Laziness With a Little (or alot of art) Thrown In

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Initially the plan was for me, during the five days here, to take a couple of days to go and visit Toledo, Segovia and possibly Avila. It sounds ambitious but I actually did three towns plus Madrid in about five days last time I was here. The difference ... I hadn't been travelling for 8 weeks prior to it. So yes there is a bit of travel weariness that is setting in (just a bit though ... not quite ready to throw in the towel) but I also felt like I had rushed through Madrid proper last time and I wanted to give it a little bit more attention. Like I have said before, the odds of me coming back here are pretty much slim to none. And I am enjoying the art thing these days and this is definitely the place to get an art-fix.

I therefore spent the morning at the Thyseen-Bornemisza Museum. It is not as big as the Museo del Prado but there is definitively an extensive collection (64 rooms worth of art!!). They have actually reorganized recently so the collection on display has been increased even further. What I liked is the fact that the pieces were displayed chronologically. You definitely see an evolution. You first started with paintings that definitely had a religious focus and moved all the way to Russian Avant-Guardes and Pop Art. That is quite the leap in styles. The only thing that I would have liked was a short narrative describing the painting. The Prado had that and for a non-art person like me it was definitely very useful and informative.

This museum has a huge collection of portraits which I actually always find interesting. I like seeing the way they are dressed and those are always some intricate paintings, especially those of women who often have brocaded dresses and beautiful jewelry.

The other entertaining part of visiting a museum like this is the people. You have your die-hard art lover who studies every single painting intensely. There is the bored teenager that was dragged there by his parents and would rather be any where but there. There is the die-hard tourist has got to see the "masterpieces" or bust. Then there's the wanderer who goes from painting to painting stopping to study the ones of interest. That's me. I just wander and really soak in the ones that really appeal to me, regardless of who painted it. It dawned on me that I never really pay attention to who painted a piece unless it actually draws me in ... hence why I totally passed by the Rembrandt self-portrait which is considered a masterpiece. Ooops!

There were some highlights for me ... quite a few actually. But the end all, be all was Swaying Dancer (Dancer in Green) by Degas. I have always loved his paintings of the ballerinas and it was great to actually see one in person. Beautiful. There was also a Toulouse-Lautrec called Yvette Guilbert which I just loved. It looked like a fashion design. Great collection.

From there, I walked to the train station. There is a memorial to the victims of a terrorist attack which took place at this very station in 2004. I had seen the memorial before and just thought it was brilliant so I wanted to see it again. It is so hard to explain though. There is large glass cylinder which juts out above ground. The memorial itself is a dark room directly below this glass cylinder. The inside of the cylinder is covered in this kind of clear plastic tarp and is inscribed with words that were written to the victims of this attack. There is security to just go into the memorial. The door has a "man trap" just like in EPS at work and there is a young girl that mans the doors to let you in and out.

I then crossed over to the Parque del Buen Retiro which is a huge huge huge park. I sat for a bit and drew ... okay so I drew a tree. Not exactly a masterpiece but drawing .... it's a muscle and it is definitely rusty. And yes a four year old could have drawn this but damn it I like my tree! Tomorrow I will hit up the park again and explore some more ... there are quite a few things to see there.

My last stop would be the botanical gardens. I love me a good botanical garden. The air is cleaner there! And it was interesting to see it at a different time of the year as well. What I hadn't seen last time was the hothouse (... because it wasn't already hot enough outside!!!). There were enormous cactus and beautiful exotic plants. And it helps my little congestion problem ... allergies are acting up since I've gotten to Madrid. I look like Rudolph ... man am I ever starting to look like my passport picture. Good thing that I am home for a week when I get back to Canada ... I will definitely need some beautification before returning back to my normal life!

And my day ended with a long nap ... I love naps when the window is open and the sun is shining ... loveliness. I also did some Spanish lessons. I may come back trilingual ...ahem ...

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Photos

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In my lifetime please!!!!

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The tree at Parque del Buen Retiro

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My little doodle

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How fun ... murder mystery at the botanical gardens for the kids

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It's like a before and after

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Artichoke ... the botanical garden has a fruits and vegetables section

19 Roots overtaking the stairs
It's the roots of this enormous cypress tree

20 Cypress tree
It's huge!

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Little grapes in the making ... part of the vineyards at the gardens.