We sauntered down to the river on a crisp summer’s morning; it doesn’t get to its hottest until about 6pm and then not too bad at 29. Madrid will start to scare the 40’s next week so we’ve been blessed. The Manzanares river (the part we saw is not all that attractive and therefore not much part of daily life). A lot of concrete and at the bottom of a long slope from Madrid proper which seems to be built on a plateau. They are trying with lots of new trees but it’s hard to find a way down.

On our way we found a park (Parque del Campo del Moro) that was more like a jungle with lots of birds, a shaded pond and long magnificent roads-cum-paths. Such a find on the plateau’s edge

Our first painter today (Spanish of course) is Murillo who paints with a lot of light but also with a lot of symbolism, he seems to me to be a real thinker’s artist. His work with children is superb with imaginative expressions. I wanted to buy St John and the lamb but you know what these places are like, ‘no photos’ ‘no selling’…..I love that he does domestic and everyday scenes

The next was Zurbaran who paints a lot of his characters in a dreaming or meditative state. Once again, he like the others uses light well and with both enjoyed the peace of it all

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