Eyes on Madrid

After our long museum day yesterday we decided to get out and see the city today. We started at Plaza Mayor, the very oldest part of Madrid. It has been the scene of many historic events, including the public execution of heretics during the Spanish Inquisition. Today there was nothing more exciting than a small flea market consisting mostly of old coins and stamps, and old men haggling over them. We wandered along the stalls and I bought a small pair of old and interesting folding scissors.

The closer and higher I looked, the more interesting details I found.

We left the Plaza Mayor and walked through some neighborhoods, getting a little lost and very tired and decided this was not the most efficient way to explore the city. So we headed down to Plaza del Sol and bought tickets for the big red tourist bus. It turned out to be a great idea. You can hop off the bus almost anywhere along the line, explore, or have a meal, then hop on the next bus that comes along all day and into the evening. There is a recorded commentary, in numerous languages, you can listen to as you ride along.

As I had discovered at Plaza Mayor, there is a lot to be seen by looking up.

We stopped partway through the tour and had lunch—mine was a pizza with an egg on it. I ordered it without the egg, which sounded a little wierd, but it arrived with egg, so I ate it and the egg was OK. When in Spain....

We got back on the bus and finished the first half of the tour, got off near our hotel and came back for a little rest and to check messages, then went back for the second half this evening. It was a good day! Madrid is a pretty magnificent place.

 

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Madrid

We arrived in this delicious city yesterday on the high speed train from Barcelona and found our hotel, near the Plaza Mayor. A perfect location.

View from our fifth floor window. We settled in and waited for our friends to arrive. Funny thing. Months ago I was walking, as I do most mornings, with Beth, and I told her Ray and were planning a trip to Spain and Portugal in September. She stopped in her tracks and said, "Ed and I and some old friends are going to Spain and Portugal in September!" We compared itineraries and found we would be in the same city, at the same time, only once—yesterday in Madrid! We booked the same hotel and planned to meet up. We had a great evening of visiting and wandering around the neighborhood Tapas bars, then bid them farewell this morning.

Today we went to the Prado. We were there 42 years ago and have never forgotten it. Probably the greatest art museum in the world.

We spent nearly 4 hours drinking in Velasquez, Rubens, El Greco, Durer, fra Angelico, etc., etc, and, of course Goya! Oh, Goya! Lovely, shocking, powerful. Beth's friend saw Picasso's Guernica a couple days ago and called it the first anti-war painting. He hasn't yet seen Goya's Executions of the Third of May.

The Prado is hard work. Really hard work. My feet and back are still suffering, so it seemed only right to limp to the Metro, return to "our" neighborhood, find a pitcher of sangria and some tapas to share at a table on the little square across from the hotel, and indulge in some people watching.

What looks like potato salad here is potatoes with a creamy olive oil and garlic sauce. Bread. Spanish olives. So good.

Anywhere people congregate, the street musicians show up. Some are awfully good. I liked this guy's style—musical and personal.

The Spanish citizens stroll in the evening. Young couples, groups of teenagers, families—out for the air, the music, the company. I especially loved seeing the older women, so often arm in arm, properly dressed in their good clothes and earrings and necklaces, hair "done" and lipstick in place. Beautiful, they are.

Such a civilized city.

 

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Gaudi's master work

For as long as I can remember I have wanted to see the Sagrada Familia, the huge church designed by Antoni Gaudi, begun in 1882 and still under construction. Yesterday I was there.

I have seen a lot of cathedrals and this one both resembles many of them and yet is entirely different. The style and form are classic Gothic cathedral, but a very eccentric and crusty kind of Gothic. The exterior is particularly eccentric, with many whimsical, but meaningful details.

Above is the "Tree of Life" over the front entrance.

The front facade. This is what I meant when I said "crusty". There is a feeling of cave structures about it, yet a richness of texture that is mysterious and appealing.

Inside the huge pillars that support the massive structure are meant to represent a forest that rises into a canopy of leaves.

For me what is most striking is the quality of light flowing into the space. Unlike the medieval cathedrals with the dark jewel-like light filtered through stained glass windows, much of the light here is a pearly white light, that feels otherworldly. And where there are colored windows, the colored light turns everything into glowing prisms of color.

This could all change as the clear glass is gradually replaced by colored glass, but I hope not. The light is my favorite thing.

At one end is this bronze model done in Braille.

Below the cathedral are exhibits of Gaudi's drawing and models, which were fascinating.

It is all under construction, as it has been for 132 years. Cranes, scaffolding and workmen pushing wheelbarrows, hammering, drilling, are all part of the scene. It's pretty noisy inside!

It is due to be finished in 2026, which will be the centennial of Gaudi's death. It will be the largest place of worship in the world, with the tallest church tower. And it will all be paid for with donations and, I presume, mine and all the many thousands of entry fees.

My thoughts about God and religion are complicated and unorthodox and not something I will ever discuss here, but cathedrals are a passion for me and a source of awe and humble wonder at what the mind and creative spirit of man can bring to life. This visit was a memory I will carry with me for all of my days, alongside my memory of visiting Chartres cathedral many years ago. Pure joy.

 

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A Day filled with inspiration

 

We threw off our jet lag and hit Barcelona with gusto today. It was a Gaudi day. We started at Park Guell, the magical park designed by Antoni Gaudi, Barcelona's incredible artist/architect. It is filled with his fanciful designs and structures, including this crazy mosaiced lizard. The sense of fantasy, mixed with natural beauty and stunning views along a series of walking paths is a photographer's dream. Here are just some of the many photos I took.

 

These last two are but a sample of the entertainers encountered along the paths through the park. In the afternoon we visited Gaudi's masterpiece, the Sagrada Familia, but I'm saving those photos for tomorrow.

 

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