With Madrid still full of excitement and celebration, we continued exploring the city. We woke up a little earlier, had yogurt for breakfast, loaded up, and headed out for another day of sightseeing.
It was definitely hot, but after La Grande-Motte, Madrid’s heat somehow felt a little more bearable!
We decided to spend the morning at the Museo Nacional del Prado, about a 20-minute walk from our apartment. Along the way, we passed beautiful fountains, government buildings, and impressive architecture.
Madrid is another one of those cities where you need to remember to look up because there is always something incredible above you.
Then we entered the Prado.
What a museum!
Founded in 1819, the Prado is considered one of the world’s great art museums and holds an extraordinary collection of European art, particularly Spanish masterpieces from artists such as Velázquez, Goya, and El Greco.
Some of the paintings were so realistic and three-dimensional that it felt like you could reach out and touch them and the people would suddenly come alive.
We spent hours wandering through room after room. Some of the ceilings seemed 20 feet high, yet there were paintings so enormous they nearly filled the walls from floor to ceiling. The scale of everything was incredible.
Photography wasn’t allowed in much of the museum, which was probably a good thing because otherwise I would have taken hundreds of pictures! Instead, we bought a book about the collection so we could remember the paintings and learn more about them later.
One work that really caught our attention was Juan de Flandes’ The Crucifixion. We also saw an incredible collection depicting dozens of Spanish cities and their monuments. It was fascinating to study the details and see how the cities and their landmarks were portrayed.
Another portrait that caught our attention was of Manuela Isidra Téllez-Girón, the future Duchess of Abrantes.
The Prado has done an amazing job preserving centuries of history through art. You aren’t simply looking at beautiful paintings. You’re looking at clothing, architecture, religion, landscapes, families, royalty, wars, celebrations, and everyday life preserved on canvas.
Gabe could have stayed there all day.
Eventually, though, we needed to move on. We had plans to return to the apartment, rest for a while, and then get ready for Mom’s birthday dinner.
On our walk back, Gabe decided he wanted a photo with one of the stone lions outside an important government building.
The police officers guarding the area made it very clear that this was not going to happen!
No picture with the lion for Gabe.
Once we returned to the apartment, Kiya crashed and Mom decided to give her knee a much-needed break. Gabe and I weren’t quite ready to sit still, so we headed back out for another stroll.
We ended up having our caricatures drawn.
What a fun experience! We laughed the entire time and now have another unique souvenir from our trip.
Gabe also found some vinyl records he wanted to bring home, while I continued my hunt for another silk scarf. I had bought one earlier in the trip and had been wearing it in my hair, but somewhere during our train travels it disappeared.
Thankfully, I found some replacements at a little shop near our apartment, along with, of course, some funky earrings.
Then it was time for the main event—Mom’s Madrid birthday dinner.
Our wonderful host, Angel, had given us several restaurant suggestions close to the apartment, but nothing had really caught our attention.
Then I found Bel Mondo.
The moment we saw pictures of the colorful, eclectic restaurant, we all agreed that was where we wanted to celebrate.
Unfortunately, I made a slight mistake with the reservation.
The information said you could have your table for one hour and 45 minutes. Somehow, I interpreted our reservation as starting at 6:00 p.m.
Nope.
It ended at 6:00 p.m.
Oops.
Thankfully, the staff couldn’t have been more gracious. They found us another table for 7:30, so we had some time to wander around the neighborhood.
We browsed a few stores and eventually found a coffee shop where we could sit, have a drink, and pass the time.
When we finally walked into Bel Mondo, we knew immediately that waiting had been worth it.
The restaurant was amazing.
The atmosphere was eclectic, eccentric, colorful, and absolutely beautiful. There were flowers, bold patterns, artwork, lights, and interesting decorations everywhere you looked. It felt less like walking into a restaurant and more like stepping onto a movie set.
For dinner, Mom ordered an enormous steak, Gabe chose sliced rib eye, and I had chicken.
Then I spotted something very important on the menu.
Moscato.
I ordered a bottle.
It was soooo good!
Gabe loved it too.
So naturally, we ordered another bottle.
By the time we finished dinner and dessert, the three of us had polished off two bottles of Moscato and were thoroughly enjoying Mom’s birthday celebration.
The staff made the evening even more special. They surprised Mom with a cheesecake topped with a candle and gathered around to sing “Happy Birthday” to her.
It was perfect.
After everything we had experienced together over the previous six weeks, celebrating Mom’s birthday in Madrid—with wonderful food, two bottles of wine, lots of laughter, and the people she loves—felt pretty special.
Eventually, after a wonderful birthday dinner, we headed back toward the apartment.
On our way, we stopped at the little corner store near where we were staying. Earlier in the day it had been closed, so I was excited to see it open again. I found some more beautiful silk scarves to replace the one I had lost—and maybe a few extras! Mom got into the shopping spirit too and picked out some gorgeous earrings to match some of the new outfits she had bought during our travels. I loved seeing her choose some fun pieces for herself.
It was the perfect little shopping stop to end Mom’s birthday celebration.
Then we headed back to the apartment for one final round of packing.
Our taxi was scheduled to arrive at 8:00 the next morning, and this time our little group would be splitting up.
Mom, Kiya, and I would fly to Lisbon for the final stop on our European adventure, while Gabe would begin his long journey home, flying to New York and eventually making his way back to Bellingham..
It had been wonderful having him join us for this part of the trip.
From swimming in the Mediterranean and wandering through Madrid to cooking us dinner, exploring museums, shopping for records, getting caricatures drawn, and celebrating Grandma’s birthday, we packed a lot of memories into our time together.
Now it was time for one more country.
Portugal, here we come.
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