Madrid
Finally reached Madrid. The buildings are beautiful but in some parts the street seems so narrow it made me feel claustrophobic. I know they weren’t actually that narrow but it was strange for me. The city does seem like New York in terms of its bustling energy but it’s arranged less logically. Navigating is quite the task. It’s also very different how the buildings seem the narrow into corners.
We got a tour of the royal palace. We naturally only saw a small portion of it because there are over 5,000 rooms (unfathomable). Sadly, we were not permitted to take photos. As one would expect, it was ridiculously ornate. Luxurious carpeting and curtains. Intricate ceiling murals. The rooms get smaller as you go deeper into the center of the palace because fewer and fewer people had permission to enter the rooms. We saw the King’s eating rooms as well as his dressing room where he would spending about four hours dressing and undressing each day as some sort of ceremony. People were really lacking for entertainment. We saw the king’s office which was without a desk. I really had no idea what went on in there. I feel like I saw a separate “conferencing with dignitaries” room so maybe this was for secret negotiations, browbeating, intimidation, and generally illegal dealings. We also saw the king’s smoking room, decorated in an exoticized orientalist theme with far eastern stylings of nature and inaccurate portrayals of asian people. Will forgive as it was created hundreds of years ago before people knew any better. The last people to truly inhabit this absurd place were the current king’s grandparent. Lest one think the palace sits around a useless relic of times past, we were informed that it is still used for official meetings with foreign dignitaries and leaders. The tour guide kept pointing out where things would happen if Obama visited. Can’t remember if he already has. Like “here’s where they would take photos, or sign an agreement, or have a meeting”.
I went to el museo prado for free. Every Sunday after 5pm it’s free but it closes at 8pm. I raced through so I could see everything I could possibly see. More religious art. Too over it to be impressed. My favorites were the Patinir painting “crossing the river styx” and goya’s “Jupiter eating child” (mostly because I knew that one). I also enjoyed the Bosch paintings depicting “earthly pleasures” because they were over the top and crazy with lots of bright colors –my taste is so sophisticated (haha). I also saw the famous painting of Atalanta and Hippomenes though I can’t remember who did it. It was fun to see lots of Greek mythology I recognized (so I guess I should thank Ms. Goodman for making my experience at el museo prado more meaningful). Seeing the paintings in person is so different. They seem so realistic probably because the colors are so rich and vivid. Saw Las meninas which is damn creepy in real life. Las meninas look possessed by el Diablo.
I also went to La Reina sofia where they had more modern surrealist work. Saw some Dali- none of his really famous stuff. Saw Dali’s The Great Masturbator which I found to be disturbing and misogynistic. Saw a lot of lesser known (to me at least) Picasso like Minotauromaquia (my favorite of that set). The main event was Guernica. I had no idea that it was so large. It almost took up an entire wall. We were allowed to take pictures but mine are blurry at best. It was overwhelming in person. I also saw a lot of Joan Miro. I don’t know her work well enough to know what her most famous pieces are but my favorite (which I unfortunately didn’t take a picture of) was a really child-like painting with (I think) a giraffe and a rainbow. I thought it was charming and truly captured something childish in its representation. To me it reflected a child’s view and I feel that that is difficult to do as an adult. Another piece I really liked was Oskar Schlemmer’s Turkish Dancer which I don’t even know how to explain but I did take pictures of. See above picture.
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