Like any great city, Madrid is 15lbs of shit stuffed into a 10lb bag. It is a riot of food, art and architecture, culture, music, and fun. The people are friendly and totally helpful (read: patient while we practice our Spanish). They are proud of their heritage and are happy to share it (and their history) with visitors.
We went to the Prado on our first day here, and since then, we have dipped more than just toes into Spain's art history. El Greco, Goya, Picasso, Velasquez and so many more. From masterworks to simple drawings, Spain's artists lay bare their trials and tribulations, their joy, pain, and anger. Without a doubt, they are a passionate bunch.
We took a walking tour of the city centre on Wednesday. Beginning with lovely palace gardens full of statuary that used to be atop the royal palace until one of the queens was convinced that the wind would one day blow them off and onto her head. The statues were removed and now line the walkways of the palace park.
Think Central Park in New York. This park has two lakes, soccer fields, esplanades, concert venues, etc. It's a beautiful space...probably gorgeous in the spring when festooned with flowers.
Our guide, Janni, then took us to the Plaza de Toros - one of Madrid's most famous buildings. The third largest bullring in the world, it has a capacity of 25,000. It's architecture is called Moorish Revival or Neo-Mudejar (please don't make me try to pronounce it).
Look at the arches and openings...clearly Moorish influence.
Now, no matter where you land on the subject of bull fighting, know this: the bulls are well-treated, loved and coddled, free-range, well-fed, and bred exclusively for the last dramatic 20 minutes of their lives. The fighters are rock-stars. After the bull is killed, all the parts - nose to tail - are used for other things. It is a national culture and it is defended to the death. (Although, "sometime the bull win." You know that joke, right?)
Here's a statue saluting one of their most famous fighters. Ole!
Our next stop was the Royal Palace.
We were in time for the changing of the guards. Not quite Buckingham, but traditional, nonetheless.
That's Carlos III behind us. He was king of Spain in the 1700s. It's because of him that there are parks, universities, museums, the Spanish flag...the list goes on and on. And his statue is everywhere!
We're standing in the central vestibule before heading upstairs to the palace rooms. And just look at that ceiling...
wow.
The whole palace is gilt in gold, marble, precious stones and intricate tapestries, silk wall coverings, delicate porcelain, and object d'art...hey...it's a palace.
That ended our tour for the day. It was about 1pm, and we were getting hungry...time to find something to eat before checking out the Reina Sofia museum. We stopped at a small restaurant, but with our limited Spanish (Madrid Spanish, not Juarez Spanish!), identifying what's on the menu can be a bit challenging...thank god for the internet. Our waiter also helped us out, and we ended up with some fried cheese and ham, and a really nice salad, big enough to share.
The Reina Sofia was our next stop. It's a contemporary art museum which houses, among other things, the Picasso masterpiece, Guernica.
I've seen pictures of it before, but standing in front of it (it takes up an entire wall) is painful. There's so much going on. It is a moving and powerful anti-war statement. The bull on the left represents Spain. You see a mother crying over a dead child. A horse screams against the battle, and a shattered sword remains tight in the grip of a soldier's dismembered arm. The women on the right are frightened and tortured. They wonder if there is hope in a world destroyed.
This work - and many others in this museum - really began to paint for me (forgive the pun) a picture of Spain during and after its civil war and world war II. These people were oppressed, murdered, tortured, deprived of basic human needs, tossed out of their home, discriminated against, held hostage by their own government and then by the changing government of Europe. The Spaniards were mad. I mean really mad. And now I get their passion. It cries out from their art, their music, their statues and public spaces, their daily life (still). Their history truly formed and reformed them. I feel shallow not having that same depth and level of devotion and dedication to a culture.
After leaving the museum, we were tired. Not just physically, but mentally, too, after feeling all of the above for the past two hours. We had a bit of a happy house consisting of some tapas and cervezas. We walked a bit more and found ourselves on Plaza de Santa Ana - surrounded by food, beer and music. I felt passionate about the hazelnut/swiss chocolate helados (ice cream).
Enough for now. I'll post later this evening on our adventure in Toledo and New Year's Eve fun!
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