This year's summer is a real scorcher for Europe, with temperatures hitting a high of 40 degrees Celsius in many European capitals, including Madrid. That has not stopped me though from going out and exploring the Spanish capital during a recent visit. In the mornings when the temperature was tolerable I would visit outdoor attractions, but when the mercury started rising, I would duck into the air-conditioned museums. After all, Madrid is known for its wonderful museums, with the three major ones Museo del Prado, Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, and Museo Thyssen representing the best in Spanish art and European collection, from pre-Renaissance to modern era. Museo del Prado hosts the classics while Reina Sofia houses modern collections including Spain's most famous export Guernica by Picasso. Thyssen is a private museum, with a vast and rich collection from across the ages. A bonus: it has a nice cafeteria, where I indulged on Spain's sinful coffee bombon, espresso with thick condensed milk!
Here are my favourite snaps from this trip:
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The road leading to #Guernica inside Museo Reina Sofia.
The museum is also home to works of other modern greats, Dali and Miro.
But the centrepiece is Guernica, on permanent exhibit in room 206.
This is a handy number to remember when one has limited time
and can only check out the museum highlights.
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Outside temperature was a real scorcher after two o'clock in the afternoon, hence the museum was such a great refuge
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| Library near the Reina Sofia Museum |
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| Museo Del Prado. This museum houses the most extensive collection of Goyas (1800's). But for some reason, I was struck more by the paintings of El Greco, who was from a much earlier era. His paintings seem austere (as also some of Goya's) and I find them quite mysterious. The Noble Man is one his better known works, which is mainly in black and white. And yet, within these constraints, El Greco's obra maestra manages to captivate. El Greco is the pseudonym of the Greek painter, Domenikos Theotokopoulos (can't blame him for adopting a much simpler moniker ;-), whose style was largely influenced by Durer. As with many Renaissance painters', many of his work depict biblical stories. |
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Coolers outside Museo del Prado.
Aside from its museums, I also like the many fountains in parks
and in major intersections in Madrid |
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MuseoThyssen - I really like the vibe in there
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One of the salons; there are more than 50 of them. Among the three museums, this is the only that allows taking of photographs inside. The bad news - most of the works are encased in glass, creating reflections when photographed
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Occupying three floors, the museum is quite vast. Hence, having these benches where visitors could rest (and perhaps contemplate) is thoughtful, especially for young visitors
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One of the Mondrians
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| A display window at the museum shop inside Museo Thyssen...with a view of the courtyard |
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| The couple that could be seen from the shop's window |
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| Inside the Saint Jerome church (San Jeronimo el Real) |
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| Cathedral Almudena |
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| At Plaza del Buen Retiro - one of the bigger parks, if not the biggest, in downtown Madrid |
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| Madrilenos seem to love the parks, despite the summer heat |
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In one of our essential stops in the Salamanca district: given the heat outside, this glass of water could not be more appealing
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| Shadow of the Escorial - a Unesco Heritage site (basilica and former palace) located within half an hour drive from Madrid. There is an underground pantheon of the remains of the Royal family from the 1500s to early 1900s...quite eery actually, and I would not mind skipping. I realised though that the teenagers in our group considered the pantheon the highlight of the Escorial visit. As for me, I did like seeing the bigger works of El Greco. And seeing the gold-leaf books in the library (no photos allowed again). |
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| The road to the Valley Of The Fallen |
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| Valley of the Fallen (Valle de los Caidos) -a monument built under Franco's regime. Anyways, I do not like the history so I did not go up to the monuments anymore. Instead, I waited for my group in front of a restaurant, and there I watched as a party prepared for a wedding which presumably was going to be held in the Basilica. Seeing locals go about special occasions was more real and authentic to me. The mood of the occasion was best captured by the delighted grandmother who spread her arms wide open to welcome a little boy, I'm guessing a grandson, running toward her embrace :-) |
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It's never plain in Spain - on the road from Madrid to Barcelona. This was taken while on a high speed train. Spain has very diverse terrain, with some stretches barren, while the next can be quite lush. Some are rocky, but then there are also gentle slopes and smooth rolling hills. The trip was never plain to me.
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| Likewise, never boring. |
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I did enjoy visiting Spain again, and this time learning more about its capital.
And so it was with reluctance that I headed back to Barcelona for our flight back home |
#Madrid #Spain #MuseoDelPrado #MuseoThyssen #MuseoReinaSofia #Escorial #Almudena #ValleDelosCaidos #BarcelonaAirport #SanJeronimoReal #ParqueRetiro
