We started "planning" for this trip earlier this year as I was buying tickets to travel to Australia. At little additional cost ($100-$200 range) I can buy a multi-city ticket (SYD-EWR-MAD) instead of a one way SYD-EWR ticket. Spain seemed nice, and perhaps a couple of days at the Bach Fest. Eventually the trip came together as Bilbao-Madrid-Dresden-Leipzig. With Anne's Mileage Plus miles, I got the return BER-EWR, and she got the EWR-MAD/BER-EWR with her miles as well.
We visited Spain about 10 years back. The Madrid portion was cut short because of Hurricane Sandy. For trip we dedicate about a week between Madrid and Bilbao.
The detailed plans didn't come together for a while. For example, I was debating whether we spend some time in Madrid before heading to Bilbao. Eventually I settled on connecting at MAD to Bilbao before visiting Madrid. It worked out well. Now that we realize getting to and from the Madrid airport isn't that complicated, we could have done it in the other order also. (Typing this the day we returned to New Jersey.)
While our trip wasn't particularly music-focused, we still ended up going to six concerts together. Anne went to a morning service (Matte) at Thomas Church, the day we left Leipzig. So it's seven for her.
When I was doing the planning for this trip (perhaps the fourth time we do so) I felt a little overwhelmed. Flying back earlier today, I thought it was an enjoyable trip. So we will do this again: our next trip is for April of next year, to see tulips in Amsterdam, and to join a river cruise on the Rhone river. Stay tuned.
5/29 Monday. Ellie and family spent the day with us, today being Memorial Day. They then dropped us off at Newark, a bit early as they were trying to avoid weekend traffic.
Ellie and family came by to visit before taking us to the airport.
The new UA Lounge was quite busy. It offered a reasonable selection of food, which we took advantage of.
I had been monitoring UA51 (EWR-MAD) the last few days, and found out it was often late. Our connection at MAD to Bilbao involved a change of terminal. While the likelihood of missing the connection was low, I still worried a bit. Turns out that wasn't necessary today, although we did run into a problem on a later flight (I am typing this early Thursday 6/8).
Actually I found out the flight the day before was cancelled, as was the flight from MAD-EWR earlier that day. The reason given was "we had to take the plane out of service to address an issue." That didn't help calm my nerves. As a minimum I would expect a full flight.
Then I noticed they were going to use a differently configured 767-400ER for this flight. My recollection was the -400s had business and economy sections only. The one we were going to be on would have 24 premium plus seats. One was open and I put Anne in it. Later in the day another one opened up, so I put myself in it. After we boarded a gentleman was nice enough to trade his seat so Anne and I were in the middle two seats.
After the plane finished boarding, a flight attendant told me I was upgraded to business. Turns out I had put in that request, using 20,000 miles. Anne took that seat. Surprisingly they had premium plus meals that were a bit better than coach. I am not complaining, I just marvel that sometimes things work out well, and today was an example of that.
View from the "new" United Club Lounge in Terminal C.
The seat map after we took off. The flight attendants put some people in the empty seats. I sat in Seat 21D, and had an empty seat next to me.
Premium Plus seating in a 767.
I was surprised they served "premium plus" food for a flight where these were sold as economy seats. Quite respectable.
On the other hand, Anne in business class got a better selection, and better food.
I noticed the plane stayed at 27,000 feet for the duration of the flight.
As confirmed by the FlightAware App.
It was a good flight, but neither Anne nor I got much sleep.
5/30 Tuesday. We landed at 9:15 am (scheduled for 9 am), immigration and customs were straightforward. Iberia uses Terminal 4 at MAD, we landed at Terminal 1. Buses to T4 were right outside, although they could use more luggage space. T4 looked quite chaotic, and the agents all spoke limited English. When we showed them our boarding pass, and pointed at our luggage, they all seemed to say we could just go through security and get on - no need to check luggage. We figured it was worth a try and proceeded to security, which turned out didn't take too long.
We had enough time to try the Priority Pass lounge to get something to eat. I did purchase a package that gave us some boarding privileges (Group 3). Few people were in the first two groups, so we boarded quite early, and overhead bin space wasn't a problem. I breathed a sigh of relief when we sat in our seats. Overall impression so far? Definitely navigable, a bit chaotic, and efficiency didn't seem to be a high priority. The other impression, which would be reinforced again and again during our trip: your typical Spanish person doesn't speak much English.
UA51 parked at the gate at MAD airport.
Priority Pass gave us access to the lounge at Terminal 4.
Inside MAD Terminal 4. It is a long walk from one end to the other.
It was relatively easy to get from the airport to the hotel. Right by the exit there was a ticket counter one could buy tickets, and the buses leave outside the terminal (#3247). From where we got off the bus, it was less than a 10-minute (slow) walk to the hotel. Both of us managed a little nap that afternoon.
For dinner we walked to a neighborhood restaurant, Asador Indusi.
First sighting of the Guggenheim as the bus crosses the river (Nervion).
Dinner at this restaurant a couple of blocks away.
Fish (cod?) and bull tail stew. Turns out the stew is a common dish in Spain. We had that in Madrid also. Turns out to be one of the more expensive meals we had for the entire trip.
Hotel Ercilla is part of the Marriott chain. Comfortable room, friendly staff.
We were upgraded to a "vintage room."
Accommodations: Hotel Ercilla, Autograph collection, Bilbao, Spain. (3 nights).
5/31 Wednesday. We both woke up late, but early enough to make our 11 am admission to the Guggenheim. The Frank Gehry-designed building was the main reason we took a 3-day detour to Bilbao, and, having spent most of the day in and around that building, I am left with mixed feelings.
Yes, it is a one-of-a-kind building, if one doesn't count Walt Disney Concert Hall. And yes, it's distinct. The art pieces it houses are also distinct, yet the collection is a hit or miss with the museum's visitors. As an example, we chatted with a Swiss tourist who remarked that the place should be more called the Gehry Museum as the architect basically shouted "look at me" with the building. WD Concert Hall at least has world-class acoustics, which can't be said of the collection in the museum. And why are most of the artists Americans? (Maybe being "Guggenheim" has something to do with it?)
The building also turned out to be quite confusing. We had to try many times (yes, Anne stopped and asked for directions, multiple times) before we could find the cafe, which turns out to be located right next to the main entrance to the museum. Our dinner last night make us think food would be very expensive, turns out each small dish cost between 3 and 4 euros, quite reasonable in comparison.
Bilboats offers a one-hour cruise on the Nervion River which flows through the city. We got to the boat dock a little after 3 pm, and the only available sailing online was for 5 pm. When the attendant started letting people on for the 3:45 pm sailing we decided to ask. She pointed us to the captain on board, who exchanged our tickets for the earlier one. While the boat was only half-full, we still appreciated the flexibility. We basically sailed 30 minutes (in the westerly direction) and then turned back. The gist of it is that Bilbao used to be a manufacturing town, but is now undergoing some transformation into a new city. We do see many abandoned factory buildings, and some construction sites, many of which on this island nicknamed "Little Manhattan." Many of the new buildings and developments are designed by architects who have won the Pritzker Prize. The audio system worked through the cell phone. Without headsets it was difficult to get it to function properly.
A short walk from the dock took us to the base station of the Funicular, which runs every 15 minutes, and evidently is used by many locals to commute to work or school. A five minute ride to the top station took us to a park which had a nice view of the city, the river, and the Guggenheim museum.
While many different kinds of transportation is available in Bilbao, getting to and from the hotel all involved considerable walking from one mode to the other. We walked slowly from north of the river, over Puente de La Salve that spans the Nervion river, past Koons' dog to get back to the hotel. Along the way we stopped at a "hamburger joint" Bil-ko Bar Restaurant. While there were menus on the table, the attendant told us the kitchen wouldn't open until 8 pm, and suggested we order some small dishes instead.
At around 9:30 pm I got a burger from a Carl's Jr shop, less than a five minute walk away.
Approaching Guggenheim from the bus stop. The big cat there has fresh flowers all over it. It's by Jeff Koons (I imagine he doesn't do maintenance). The blue building is Administration.
One walks down a set of steps under the banners to enter the museum. The cafe is where the umbrellas are on the left. To get to it from inside the museum took a while. They could have simply set, get a wristband, go out where you came in, and it's right there. Instead we were directed to go upstairs, downstairs, through bookshop, etc. (I am making some of the directions up, but they were quite complex.)
Few straight lines inside also.
A couple of views from the river. Taken while we were on this 1-hour Bilboats tour.
Tulips by Koons.
Waking by "Gilbert and George." The painters' proclamation about themselves is more interesting than the painting itself. Perhaps in keeping of the whole Gehry attitude of "look at me."
Remember this painting. We actually recognized the painter's style as we visited another museum. Something to be said?
What modern art museum won't have some masterpiece like this?
This installation is called "A Matter of Time." It takes up an entire wing. Kids would love it's maze-like appearance (although there is only one way in, and one way out).
One goes into this mirror room and observe how the colored light bulbs light up, and even flash.
A painting this doesn't belong in this museum, some might opine.
Still life? Or our snack.
I called this "thing" the tulip. I would actually go up the steps to reach its base (can't climb up the installation).
Bilboats offers a one-hour tour that sails up and down the river. The ride provides a good view of the museum, and the town.
Buildings on "Little Manhattan." Some are abandoned.
The pedestrian bridge Zubizuri spans the river.
A five-minute funicular ride takes one to a park with a good view of the city. The park itself is also rather nice.
To cross the river on foot, one takes the elevator to the span of the bridge and then walk across. There are stair cases if you choose to walk. (The elevator tower is behind the lamp post.)
The spider is one of many by Louise Bourgeois. The museum describes the spider as "provoking awe and joy, yet conveys a vulnerability." The stair case leads to the "other" installation. About 100 steps.
Kitchen won't open until 8 pm at this restaurant (and many others), so we ordered some snacks.
I look quite happy, so must have been famished.
The museum dominates the city.
Good ole Carls Jr. In the hotel neighborhood there are quite a few fast food joints.
6/1 Thursday. Guernica the town is made world-famous by Guernica the painting by Picasso. It was a dark chapter for humanity as on April 27, 1937 Franco (the rebel) invited Germans and Italians to attack the city. Aerial bombing over the course of several hours practically leveled the city, and about 20% of the population died. (Per Wikipedia, the number of civilian deaths is now believed to be much lower, a few hundred.) In any case, Picasso started the painting soon afterwards. The original is in a Madrid museum, and we hope to see it in a few days.
Getting to Guernica is relatively easy, and quite inexpensive. We took the Metro to Casco Viejo, and - after taking a moment to figure out how to find the correct train terminal - took the 11:45 am (or so) E4 train to Guernica. All that could be done on the Barik Card, for less than 2 euros per person as far as I can tell. We missed the 3:15 pm train. We could have chosen to wait 30 minutes for the next train, but instead we took the A3515 bus back, again paying for our fare with the Barik Card.
We first stopped by a cafe to have a few pintxos for lunch. 4 food items, a coffee, and a coke zero cost 10 euros. We spent about an hour at the Peace Museum, the displays there are mostly photographs of the destruction. While they try to make peace an issue that is world-wide, I am not sure how powerful that message is. Both Basque and Spanish are used in the description, and one notices the two languages have little in common. The hapless tourists are given books with translations of those displays.
We left the Peace Museum a little after 2 pm, and walked to the Basque Museum across the courtyard. I did realize (or had forgotten) that it closes at 2 pm, so had to miss it. Other places we visited includ a sculpture garden (inspired by Picasso's Guernica), a mural copy of the painting, and the "famous" oak tree where Basque leaders used to lead assemblies. The tree tradition dates back to the 14th century, the dead trunk in a colonnaded pavilion was planted in the 18th century, and there were a couple more before the current one was planted. The Meeting Hall was closed for the day, so we could only take pictures from outside the fence.
A random fish shop in Casco Viejo, Bilbao Old Town.
We couldn't find any signs to direct us from the tram station to the train station, but managed to find it without doing too many detours. Finding the right train to go wasn't difficult. People did offer to help.
Town Square Guernica. We had a simple lunch at one of the cafes. Cost 10 euros.
The Peace Museum and the Basque Museum are across the courtyard from one another. The Basque Museum closes at 2 pm, so we couldn't visit.
Google Translate came in handy to understand what the plaque says. The number of dead, stated to be 2000 here, is disputed nowadays. I don wonder if there is politics behind the discrepancy.
This picture was taken standing in front of a three part composite of the painting. The parts represent life, liberty, and equality. Perhaps an interpretation that Picasso would be proud of?
The mural in town.
The sculpture garden has installations of the painting's components.
The oak tree in the Meeting Hall is a symbol for the Basque people. They have had one for several hundred years. This is the stump of one of those trees.
The Meeting Hall was closed for the day, so I am not sure this is the current oak tree.
The Bilbao Fine Arts Museum is next to the Guggenheim. Admission is free. When we got inside, we couldn't help but notice two figures hanging from the ceiling - it immediately reminds me of many German opera stagings: gratuitous violence. I just couldn't bring myself to taking photos of the unnecessarily macabre - and not gruesome, interestingly - display. The museum consists of about 30 mid- to small-rooms. In many rooms they pair up two painters, and it's not clear how the pairings are determined. Looked at individually, they constitute a mediocre collection of works (pretending I am an art critic). About 10 rooms were dedicated to a display of "Thirteen to Centaurus" that consists of translucent and black air-filled sail-like objects.
Some plazas have "frozen actors," here we have these chickens that bow when people walk by. As far as we can tell, they are doing good business.
In the Fine Arts Museum we find many rooms with these inflated sails (my terminalogy). The artists calls them "Trece a Centauro."
Lot and His Daughters by Gentileschi.
Five Cats. I like them. Can't find out who the artist is.
I walked inside a town culture center and discovered "art."
At as low as 1.19 euros a bottle, these give "two-buck chuck" a run for its money. Indeed house wine is often cheaper than mineral water.
When we checked in at the Ercilla, the front desk told us we should try the "Terrace" restaurant on the top (13th) floor, with its nice views. Today they closed at 7 pm. I walked outside to take a look, and the views were not spectacular. We ate at McDonald's, less than 5 minutes from the hotel. After dinner I walked a bit to achieve my exercise goal for the day.
TRAVEL TIP. Barik Card. Get one at a metro station for 2 euros, and we ended loading about 15 additional euros on it. It can be tapped twice if two people are traveling. Savings aside, it also makes using public transportation very easy.
6/2 Friday. Today was a travel day. While we had enough funds left in the Barik card for the airport, we decided it would be easier on our backs if we took a taxi. Only problem was both Anne and I (independently) asked hotel staff to help us book a taxi. So we paid the "extra" driver 20 euros for his trouble, and the taxi ride itself cost less than 30 euros. I am quite sure when we landed a few days ago the VIP Lounge at BIO wasn't in the Priority Pass program. It is now, so we stopped by for a quick bite instead of trying to find lunch at the terminal.
We were a bit dismayed when we saw the boarding boards grouped into 1&2, and 3&4. Without being in the One World program (actually Elite membership), our ticket gave us Group 3. Turns out after groups 1 and 2 were boarded, group 3 was called. As was the case coming up from Madrid, few people belonged to groups 1 and 2, and group 3 wasn't bad either. So we had room to stow our small suitcases. The hour-long (give or take 10 minutes) flight used an A319 that was 18.5 years old. United flies quite a few old A319 also, and these older planes need to be taken out of circulation for maintenance every now and then, but the United planes seem to be better shape, probably because of recent refurbishments.
Taxis from the MAD airport to the hotel cost a flat rate of 30 euros, but the line outside the terminal looked long, and wasn't moving that fast. We opted for the 7-day Tourist Pass which would allow unlimited rides on trains, subways (called the Metro) and buses. Renfe Line 1 or 10 would take us close to the hotel, but the Atocha station seemed closer - just across the tracks. Unfortunately we couldn't find a way to cross the tracks on foot as all the entrances seemed to be on one side (the east side) of the train station. We finally found a set of stairs (perhaps 50 steps) that allowed us to come down from the station. (It turns out there is a rather straightforward path between the station and the hotel, as I found out later.)
Bilbao Airport looks sleek. However, the terminal itself seems a bit long on the tooth.
Another part of MAD Terminal 4.
The posted schedule for Renfe trains from airport to town looks simple enough. But in actually things were quite chaotic. We just got on when everyone else got on. Turn out to be the correct train, but we shouldn't have gotten off at the Atocha station. Who would have though? Our hotel's name is AC Marriott Hotels Atocha.
We again got upgraded to a room with a terrace, but not much of a view. No complaints though.
We ate at a nearby restaurant. For simplicity we ordered the grilled seafood for two. At least for this restaurant, seafood means different kinds of shrimp, clams, and mussels; no fish. The grilled veggies were quite good. Since the food wasn't all that filling, we ordered a piece of cheesecake to share. The two of us couldn't finish the huge piece of cake put in front of us.
Believe me, it was a huge slice of cheesecake. Quite good, actually.
Accommodations: AC Hotels Atocha, Madrid (5 nights).
6/3 Saturday. Prado offers a 50% discount for people over 65, so last night I bought two tickets on line. Then I found out I need to collect the tickets at the box office, that meant standing in line.
Prado is a short bus ride from our hotel, and the line wasn't very long. We were given an admission time of 11:45 am, and we got in before noon.
There are many suggestions on top 10/15/20 pieces to see at Prado, and the audio guide provided by museum offered a 1-, 2-, or 3-hour itinerary. We basically followed the 3-hour itinerary, and added a few from the many lists that we saw, after we had lunch at the cafe. Our thought was to eat before the lunch crowd, turned out for today the cafe was not very crowded the few times we passed by it. We basically started our visit at around 1 pm, and it was past 6:30 pm that we left - over 5 hours. We did see a lot, and did take things slowly. There must be a reason why the list is ordered the way it is, but following it would mean backtracking a lot. After a while we decided to look at the floor plan on the audio device, and visit those listed in the same area before moving or to the next.
Prado describes its exhibits as being anchored by Goya, Velazquez and Rubens, I am sure it can add quite a few more names to the list as it has impressive collections of other painters. The crowds were quite reasonable, I recall many more people jostling to see Mona Lisa at the Louvre, and here anyone willing to wait a few minutes will be able to get close to Las Meninas.
"The Triumph of Death" by Pieter Bruegel the Elder. Unlike "The Garden of Earthly Delights" by Bosch, here people go directly to hell. One can get very fine resolution images of these on the Del Prado website.
"Annunciation" by Fra Angelico.
"Harmony (The Three Graces?" by Baldung Grien.
"Ages of Women and Death" or "The Three Ages," also by Baldung Grien.
This is a very small object. Reminds me of the Hippo at the Museum of Historical Art in Vienna.
The opera The Turk in Italy is being staged during our time in Madrid. We debated whether we were up to it after a whole day of walking, and if would be a waste of money since we are so tired - a good seat would cost over 200 euros per Teatro Real's website. A bus ride followed by a metro ride got us there in about 30 minutes. The Box Office folks told us only "Paradise" (section name on their website) seats were available for today and tomorrow, we decided to go for it. At 90 euros still expensive, and I wish I had brought the binoculars along. To deal with our hunger we bought a few snacks at intermission.
It was about 10:30 pm when we finished, that part of town was still very busy at that time. When we got back to Atocha (at about 11:15 pm) things were a lot quieter, and we bought a sandwich from a neighborhood store.
You see the back of Teatro Real when you get out of the Opera Metro station.
This is the front. We took the photo after the opera.
Per their website, the auditorium sits 1746. The acoustics in the "paradise" section is very good, the view? Not so much.
Up till last night I couldn't stay alert past 1 am. It's now 2:30 am, I am still functional.
TRAVEL TIP. Del Prado Museum. Go for the audio guide. When we visited it cost 5 euros each, well worth the price, in my opinion. Decide if you want to decide which objects/paintings to see, or - as in our case - pick the 1-, 2-, or 3-hour itinerary suggested by the guide. We picked the 3-hour tour, but ended up spending 5 1/2 hours at the museum (not counting lunch). As far as we know, there is no need to following the order in the guide, we simply viewed the displays in one area and then move on to the next. Of course when we saw something interesting, we would see that also.
Photos of the suggestions listed in the audio-guide's 3-hour tour of Prado. It makes more sense to visit those in the same general area before moving on to the next. There is a site plan on the guide that makes it rather straightforward.
Right next to the "3rd of May" by Goya is the "2nd of May." The uprising on that day was crushed, and rebels were executed. Also, right next to the "Clothed Maja" is the "Naked Maja," also by Goya.
TRAVEL TIP. Madrid Public Transport Card. We bought a 7-day card at the MAD Terminal 4 train station for a little over 35 euros each. Their days are calendar, not 24-hour. Terminal 4 is convenient if you want to take a train from the Atocha area (where we stayed), but to go to the other terminals the most direct way is via bus. We opted to take a taxi, so could have saved a few euros by buying a 6-day card. For our trip this worked out more as a time-saver than money-saver.
6/4 Sunday. We are taking things easy today. I woke up around 10 am, and went out to do my laundry at a Lavenderia, about 2 blocks away. It was busy the few times I walked by in the afternoon, but machines (3 washing machines, not a big place) were readily available. Washing and drying cycles each took 30 minutes, and during that time I walked around the neighborhood. It was very quiet at 11 am, things were getting in motion at noon. I also discovered a more straightforward way to the train station involving mostly flat terrain, The Renfe trains stop at Terminal 4, so either we do a transfer there to get to Terminal 2 (our next flight is on Lufthansa), or take a bus from the train station to Terminals 1, 2, and 3. That's a problem for another day.
From yesterday's experience, we know there are fast food restaurants around the Callao station, which is the one for the Royal Palace, our destination for the day. Sure enough Popeye's and Tim Horton's were right there when we got off the train, and we had a quick meal before setting off to see the palace.
For the non-history buff, one palace is the same as another, and I am not a history buff. It remains the residence for today's King (King Felipe VI, son of Juan Carlos I and Queen Sofia). Most of the tribute in the palace is to Charles III, the King who rebuilt the palace in the mid-1700s. As with Del Prado, photography is forbidden inside the rooms. The palace floor area is 1,450,000 sq ft, and comprises of 3418 rooms. The well-marked tour route covers only a small fraction of them. Audio devices were not available (reservation only), and the signs were minimal. Perhaps we would have appreciated the place more if they had been available. The signs inside the various rooms give little information.
The Royal Palace has a floor area of 135,000 sq meters, and 3418 rooms. Our tour route hit perhaps 30 of them. And I am not sure how they count their rooms, or whether the number refers to a complex of buildings.
A statue of Charles III, postured like a Caesar (I thought the pose looked familiar), looks over the entrance to the palace.
Many of the rooms are quite ornate. Photography is generally prohibited, but one's never sure where pictures are not allowed. In any case, I snapped only a few pictures during the tour.
There is a collection of Stradivarius string instruments for a quartet, this double bass was made by Amati, master to various Italian luthiers, including Stradivari.
The palace has its own chapel. Across from the courtyard is the cathedral for the masses: Catedral de Santa Maria la Real de la Almudena.
View towards the choir and the apse. The church feels "modern" inside. In the center is Jesus on the cross.
St Isadro is the patron saint of Madrid, he was a poor peasant, and died in the 12th century. The ark shown here was where he was buried until the 1600s. His wife was named Mary, but the church is named after Virgin Mary.
I had something to eat at a nearby park, and birds began to show up. Not that many, probably because I wasn't actively feeding them. (Not sure it is legal anyway).
Puerto del Sol is one Metro stop away, and we wandered around for a few minutes before having dinner at Cafe Europa. We stayed at Hotel Europa last time. The streets leading to the Plaza seem a lot busier than how I remembered it last time.
Some sights from Puerta del Sol. Three little pigs.
Not sure who these three are ...
The building is for the Presidency of Community of Madrid. (City Hall)
King Charles III, of course.
It was about 8 pm when we got back to the hotel.
6/5 Monday. Somewhere I heard the Spanish's day is about 2 hours behind the rest of the world. Whether that's true or not, it certainly suits the night owl in me very well. Actually if they could just move it back by another hour ...
Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, let's just call it Queen Sofia Museum, is described in its Google Maps entry as "sprawling museum for Spanish 20th-century art collection with works by Gris, Picasso & Miro." I won't call it sprawling, although it's difficult to navigate, and - after having visited it just now - do not know who Gris was. And the collection of Dali's is quite substantial. (To be fair, when I looked at the museum's website just now, there are quite a few of Gris's work that we saw. Just that I can't tell one cubist from another cubist.)
A modern wing is attached to an older building (to the right of the photo). Most of the exhibits at the Reina Sofia Museum are housed in the old building.
School children of all ages visit the museum. This group must be 6 or 7 year olds.
As with Del Prado, we followed the audioguide's suggestion of visiting the paintings, this time pretty much in the order it prescribed.
The highlight of the visit was naturally Picasso's Guernica. Again the crowds were not too bad as one could approach very closely as people moved away. Frankly the real painting didn't generate more emotion than the copies (and the mural in the town itself) I have seen before.
Except for "Room 205" where - among other works - Guernica (Picasso) and Girl by the Window (Dali) are housed, photography is allowed, some times encouraged by the generally friendly security personnel in the halls.
I present some of the artwork we saw at the Museum. They are not necessary the best-known pieces in the collection. This Picasso painting can be interpreted in one of many ways, many of them have sexual and violent connotations. The Museum's website has more details on each of the pieces.
Picasso.
Picasso.
Who knew Joan Miro could actually paint a "real" picture. What surprised me are these aspects of these surreal painters.
Miro.
Miro.
Courtyard of museum. In front of a Miro sculpture.
Salvatore Dali. We saw quite a few "classical paintings" by Dali, and some surreal ones. We didn't find one single distorted melting clock.
This is screenshot from the Museum's website as photography wasn't allowed in this room. "Figure at the Window" is the descriptive title.
Closer to the Dali I know.
"Majesty" by Angel Ferrant.
"Garrotte" by Ramon Casas. An execution in Barcelona the painter witnessed.
We had lunch at the museum restaurant NuBel, described by Google Maps as "Architect Jean Nouvel designed this striking space for brunch, tapas & cocktails with patio sitting." Unfortunately, the quality of the food didn't quite measure up to how interesting the dishes looked in the (electronic) menu.
In the evening we went back out to the museum store, hoping to buy a small book on it. Only thing that came close was a two-volume treatise on its collection. Dinner was at a Chinese Restaurant nearby.
NuBel Restaurant has an interesting ambience to it. The seats in the front don't need reservation, ones in the back did. Can't tell them apart. In any case, we were seated in the back.
The food looked more interesting than it tasted.
Chachamoon is a Chinese restaurant across from the Queen Sofia Museum. Four dishes plus two bottles of water cost less than 40 euros.
I recently came across the website getyourguide.com, and decided to give the half-day tour of Toledo a go. The tour nominally lasts from 9 am to 2:30 pm, that would give us some time in the afternoon of our last full day in Madrid. That it leaves near us (from the Del Prado area) is another plus.
The tour turned out to be exactly what I expected: not great, may be barely okay. First, there were many people at the meeting point, and several long (large) buses were needed. Ours left the last, and we didn't get going until about 9:30 am. The ride to Toledo took about an hour. The bus picked up our tour guide and stopped by a parking area across the river from town with great panoramic views of the city. The tourists were first taken to a shop which made swords and decorative items - to buy gifts, and to use the bathrooms. At a bus parking area, we were divided into Spanish speaking and English speaking groups, and proceeded to go to the old town via a series of escalators (otherwise it would be quite a walk). We had trouble understanding wha t our tour guide was trying to say. She basically took us to two town squares, and told us a bit about the history and significance. The first one was the main square (one can tell as there is a McDonald's, a Starbucks, and a Burger King), and the second one was the start of the Jewish area. She made it sound quite interesting; but we didn't get to walk the streets in the Jewish quarter. Our last stop was in front of the Cathedral, and we had free time until 1:45 pm. The buses did show up at 1:45 pm, but we had to stand in the sun for 15 minutes (and it was sunny) while they sort out who should go on which bus. We could have waited inside the buses, they were all running at that time. It was around 3 pm that we got dropped off. Altogether we spent about three hours in the city.
Of note is that there are no more active mosques, and only two synagogues (a one time there were ten) remain in the city. I have read multiple references that Toledo is where the three religions peacefully co-exist. I am quite sure the city walls were breached a few times, and there was much blood shed when the moors came, and when the Christians retook the city - the fascination with swords may be a result of that. By some account Jews started living in Toledo in the 5th century BC. In any case, both Jews and Arabs were expelled from Toledo in 1492.
The tour guide also gave a brief history of the city. Supplementing or clarifying it with what I read in Wikipedia, Toledo was around since Roman times - indeed we passed by some ruins along the way. Visigoths then took over, followed by Arab rule (evidently the term Moors has a negative connotation), and Alfonso VI in the 11th century. It was then the capital of Spain until the capital was moved to Madrid in the 16th century. Evidently it has been in decline since.
The Cathedral can clearly be seen in the city's skyline. It's construction began in 1226 and took close to 300 years to complete. We had little time to visit, so concentrated on the chapel, a building completely enclosed by the cathedral. The full name of the cathedral is Santa Eglesia Catedral Primada de Toledo.
The Toledo skyline. In the center is the spire of the Cathedral, and on the right is the Alcazar (which is derived from the Arab term for castle). We made a short visit to the Cathedral, but didn't get to see Alcazar during our short trip.
Several pedestrian bridges span the river Tagus. The river forms a natural defense line, so a wall was needed only on one side of the city.
Oftentimes it was too late to take a picture when the guide pointed out a feature in real time. Anne was quick with her iPhone for this city gate.
Main square. We eventually decided people were not drying their laundry on the balcony. These were decorative displays.
Corpus Christi day is Thursday (two days from our visit), so people were busy putting up decorations along the parade route. The banners provided much appreciated shade for us.
Design with heavy Arab influence.
What is this fascination with knives and swords? Tourists who are flying into Madrid probably won't be buying many of these sharp instruments.
The Cathedral tower as we approach from a narrow lane. We didn't have time to find a good vantage point.
Some photos taken inside this huge building.
The chapel is a fenced in structure within the church. On the right (view blocked by fence) are statues of several Moors who were peaceful towards Christians. This was about 1000 years ago.
The Choir is another enclosed area inside the cathedral. It's ornately decorated.
Imagine sitting in one of these chairs for choir practice. (If the choir is used for such purposes.)
A series of escalators make it easy to go between the new and old parts of town.
On our way back to the bus we grabbed a bite at Burger King.
I made the mistake of grabbing the wrong backpack this morning, so we didn't have any additional batteries for our phones. We decided going back to the hotel probably meant we would not leave for a while, so decided to take a rest at Starbucks and then to visit Thyssen Museum (technically Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum). Compared to the Prado and Queen Reina, this one was easy to navigate. Probably as a result I felt I knew more about the entire art scene than just individual pieces. We picked the 2-hour suggested route and saw over 30 paintings.
The building that houses the Thyssen Museum collection is quite non-descript. There is a new addition that serves as the entrance foyer.
Inside things feel bright and "airy."
From a distance this looks like a 3-D carving. Annunciation by van Eyck.
Young Knight in a Landscape by Vittore Carpaccio. The audioguide provides some interesting speculation on the story (if any) behind this painting.
Sacred Conversation by Giovanni Bellini. He was a contemporary of Raphael.
My first encounter with Canaletto was in Dresden. This is San Marco Square in Venice.
The audio points out the diagonal line in Degas' painting.
Van Gogh committed suicide two months after painting this. One could try to analyze how his state of mind at that time led to the colors and technique used to paint this.
David Braque, together with Picasso, were pioneers of the cubist movement. The audioguide again provided a nice guide in appreciating what the cubists were trying to do (even down to "analytical cubism"). This painting is titled "Woman with a Mandolin." Picasso did a "Girl with a Mandolin." I am not sure one can tell if the model is a girl or a woman. Or whether there was a model at all.
This work by Mondrian is considered "unfinished." Why? Because for a finished work the lines (which are tapes for now) will be removed and real paint used. So for now the work is unfinished.
Hopper. Again the audioguide helped make sense out of this.
Picasso's Harlequin with a Mirror.
Picasso's "A Bull Fight."
Haven't I seen something similar before? Yes, at the Guggenheim. Painter is Clyfford Still.
This painter thinks in the final analysis painting is about colors, so green and maroon will do. Of course he couldn't help himself, and added some shape to the composition. (I can make it up too.) The painter is Mark Rothko.
Giacometti. Can't quite tell from this photo, but the shadows cast on the wall make it easy to tell men from women.
This installation by Ai Wei Wei uses painted over 5000 year old vases.
This may explain it, but in my view not excuse it.
Dinner was at Dominguez, one of the eateries in the neighborhood. The wait staff spoke little English, so we ended up getting ox-tail (Rabo de Toro, so technically bull tail stew) and ham, egg over fries.
Bull Tail Stew. At 19 euros it's not cheap. We had a better one in Bilbao for around that much.
A typical small eatery's menu is quite limited.
Our upgraded room at AC Hotels Marriott Atocha also has a terrace. There is no furniture on it, overlooks the trains station (nice), and a garbage truck parking lot (not so nice).
TRAVEL TIP. Thyssen Museum. As with Del Prado, one can get an audio guide and follow its suggestions. For this museum one can just visit the objects in the order listed.
This entry is getting too long, so I will start a II. Since most of the rest of the trip is for concerts, the next entry should be shorter as the concert events will be documented separately.
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