Madrid is loaded with great museums. Today, we visited the Museum of Ham and the Prado.
The Prado is one of the worlds top rated art museums and after spending only a few hours there it is easy to see why.
Loaded with brilliant Spanish artwork from 14th to the 19th centuries from the likes of Velázquez, Goya and El Greco, as well as other famous artwork from Ruebens and so many others. No photos were allowed inside, so here we are outside, along with a photo of the wonderful Spanish guitarist we listened to while sitting on the lawn of the Prado.
The Reina Sophia (from the 19th century to today) is the other world class art museum in Madrid, but we chose not to visit as we can’t do it all.
We did however have tapas at the Museo de Jamon - the Museum of ham. It’s not a museum at all, but we thought it was pretty funny, and a bit gross to see all that ham just hanging around. Some how I only took a photo of the deli side. There is a tapas bar too, and that’s where we had a snack.
An interesting Spanish law; alcohol must be served with food, so if you have a beer, you get a starter snack for free. It was originally put in place by one of the kings hundreds of years ago, as workers spent their days pay on booze with none left for food. Now, I think it might have the opposite effect as so many people seem to go from one tapas bar to the next having a drink and enjoying their free food.
The museum of ham was right across from our hotel and one of the only kitchens open at 5pm. Most dinner restaurants don’t open until about 8pm.
Travel Tip: The Prado offers free entry from 6-8 pm and the Riena Sophia has free entry from 7-9pm, and a warning – the queues for these entry times are very long.
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Related Articles:
- Official page: Museo Nacional del Prado
- Official page: The Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía
- Don’t forget the Museum of Ham – Museo de Jamon
Travel with us as we laugh our way around the globe. I am Rhonda Albom, wife, mom, photographer and blogger, sharing the lighter side of our traveling family's life with two teens. 
Wow! That’s a lot of pig. Do you eat pork?
Joyce recently posted..#GBE2: Educated By Big Sister
I know, it was so bizarre to see so many pork legs hanging all the way around the place, this is just one side. We found it interesting and a bit gross when they were in the grocery store, but his kind of pushed us over the top. And, as for pork, not normally, but I have been while in Spain as it is delicious.
I LOVE ham and melon. mmmmmm
The Ham Museum sounds really interesting, it would be great to combine that (if they gave free samples) with a few tapas bars, great food.
The only time I was in Madrid was changing planes in the airport on my way back from Paraguay. That’s the only time I landes on the Spanish mainland. One day…
Tony Payne recently posted..Annoying Cats Are One Of My Pet Peeves
We did get “samples” free with the beer and Sangria. The law states they must serve food with alcohol. Not sure if it is a Madrid or Spain law, but either way, we got nibbles. However, the “jamon” tapas was really inexpensive. The museum wasn’t really a museum, just a tapas bar filled with ham and stories . . . I guess that makes it a museum. Nevermind.