Digging into Madrid, Spain [] Prado Museum

 

To the Edge of Eurasia: The Final Day in Spain – Prado Museum and the Journey Home

The longest flight, the longest journey, the most cities visited, the most nights stayed, and even my first cross-border flight in Europe. This trip set so many personal records for me. On the very last day in Spain, I spent the morning in Madrid before heading home on an evening flight. Here is how my journey came to an end.

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🏰 Morning Scene and Police Report

What kind of event was happening that morning? The square was crowded with people in colorful costumes and curious onlookers. In the middle of all this, I had to stop by the police station to get a police report for the phone and Eurail pass theft that had happened earlier on the way to Córdoba.

Thanks to my previous experience in Barcelona, I felt oddly “skilled” walking into the station this time. Luckily, everything went smoothly, and I received the report without any trouble.

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🥖 @El diario – A Light Breakfast

For breakfast, I stopped at El diario, a tapas-bar-style place. I ordered bread, fried squid, and a glass of sangria. I absolutely love squid and octopus—fried, boiled, however they come—and Spain and Portugal were like heaven for that. Thick, juicy cuts of seafood at affordable prices in countless variations. My cholesterol levels probably spiked, but my happiness did too.

The menu was simple yet varied enough to pick something quickly and finish the meal. The bread was especially interesting—it looked like dessert but tasted like proper table bread. With toppings like quail eggs, cheese, potatoes, and olives, it felt like a “cake of nutrients,” balancing out the carbs with flavor and nutrition.

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🛍️ Shopping Time

Before entering the museum, we each had some free time for shopping. Souvenirs, cosmetics, snacks—everyone grabbed something that matched their own tastes.

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🎨 @Museo del Prado – Prado Museum

• Hours: 10:00 ~ 20:00 (Sundays until 19:00)

• Admission: €14 (free after 18:00 on weekdays, 17:00 on Sundays)

• Madrid Card: Free entry

Mornings tend to be crowded with tour groups, but if you book tickets online in advance, you can skip the wait. A Korean-language guide is available, and because the collection is enormous, it’s smart to either focus on specific works you want to see or start on the 3rd floor and make your way down. The sheer size and scope were breathtaking.

🎯 GPT Recommendation – Must-See Masterpieces at the Prado

(This section was added by ChatGPT.)

The Prado Museum is not just a collection of European art—it is a repository of works that shaped the very course of art history. Among its vast treasures, four masterpieces stand out as essential viewing:

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🖼 Francisco Goya – The Third of May 1808

This haunting painting captures the execution of Madrid citizens by Napoleon’s troops after the Spanish uprising of May 2nd. At the center, a man in a white shirt spreads his arms wide, evoking the image of Christ’s crucifixion. The soldiers’ faces remain hidden, while the anguish of the victims is painfully visible—an intentional choice to emphasize the dehumanizing brutality of war. The painting became a cornerstone of modern anti-war art and directly influenced Picasso’s Guernica.

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🖼 Diego Velázquez – Las Meninas

Painted in 1656, Las Meninas is far more than a royal portrait. It ingeniously places the viewer inside the scene, blurring the lines between subject, artist, and audience. Infanta Margarita stands surrounded by her attendants, a dwarf, a dog, and Velázquez himself at the canvas. In the background, a mirror faintly reflects the king and queen. The composition raises the eternal question: Who is observing whom? Considered one of the most analyzed paintings in Western art, it reshaped the relationship between reality and representation.

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🖼 Hieronymus Bosch – The Garden of Earthly Delights

This 15th-century triptych is a surreal masterpiece divided into three panels: Eden on the left, humanity’s indulgence in the center, and Hell on the right. Fantastic creatures, oversized fruits, and bizarre human-animal hybrids fill the canvas, creating a vision both enchanting and unsettling. While originally a moral warning against sin, today it is also viewed as an exploration of human desire and the subconscious—a precursor to surrealism centuries before its time.

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🖼 El Greco – The Burial of the Count of Orgaz

Commissioned for the Church of Santo Tomé in Toledo, this monumental work portrays a miraculous burial. In the lower half, Saints Augustine and Stephen descend to inter the Count’s body; above, the heavens open as his soul rises into eternity. El Greco’s elongated figures, luminous palette, and spiritual intensity exemplify his unique style, merging the mystical with the human. It is both a devotional icon and a deeply moving human drama.

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✈️ The Journey Home – Business Class, With a Twist

That evening, I boarded my Korean Air flight back to Incheon. Because economy was overbooked, all three of us were unexpectedly upgraded to business class! I also learned that upgrade priority goes to those who purchased the most expensive tickets.

It was my very first time flying business class, but instead of enjoying the excitement, I suddenly felt unwell. Maybe it was the exhaustion of the long journey or simply my body letting go of its tension. I got airsick not long after takeoff, couldn’t eat the in-flight meal, and ended up sleeping for six straight hours.

Business class is supposed to be all about the flatbed seat and gourmet meals, but in my case, it was more about Tylenol from the flight attendant and snacking on Haribo gummies while lying down. Fortunately, I felt better later and managed to eat the second meal before landing.

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🌍 The End of a Journey, The Start of New Memories

Twenty-five days of traveling together—it was intense. Except for bathroom breaks, I was always with someone. That could have been exhausting, but because I had such good companions, the journey became full of unforgettable memories. Seeing unfamiliar sides of my friends, and even of myself, in a foreign land—that’s the real charm of long-term travel.

This trip will remain in my memory as “the longest, the most, the first” in so many ways. I doubt I’ll have another trip on this scale again anytime soon, but I already dream of returning. Perhaps in 2026, when the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona is finally completed, I’ll enter Spain again, catch a night train to Porto (if it exists by then), and continue the adventure.