It has floors and floors of paintings nearly all depicting something about the Catholic religion. There are lots of portraits of cardinals and men with pointy beards. There are some works by some of the greats here, Goya and his mates, but they aren't really my thing, so I found it rather tedious, and so did the rest of my group, except one. It was a case of us wandering round, all wondering how soon we could leave without looking uncultured. It was a relief when someone piped up and said that they weren't enjoying it, so we left.

We went to sit on the grassy banks opposite and ate ice cream while waiting for our one friend who loves religious paintings, which was much more enjoyable.

You walk through more than 20 halls filled with centuries-old artwork.

We were very fortunate, as we went on a day that was free to the public. They normally charge about 6€.

Especially useful for us as we began our tour of the Prado was the three-page description with five color illustrations of Hiernomymus Bosch’s "The Garden of Delights" that I’d read in the profusely illustrated art book I’ve mentioned in the Overview. This extraordinary Bosch painting was a hot spot, around which a crowd was gathered at all times during our 3-hour visit. This startling work is full of medieval symbolism, some of it contrary to contemporary symbolism. For example, the owl, to us a creature of wisdom, as it was to the classical Greeks and Romans, represented evil to medieval minds. My husband was taken by this extraordinary work, and I was able to explain to him what some of the images might represent in this work and in Bosch’s "Table of the Seven Deadly Sins."

Portraiture faded in importance with the advent of 20th-century art, but I feel that some of the Prado’s greatest paintings are in this genre. We didn’t see any of the Black paintings of Goya, as time limits made me focus on works I HAD to see, and I prefer Goya’s less dark, often satiric earlier paintings. As if on cue, my husband took a look at Goya’s "The Family of Charles IV" and asked, "These people. Who were they? They look stupid. " My husband knew nothing about Charles and his infamous wife, but Goya’s art so captured Charles’s bland looks in such contrast to the smug, chin-jutting countenance of his consort that he instantly grasped the insipid nature of this royal ménage.

Other superb portraits I admire include Anthony Van Dyck’s "Self-portrait with Sir Endymion Porter," Rubens’ "Maria de Medici," Antonio Moro’s piercingly poignant "Mary Tudor," and El Greco’s "Nobleman With a Hand on His Chest." Titian’s self-portrait shines among the entire Titian collection of the Prado, along with his superb Emperor Charles V at Muhlberg. Raphael’s "The Cardinal" is also a potent portraiture.

Of course, great museums demand more than a 3-hour visit. By focusing beforehand on what you really want to see, I find you enjoy less but the things you do see more fully. Next year, the Prado’s expansion will be complete, and the new Prado promises to be more exciting than the old one we saw. Truly, Madrid is an art lover’s dream come true - a city that wants to make its treasures accessible to all.