We went next to the Thyssen-Bornezisza Museum, the last of Madrid's three great art museums (the Prado and Reina Sofia being the other two in case you forgot over the Christmas holiday). This museum houses the private collection of the Thyssen family, who control one of Germany's largest companies and, more controversially, were Hitler's main financial backers. When the family wasn't supporting Nazis it was collecting art, and their eclectic collection ended up in Madrid due to the Baron Thyssen's wife, Tito Cervera. I think she started out as a flight attendant, and definitely won Miss Spain one year, but is now the Baroness Thyssen. She persuaded her husband to build their museum in Madrid, which was a great coup for the city, although she's a bit of a pain in the ass so the city may now regret this. She chained herself to a tree in front of the museum to stop the city from cutting the tree down, and she's now in a big fight with the city about the expansion of the Prado Museum. I think she's miffed that the Prado is overshadowing her baby, so she's now threatening to move the museum, although I'm not sure she's allowed to do that now that she's given it to the city. Anyway, it's a very nicely laid out museum, and very comprehensive, with the collection having a little bit of pretty much every art movement in history. In addition, they go more in-depth in a couple of areas, in particular nineteenth century American landscapes. Skip that if you visit.