's a superficial security check and then we take the lift up to the 2nd floor to visit the exhibition in chronological order. 

Our speed reflects our interests - we're very slow in the first few rooms, speeding up from the 17th century onwards. Favourites include the paintings by Mälesskircher which depict the Evangelists working on their Gospels in their studies and their corresponding attributes, the Good Centurion by Derick Baegert and the splendid Portrait of Giovanna degli Albizzi Tornabuoni by Domenico Ghirlandaio, as well as “Sacra conversazione” by Giovanni Bellini.

By the time we get down to the 1st floor we've speeded up considerably and whip round the ground floor which contains the Carmen Thyssen Collection but still have the energy to do justice to the parts we prefer. We leave at 2.30, after two and a quarter hours and feel we have seen what we wanted. It was a much more pleasant and relaxing experience than the Prado on Saturday: less overwhelming, better organised in chronological order with easy to follow numbered rooms and yes quite a few people but never the crowds of El Prado. We walk the ten minutes back to the apartment for a coffee and a rest. It's warmed up and the sun in yes, Puerta del Sol, is very pleasant.

We get to Palacio Real just after four, a little too optimistic in imagining that we could just stroll in like at the Thyssen Museum. We sit in the sun a few minutes. The queue has started moving but newcomers are joining it, so we decide we have no option. We join the end of the queue which is in front of the entrance to the cathedral at about 16.08 and it takes us about 20 minutes to get in, which includes a quite strict security procedure.  

The enormous courtyard in front is very pleasant - warm because it's absorbed the sun all day. 

Once inside the palace it's quite crowded, especially at first. The rooms are sumptuous, especially the wall coverings. Highlights are the Roccoco stucchi room and the enormous dining room. The Palace is nice and was worth the 20 minutes wait to get in free, I may not have spent 14€.

We wander some back streets on the way home and end up on the impressive Gran Via before heading home to Calle Montera.