Good morning!! We skyped with my brother John, which was both a learning experience and a moment of excitement for me. I’ve had little contact with my family since I’ve been here, so to hear my brother’s voice AND see is face?? This program is a miracle! Saturday was supposed to be designated as ‘museo Saturday’ as most of the museums are free on Saturdays. But no matter what we do, it seems I find myself learning and watching the most when we just walk the streets. We decided we’d ‘walk’ in the morning and do different museums in the afternoon. The streets were full of people today; the city took on an entirely different feel. Although most of them looked Spanish, I couldn’t place if they were travelers or just locals out on a Saturday.
There were two points of interest to this morning. First, we found the royal garden which was manicured to a tee. The entire garden was split by a long reflection pond, with each side being a literal mirror image of the other- almost down to the wood chips! Trees in perfect shapes that would make Edward scissor hands blush!! This might seem like a random interjection, but there are dogs EVERYWHERE. This city loves its dogs! Dogs are welcome wherever humans are, and most are off leash! As a dog lover, this excites me to no end and pulls on the strings of my heart toward the two who are probably at home eating my mom and dad’s recyclables. Anyway- there was a dog in the reflection pond playing fetch!!! I LOVED IT! I couldn’t believe it! YES, MADRID, YES! I hear your call! You too have a pet whose ball wanders places that you never threw it. A pet whose paws carry the furry beast into the unknown, only for you to follow the direction of the wind created by it’s tail. Dog lovers unite!!!!.... In the 400 year old royal garden of Madrid!
As we continued on our walk, we came across a park that over looked the entire city. Rick Steves said ‘this park will showcase an entire 360 view of the city, although there is no real reason that a city ever be built here’. Well, RICK STEVES, I think you’re wrong. Despite the smog, the view was perfect. You could see where the city originated and then as the populous grew, so did the buildings. It was as if we were looking at a horizontal core sample of the city. NEATO.
In the afternoon we went to the Reina Sofia Museo of contemporary art. Of course we had to check our bags. Here is my bone to pick with Madrid. Get your museum regulations uniform. Do it for all of us who need the extra inch. I almost ran I was so quick to assume that, ‘yes indeed you may have my bag. And no, I swear on my life that I would never dream of desecrating your heritage (again) by taking another illegal photo. Ever.’ So away went my bag. Tisk tisk tisk. Pictures were allowed. Due to my stupid generalization, I do not have any of PABLO PICASSO’S art to show you, or SALVADOR DAHLI. Stupid, stupid, stupid.
After a good two hours in the museum, our tired feet carried us home. We could hardly wait to get off of our feet and relax, if only for a moment.
They would let you take photo's of Picasso"s ? Crazy!
ReplyDeleteWhat about the food you are eating? Has that been a challenge? SMac