Aranjuez and Thyssen Museum

We started again at "Atocha" station, buying the tickets, but this time departing to Aranjuez. This town is most known for its royal palace. The palace is stunning, but unfortunately for me I didn't have enough time to enter it, as later on I would want to visit the Thyssen Museum. We took a small little vehicle (in the form of train cars), taking a tour around Aranjuez. Many different, interesting sights were explained and mentioned in this tour. It was very cold here, with a combination of rain and moderate winds. The gardens were beautiful, the town was very nice, and the palace topped it all. After sightseeing near the palace, we ate a snack at a local cafe, eating traditional manchego cheese and fried calamari. We then boarded the train back to Madrid to eat a quick lunch before heading out to see the Thyssen. We stopped at the equivalent of a Chili's restaurant here in the US; a chain of informal restaurants called "VIPS". They had burgers, tacos, soups, salads, even asian spring rolls! After eating a filling lunch, we decided to head on to the museum. The Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum is not as known as Reina Sofia and the Prado, but well worth paying a visit. There was a temporary exhibit on portraits through the ages, most by reknowned painters like Dali, Picasso, and Van Gogh. We first entered that exhibit, enjoying the beauty and sophistication of the paintings. The last painting before the exit was my favorite. The work was titled "Portrait of Pablo Picasso in the 21st century", and was very wild, random, and confusing. After leaving the special exhibit, which I spent 2 hours looking at, I proceeded to see the Impressionist era paintings. All of these paintings were very serene and calm, with amazing landscapes in every work of art. I spent around an hour here, then I exited the museum to eat some early dinner. After eating dinner we took the metro back to the hotel.