Welcome to Thursday!
Halloween is over and you are back at work in your regular clothes for two more days of being “professional” until you have the entire weekend to cut loose. But don’t get too excited just yet, because you have still got to keep it together today. In order to help you out, we have put together some great things that you can do today that might be just as cool as your weekend plans. The best part is that today, you are free of one thing – a budget! Check out what we have lined up for you in today’s Madrid installment of Dollars & Sense.
Visit The Real Monasterio de las Descalzas Reales
The convent of the Descalzas Reales (‘Royal Barefoot Nuns’) is the most complete 16th-century building in Madrid and still houses a cloistered community. It was originally built as a palace for Alonso Gutiérrez, treasurer of Charles V, but was converted into a convent in 1556-64 by Antonio Sillero and Juan Bautista de Toledo after Philip II’s widowed sister Joanna of Austria decided to become a nun. Founded with royal patronage, the Descalzas became the preferred destination of the many widows, younger daughters and other women of the royal family and high aristocracy of Spain who entered religious orders. Hence it also acquired an extraordinary collection of works of art – paintings, sculptures, tapestries and objects d’art – given as bequests by the novices’ families. Equally lavish is the European decoration of the building itself, with a grand painted staircase, frescoed ceilings and 32 chapels, only some of which can be visited.
Inside The Real Monasterio de las Descalzas Reales
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Visit The Museo Del Prado
Housed in a gigantic neo-classical building begun by Juan de Villanueva for King Charles III in 1785, the Prado is Madrid’s best-known attraction. Charles originally wanted to establish a museum of natural sciences, reflecting one of his chief interests, but by the time it opened, in 1819, this plan had changed: the Prado was a public art museum – one of the world’s first – displaying the royal art collection. Spain’s ‘non-king’, Joseph Bonaparte, had first proposed the idea and it was taken up by the restored King Fernando VII, who took on board the demands of the Real Academia de Bellas Artes and those of his second wife, María Isabel de Braganza, considered the museum’s true founder.
During the last few years the Prado has undergone a highly ambitious expansion program. Behind the main museum, on the site of the San Jerónimo cloisters, the new and highly controversial cube-shaped edifice designed by Rafael Moneo was also unveiled and it’s definitel something worth checking out if you happen to be in the area.
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Financial Tip Of The Day
Cook With Spread, Eat With Butter
This financial tip is not for anyone on a diet.
If you are going to cook, use vegetable spread. It’s much less expensive than actual butter, it has more of an oil base so it’s better for cooking and let’s face it, it’s nowhere near as tasty as actual butter. The problem is that people buy butter to spread on their bagels and toast in the morning, but wind up greasing their pans and proteins with it. Do the latter with the cheaper vegetable spread and watch how much longer you can keep actual butter in your house. We know they look the same but the savings and taste are very different.
