Madrid. Today was art day. We toured the Prado and the Reina Sophia with our group.
The Prado had works by Velasquez, Goya, El Greco and many more greats. Next we went across the street to Reina Sophia where the modern art is housed--Salvador Dali, Picasso, Joan Miro, and others. We saw Picasso's Guernica. We tried to visit an avant garde art museum suggested by our guide--Caixa Forum. It was supposed to have had the art installations that are done with video or light displays and it was free. We found the door to that floor locked without a sign posted or anything. So we went to see a temporary exhibit of architectural engravings from a contemporary of Goya, Piranesi (comparing with his black paintings). They were engravings of archeological discoveries being found in Rome at the time, but the weird part was that he also included images of satyrs or grotesques and monsters in the engravings. The net effect was creepy and weird. It reminded me of a painting called 'The Enigma of a Day' in the empty dreamscape/nightmare effect of the works. Some of the works were merely architectural drawings, however. The museum had contemporary artists build the actual furniture from the engravings. It had a very pagan vibe with all of the ram's heads and satyrs.
We headed back to the hotel and stopped at and ATM to get a bit of cash since we saw a machine that wasn't creepy or busy, but our card wouldn't work. We had called the credit card twice before leaving to give a travel notice and we were twice assured that the notice was on file, but to no avail. We stopped at a Corte Ingles, a kind of department store, to get a phone card to use to call the credit card company. It turned out that the credit card flagged our account the moment we tried to get cash at the ATM. Boo!
We took our siesta and then went back to the Prado to view a few more rooms before it closed. They had a temporary exhibit of Raphaels from the Louvre. We got to see some works that had also traveled to Atlanta, pictures of Lorenzo de Medici, Balthazar Castiglioni, and one of his art patrons (Bindo Altoviti).
We left the Prado and Andy saw that something was happening at Iglesia de Geronimo on the next street. It was a fancy wedding with VIPs, paparazzi, and police support.
We took pictures of the guests and wedding party before continuing to Retiro Park. (Just so that you know, we used the zoom and didn't interfere.) We took the metro on the other side of the park and the walked to Sol, one of the major plazas in Madrid. We grabbed dinner at the KFC, which was a lot of fun. Aside from a couple of Brits, it was all Spaniards eating on the second floor dining room with us. Our guide said that KFC and the Burger King are two of the more popular chains in Spain. You may be uncertain what the items in the picture are. We ordered the 'menu' number six, which was the "Tower" chicken sandwich. The sandwich had a chicken filet, lettuce, mayonnaise, cheese, ketchup, and a small, fried hashbrown. We had a choice of one side item french fries, salad, or a desert). Andy and I both got the menu number six, but he had fries and I had a salad. We both had gi-normous Pepsis with maybe 12 ice cubes. A group of six Spanierds ahead of us in line ordered a bucket of chicken to share and it came with a 2 L Pepsi and cups for them to make a picnic, I suppose. I was shocked/amazed at their tray of food at the pick-up counter. One of the members of the group was kind of also shocked/embarrassed at the massive amount of fast food. It was funny.
Tomorrow, our group is going to Toledo by bus. Tomorrow is our last day of the tour. Andy and I will be on our own, soon.
The Prado had works by Velasquez, Goya, El Greco and many more greats. Next we went across the street to Reina Sophia where the modern art is housed--Salvador Dali, Picasso, Joan Miro, and others. We saw Picasso's Guernica. We tried to visit an avant garde art museum suggested by our guide--Caixa Forum. It was supposed to have had the art installations that are done with video or light displays and it was free. We found the door to that floor locked without a sign posted or anything. So we went to see a temporary exhibit of architectural engravings from a contemporary of Goya, Piranesi (comparing with his black paintings). They were engravings of archeological discoveries being found in Rome at the time, but the weird part was that he also included images of satyrs or grotesques and monsters in the engravings. The net effect was creepy and weird. It reminded me of a painting called 'The Enigma of a Day' in the empty dreamscape/nightmare effect of the works. Some of the works were merely architectural drawings, however. The museum had contemporary artists build the actual furniture from the engravings. It had a very pagan vibe with all of the ram's heads and satyrs.
We headed back to the hotel and stopped at and ATM to get a bit of cash since we saw a machine that wasn't creepy or busy, but our card wouldn't work. We had called the credit card twice before leaving to give a travel notice and we were twice assured that the notice was on file, but to no avail. We stopped at a Corte Ingles, a kind of department store, to get a phone card to use to call the credit card company. It turned out that the credit card flagged our account the moment we tried to get cash at the ATM. Boo!
We took our siesta and then went back to the Prado to view a few more rooms before it closed. They had a temporary exhibit of Raphaels from the Louvre. We got to see some works that had also traveled to Atlanta, pictures of Lorenzo de Medici, Balthazar Castiglioni, and one of his art patrons (Bindo Altoviti).
We left the Prado and Andy saw that something was happening at Iglesia de Geronimo on the next street. It was a fancy wedding with VIPs, paparazzi, and police support.
We took pictures of the guests and wedding party before continuing to Retiro Park. (Just so that you know, we used the zoom and didn't interfere.) We took the metro on the other side of the park and the walked to Sol, one of the major plazas in Madrid. We grabbed dinner at the KFC, which was a lot of fun. Aside from a couple of Brits, it was all Spaniards eating on the second floor dining room with us. Our guide said that KFC and the Burger King are two of the more popular chains in Spain. You may be uncertain what the items in the picture are. We ordered the 'menu' number six, which was the "Tower" chicken sandwich. The sandwich had a chicken filet, lettuce, mayonnaise, cheese, ketchup, and a small, fried hashbrown. We had a choice of one side item french fries, salad, or a desert). Andy and I both got the menu number six, but he had fries and I had a salad. We both had gi-normous Pepsis with maybe 12 ice cubes. A group of six Spanierds ahead of us in line ordered a bucket of chicken to share and it came with a 2 L Pepsi and cups for them to make a picnic, I suppose. I was shocked/amazed at their tray of food at the pick-up counter. One of the members of the group was kind of also shocked/embarrassed at the massive amount of fast food. It was funny.
Tomorrow, our group is going to Toledo by bus. Tomorrow is our last day of the tour. Andy and I will be on our own, soon.
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