País Vasco!

Monday March 21
Train to San Sebastian-Donostia. Playa de Concha is absolutely beautiful -- aqua-colored agua, 7km waterfront walkway, gorgeous sunshine, charming old town with stone pedestrian bridges hanging over the streets. Biked around a bit (along the river and the sea). Daddy and I went to Branka for dinner -- there was a big gathering of "dueños" of wineries from all over Spain -- they must have had at least 50 bottles on the table. Our fish was excellent -- I especially loved the crab with pumpkin dish, but everything from the brussel sprouts to the anchovies were riquisimo.

Tuesday March 22
Started off the morning with a walk to the Chilida peine sculptures at the end of the beach near the tennis courts. Beautifully curled and rusted with love by the weather. Daddy and I checked out an art exhibit and market area in the downtown area, purchased a map of Basque country (made up of 3 provinces: San Sebastian is capital of one, Bilbao and Vitoria are the other 2 provincial capitals). Also visited the Mirador Palace. Queen Isabel brought her whole court here to Donostia because she had a skin condition and the doctor recommended that she bathe in the water of the Bay.

After lunch at the cidería -- excellent cider, came out of a giant barrel -- we met up with José who brought us to Deba to begin our bike trip. Today was only 25 km but quite hilly! We followed the coast the whole way, sometimes along the busy road but at times along a beautiful green road which had been closed off to cars. Passed through Ondarroa and eventually arrived in Leikeito just as it started to rain! We stayed in the Hotel Emperatriz -- once a palace. There's a beautiful cathedral (quintessentially Gothic) with an amazing 16th century Flemish tabernacle -- so elaborate.

The hotel has a cool spa -- Daddy and I made use of the giant, warm, ocean-water filled thermal pool. Very refreshing and the jets felt excellent on my muscles.

Being the only Spanish speaker of the family, I'm getting good practice communicating and generally translating between MD&A and the Spaniards -- very good practice for me; I'm forced to realize just how much I've actually learned! I do miss hearing Spanish 24/7 in daily life though.

Wednesday 23 marzo
Our bike ride started after breakfast this morning, and good thing too because we had quite a climb! Luckily the weather was gorgeous, warm and sunny, not a cloud in the sky. The coastline is absolutely breathtaking, the forests green and lively. Stopped in little protected fishing village which was literally hanging off the cliff! Found an obscure little restaurant for a coffee break. Watched the waitress hand-squeeze my fresh orange juice-- it was delicious. Then we had to climb out of the village and head towards the river delta. Rounded around the coast line, catching a glimpse of the famous Mundaka beach (famous among surfers for having one of the longest "left-hand-breaks" in the world I think). Then we ventured inland, along the magnificent delta --the same one that the airbombers flew along to bombard the unsuspecting civilians of Guernika in 1937. Not only was Guernika a town of civilians, it also holds special significance to the Basque people because it's where their leaders have historically convened (in ceremony by a special tree). I was really glad we all had had a chance to see Picasso's Guernika painting and then also visit this little town that now straddles the river and has several centers and museums dedicated to peace and memorial.

In Guernika we also stopped for lunch at a restaurant called Barri Zolli for menú del día -- we were famished, the food was incredible, and the menú was a mere ten euros per person. I had white asparagus, labrina fish (zarzuela style) and yogurt with strawberries for dessert with rioja wine and tea to round it out. We were all in such a good mood by the time we left, we forgot to stop by the special tree... All the more reason for us to return to this beautiful region another day!

After Guernika, we were fortunate to have a bike path all to ourselves and only a short ride left until Mundaka. We wended our way through labyrinthine streets to get to our hotel El Puerto on the harbor. The owner man was so friendly and jovial and our rooms had perfect views of the boats and the wide sea beyond. If only the heat and hot water had warmed up in the 18 hours we spent there, haha! Mamma and I explored the sleepy town and the surfer waves a little, then got some hot tea. You could definitely tell that the town had a mix of the old historic fishing village feel and the funky fresh surfer vibe. Must be busy in the summer time!

Went to dinner at the "casino" -- beautiful elevated belle epoque building with windows all around. Wonderful salad and red peppers stuffed with crab, also tried the traditional "green wine" (very young!) and a couple desserts -- rice pudding and rice tarta. The hotel bar was hopping by the time we got back home but we were exhausted after all those hills and went straight to bed.

Thursday 24 de marzo
Breakfast in the hotel -- fresh croissants (we're really close to the French border!) and little jamón bocadillos with fresh orange juice. I will really miss the ubiquity of fresh orange juice when I leave Spain. We would be traveling the same distance today (45km) as yesterday, but, as we were about to discover, we had a lot more climbing to do! We've come to recognize that entering a fishing village always means a steep ascent in the aftermath, but no one could have prepared us for the kilometers of ascending that we would have after Bakio. Our perception of the length was probably slightly off because we were searching in vain for a restaurant/café to stop for a coffee break, but not matter! The forests were gorgeous, though we also came upon an eery deserted power plant. The weather was threatening too -- we had some 15 minutes of light rain and lots of strong wind (up to 80 miles per hour the newspapers said the next day). Stopped for lunch in Armintxa -- it looked like no one was in the town but the bar and the comedor proved otherwise. We had an enormous menú del día: I had a huge mixed salad with anchovies, tuna and all the vegetables we wanted, then an enormous dish of fish with an amazing tomato and clam sauce. Then creamsicle (fresh OJ, vanilla ice cream and whiskey). Daddy is so content with all the creamsicles we've discovered on the basque menus!

Stuffed and a little intoxicated, we got back on the bikes and tried to brave the wind -- which literally pushed us backwards it was so strong! More ups and downs through villages that seemed to grow as we got closer and closer to Bilbao. Spent an unfortunate amount of time climbing unnecessary hills and crossing bridges in Plentzia but eventually made it to Sopelana, a little suburb just outside of Bilbao. After some rest and relaxation (we'd definitely taken a beating with the combo of hills and wind today!) we rode the metro to Casco Viejo -- the old town. First we wandered the streets a little, found a lively street filled with bars. The old men reunited in some while the majority of the floorspace was occupied by teenagers and punky youth. Our family must have looked really out of place because a kindly middle-aged lady approached me to ask what we we looking for and then directed us the opposite way with several recommendations for dinner. We somehow stumbled upon the Plaza Nueva she had directed us towards and went to Victor Montones. Little did we know this was THE place to go in Bilbao -- every one else would recommend it to us in the the subsequent 30 hours. We had champagne to celebrate the end of the bike trip and then a variety of amazing pintxos -- with vegetables, fish, jamón, all on little tosta breads. So much fun to discover the surprises in each one! We couldn't resist the desserts either -- mousse de turron, rice pudding ice cream, puff pastries, all was good.

Friday 25 de marzo
Slower start to the morning but took the metro into the city and headed towards the Guggenheim. Wow. Beautiful, stunning, impressionante -- glimmering like the city of Oz! We of course stopped to admire Puppy made of blooming live flowers by Jeff Koons then entered the museum. Went up to the exhibition first -- a really well-done one called "Chaos and Classicism -- the return to order between the wars". It showcased Italian, German, French and Spanish art. It was a wonderful culmination of many of my studies this quarter. I saw photos of Isadora Duncan at the Acropolis in Athens, portraits by Picasso in between his 2 Cubist periods, films from the Berlin Olympics... among many other things! I also liked the giant tempo of time walk-about sculptures on the lower floor and the other sculptures and fountains around the building on the outside (especially the colorful Koons tulips with their "languid' stems). The audiogiude was very entertaining.

After the museum, enjoyed the weather outside, went to our hotel Ercilla, found another amazing building (Alhondiga) which was like the CaixaForum (suspended in the air!) but even more beautiful and impressive! There was some competition of international design schools going on (each supporting column was different). Also downtstairs there was an exhibition devoted to Bilbao's presentation for the City of the World competition in Shanghai (which Bilbao won in 2008!). The "city of lights" display was beautiful, and the movie really gave an excellent historic sweep of the past centuries and decades in the city's history. Amazing that the destructive floods wiped out so much in 1983 and 25 years later, Bilbao has had 25 new urban renovation successes and the city is alive, growing brilliantly and full of creative energy! I could live in Bilbao. I love the coastal location, the river, the elegant modern bridges, the sheer number of little kids running around, the ubiquity of modern design, art, sculpture, the historic legacy. Went to dinner in the old town for pintxos again and then to bed!

Barefoot Nuns and Family Reunion!

Saturday 19 March 2011

Monasterio of the Descalzas Reales (Barefooted Royals): originally the palace where Empress Maria Theresa of Austria lived, this fortified brick building was converted into a Franciscan convent in the 16th century by Juana de Hapsburg -- daughter of Carlos I/V and sister of Felipe II--who is also buried here. It is still used as a convent today -- 33 nuns live here and thus the visiting hours are very limited. This was my fourth time trying to get a spot on the guided tour, and I got the final ticket for the last tour of the morning.

We entered and circled around a beautiful interior courtyard, filled with orange trees. Then ascended the giant granite main staircase, decorated on all sides by amazing frescos, portraits of Carlos IV and his family, the archangels. The painted "vaulted" ceiling was done by Claudio Coello (17th century Madrid school), who also did a lot of the painting at El Escorial. On the second floor, we circled around the 33 chapels (each nun is responsible for one of the chapels). Each chapel is dedicated to a different religious figure -- St. Joseph's chapel is all decorated in wood carving, Virgin of Gaudalupe stands on a pedestal with lots of intricately painted mirrors. Probabaly the most interesting chapel is the one with a statue of reclining Christ which has an insertable container in which they put the wine "blood" of Christ and parade the statue in the Good Friday procession. the chapels are very well-decorated because the nuns who entered this convent came from very well-to-do families and each had to give a "dowry" upon entering.

We also had a chance to enter the former sleeping quarters of the nuns -- now a display room for a bunch of enormous 17th century tapestries from the Low Countries. The designs were based off of paintings by Rubens, so the figures are large and stylized in Rubens fashion. They are also didactic, depicting the Eucharist and other important ideas of the Franciscans.

Finally, downstairs the convent has a collection of paintings -- mostly court portraits of the Royal Family and paintings of the Royal Family dressed up as important Saints (for example, one little blonde princess had been painted 3 different times in the same dress but with different "accessories" each time: sword and spiky wheel for Santa Catalina, mirror and eyes for Santa Lucia, and flowers for some other saint...). There were some other religious paintings from Belgium, Holland and Germany (during the Protestant Reformation, the Catholics brought their treasures south to Spain and Italy to protect them from the wrath of the Protestants) and also a sizable collection of 16th and 17th century Italian pieces.

Glad I finally had a chance to visit the Barefoot nun convent! Afterwards I headed back home for a final lunch with Consuelo (broccoli with paprika, beets, carrots, fish and an orange) and then packed up my room! Had to make 2 trips to hotel Mora (but luckily I've mastered the bus system now) and walked home through Retiro one final time too, stopping along the way to get tulips for Consuelo. Today is Día de Padre so everyone was out and about in the park and in the streets, taking advantage of the lovely weather. Por fin, met up with Mamma, Daddy and Anna at 8:30 at Hotel Mora. Walked around Caixa Forum, Huertas, Sol, TopShop, stopping in the caves for Jamón Ibérico, pimientos verdes and wine, then stopping again at Mercado San Miguel for caviar tostas and also San Gines for churros con chocolate. So excited to have them here and have the chance to show them around!

Went out to the Cuevas for pimientos, jamón ibérico and vino, then mercado san miguel for caviar tostas and finally san gines for churros con chocolate!

Friday 18 March 2011

First went to bikeSpain to get the route of our Basque Bike trip explained to me. Then found yet another wonderful gem of an exhibit at Caixa Forum this morning: "Un Mundo Flotante" --photographs by Jacques Henri Lartrigue (1894-1986). A frenchman, he received his first camera at the age of 8 and photographed al kinds of things, also jotting down little notes, to a keep of record of his life. I can definitely relate haha! The title of his notebooks would be things like "Reasons why I'm so happy" and as he got older, he saw the importance of keeping this journals as a means of compensating for the failings of adult memory. At the top of each page he wrote the weather for the day (So his diary provides over 70 years of weather records...), when there was a war going on, he'd leave a comment like "War: nothing new" and at the bottom of each page he would "rate" the day -- give it a score!

In addition to this theme of record keeping, Latrigue was also keen to capture "fleeting moments" with his camera. He once said something along the lines of "since I was a boy I've been affected by an illness: all the things I love escape or disappear without me being able to save them adequately in my memory" -- I'm sure it was a lot more poetic in French, but I liked the idea....So lots of pictures of divers, tennis matches, people in cars (a funny series of photos of people dressed up in goggles and leather jackets to protect themselves from the wind when driving in one of those newfangled "cars") -- he liked velocity and was fascinated by new technology. He also took lots of photos of people (at horse races, at the beach) often from the ground -- giving the appearance that we were watching the world from the perspective of a young awestruck child.

Latrigue was also basically unknown until 1963 when the MOMA in New York first exhibited his photographs. Late, in 1979, Latrigue actually donated all of this photos to the French state. I love these exhibits, expanding my horizons and moving beyond the usual artists and photographers who always get talked about -- this is definitely one of the things I'll miss about Madrid life :)

Afterwards, home for la comida and then met up Nirali in Sol to have a drink in the warm plaza and then walk to the Heroína exhibit and through Huertas. It was great to see her again -- I think it's been nearly 5 years since we last saw each other!! Oh Europe, always providing such opportunities to reunir!

Walked home through Retiro to see a contemporary art exhibit in Casa de Vacas (I liked the aerial paintings depicting street intersections of Gran Vía and Alcalá) and another artist seemed to really like rusty corners and doorways! Always something new to see...Also ran into Eliana and Cullen in the park -- Eliana leaves tomorrow after 6 months here! Wow. Home for dinner and then packing.

Aprovechan los últimos ...

Woke up at 7am to finish up studying for Health Care Systems exam at 9am. Took my grand old time writing an essay about why the single-payer reform option for the US health care system is theoretically so much stronger in addressing both insurance coverage problems and cost-containment problems than the recently passed health reform bill, but is sadly also totally politically unfeasible for now. Then spent the next 1.5 hours writing evaluations about my experience in Madrid and also a very carefully crafted thank you letter (in blue pen) to Dr. and Mrs. Bing for all the opportunities they so generously provided. Then I proceeded to walk home from the institute in the glorious sunshine one last time, stopping in the Zara store on Calle Serrano to buy a few "souvenir" articles of clothing for myself. At home, I finally got around to writing some postcards, then had lunch (brown rice with vegetables, fresh fish and an orange) and then mosied through the park to the Thyssen museum. After spending all quarter studying "la representación femenina" I just couldn't leave Madrid without seeing the Heroína exposition jointly hosted by the Thyssen and CajaMadrid.

Heroínas:
Very interesting collection and arrangement of paintings here! I wouldn't exactly agree with the exposition title (too many works depicting Greek goddess Atalanta fumbling around for those ridiculous golden apples for one thing...) but I did enjoy the thematic groupings and the interesting audio commentary. The museum explains the exposition as one of "strong women"... starting with physical strength in the Thyssen portion and moving on to mystical and spiritual strength in the CajaMadrid portion. Anyway, in the Thyssen the exposition started with solitary women: first, a giant statue of a woman with exaggerated womanly proportions and then a sturdy statue of Penelope, standing, waiting for Odysseus to come home. So, just as the story of creation always starts with Adam, we begin this discussion of the heroine talking about the masculine hero and the woman waiting for him. I did like, however, how across from this statue was the Edward Hopper piece Hotel Room from 1931 which depicts a lone female traveler, holding a train time table and sitting on the newly-made bed in a brightly-lit hotel room. I always like Edward Hopper pieces, and I think this one especially resonates with me because of my own experiences being a solitary traveler, or just being en route.

Next was a room called "caryatids" (the sculpted females who serve as architectural pillars on the Caryatid Porch of the Erechtheion on the Acropolis at Athens, which Rachel and I just visited 3 months ago!) depicting 19th century peasant woman working in the fields, displaying strength, supporting the family farm, but always subjected to the male farmer, working under his orders or bearing some enormous weight on her head. The idea is that these women are the pillars of strength in a society but ultimately always locked in servitude.

Next was a bizarre room of "baccantes" -- the females of greek mythology who followed Bacchus around, sometimes breaking into lunatic dances or banding together to murder Orpheus in a fit of rage... lots of violent and erotic imagery and "rebellion" and "empowerment" (Rodin's headless female sculpture was particularly alarming) and women who I wouldn't exactly consider heroines but oh well. At times I wondered if the museum curators had attempted to get other images but had to settle for second choices in some cases? Some things seemed to be a bit of a stretch to me. However, I really liked the work by Piplotti Rist Ever is Over All from 1997. It was a film depicting a pretty brunette girl in blue dress and red shoes (Wizard of Oz?) dandily skipping down the sidewalk with a radiant smile and giant Indian Paintbrush flower (Castilleja...?) in her hands. The film was sort of slow motion with some music playing until suddenly she just whacks the window of a parked car and glass shatters everywhere and then she continues skipping and smiling until she whacks another one! This might have been my favorite piece of the whole exhibit haha... just so much fun to watch!

Afterwards was a room of athletes (the Atalanta and Hipómenes painting by Guido Reni is beautiful but definitely representative of the idea of heroine to me...). There was some grand language about how women in Victorian England were using their archery lessons to "conquer their social and political rights" but again, stretch. I did like the Diana painting by Rubens though and later there were some very cool photographs of women soldiers. There was a giant photo of a woman's face in profile with a little plastic army man balancing on her nose and giant bold text on the side: Over My Dead Body. Also intriguing collection of photos of undergarmets/corsets and armor -- the idea of what's vulnerable, what needs to be protected, what needs to be molded.

After the Thyssen I headed out towards Sol, stopping at an exhibition called Libres para pintar of Spanish art from the 1980s. "Common demoninator" = libertad and excitement about the new democracy. I think my favorite picture was of Carmen Polo, widow of Franco, from 1978 -- a very rounded-geometry-style of painting, and I think I saw the Madrid skyline in the shadows of her teeth.

Continued on my way to CajaMadrid where the Heroína exhibit emphasized other kinds of feminine strength -- quite a number of pictures of Saint Catherine of Alexandria and Joan of Arc. Also "magas" (magicians) and hysterical women and Sapphos (Greek poet of 7th century BCE). I'm always amazed by how many people visit the exhibits--CajaMadrid was absolutely packed with people. I liked the figures of PreRapahelite John William Waterhouse (PreRaphaelites wanted to return to the abundant detail, intense colours, and complex compositions of quattrocento Italian and Flemish art). Very tall, elegant, regal women in these paintings. The next room was full of "readers" -- women reading, totally absorbed in the world of their books, undisturbed by the painter voyeuristically watching. Books suggest an escape from the daily life, domestic obligations, a "room of one's own". Next, in the room of "mystic" women there were some really amazing photos by Julia Fullerton-Batten of women jumping or falling in midair, the scene extremely brightly-lit and often full of bold dramatic colors. I found her website, which features some of the paintings (I like the bamboo one especially): http://foco.me/julia-fullerton-batten/

Finally, on the top floor was the collection of self-portraits by women artists, often of themselves painting or drawing. There was Sofonisba Anguissola, Artemesia Gentileschi, Marie Bashkirtsheff, Berthe Morisot, and finally, Frida Kahlo. Overall, I really enjoyed the exhibit -- perfect culmination of a quarter of "la representación femenina". Afterwards, I went to the Bike Spain office to pick up maps and train tickets for our upcoming trip north. Then went for a run through Retiro while watching the brilliant colors of dusk settle in the sky. Then home for dinner and preparing to pack up! What a full day.

Wrapping up the quarter!

Woke up at 7am to finish my final art history paper about Man Ray's Indestructible Object--giant metronome with giant swinging eye of Lee Miller attached (Reina Sofía museum). Then dashed off in the metro, to avoid the dreary rain, to my flamenco performance. Our teacher had bought for us shawls and colorful earrings. We practiced our steps and at 9:45am the audience started trickling in. I was so happy to see Consuelo had come! Overall the performance went quite well -- we danced with smiles on our faces and poderillo in our hearts (spanish word for pride/pomp/attitude...) Javier showed us all up with his improv duet with our teacher. Not fair, he's a professional dancer and has really snazzy skirt-pants too haha! But it was really fun to see them dance, and I enjoyed the whole show very much. Consuelo apparently loved it too! She had never been to the student performance before, but she loves watching dance, so I was so happy she came :)

Afterwards, had a final review class for health care class, basically learned the final will be synthesis-focused... then printed out my final paper about Indestructible Object (14 pages not including my title page or bibliography, all in Spanish, entonces, I am exhausted!) Then dashed home for lunch, a hearty meal of lentejas and fish and white asparagus with a perfectly ripe orange for dessert. Then walked through Retiro (taking a new route!) to Reina Sofía for a final class about la representación femenina.

Started off with the Retrato of Sonia de Klamery, Condesa de Pradere, by Anglada Camarasa from Catalunya (1913). I think it's a beautiful painting, I love the dark sylverine environment, like a rainforest, with blues and greens and purples and blacks in the background. Talked about how the woman is represented like a snake, like a seductress, there's a peacock in the background, and she herself looks almost sickly with dark circles under her eyes, ghostly white skin. Yet it's a portrait of a bourgeois lady, a countess in fact. The idea of the dematerializing, disintegrating beauty, the femme fatale, always linked with the idea of sickness, death.

Next took note of the dark, hunched over gypsy women by Nonell. Also the works of Julio Romero de Torres (1874-1930) who painted very spanish-looking women, emphasizing the idea of Spain as the "exotic" of Europe, particularly the image of the Andalusian woman as seductress. The painting of the lady reading, or at least looking up from a book, depicted a face very similar to Goya's naked/clothed majas. This artist (Torres) was from Córdoba. He also did a number of advertisements, showing women smoking, dancing--women "liberated". Very similar to Mucha's style and the Parisian posters too.

Took a look at some more Goya engravings-- saw many of the same images we had seen in the cartones back in the Prado (paintings designed to be references for creation of the giant tapestries). Apparently the caprichos engravings were done at the same time as the Pinturas negras...

Next discussed Picasso and the invention of Cubism, starting off with "analytic" cubism, the early cubism which analyzes multiple planes, tends to be monochromatic (lots of greys and browns) and the works of Bracque and Picasso from this period tend to look identical. Later, Picasso would abandon Cubism but then return to it, this time introducing the ideas of collage, single plane-cubism and much more color.

There were a few paintings by the Delaunauy couple. Sonia Delaunay was Russian but married a Parisian and both worked in Paris, used lots of color... Sonia designed costumes and ads for many of the Russian ballets. I liked her designs, and her name :)

Juan Gris--spaniard also very much influenced by the idea of collage. So many guitars!

Ángeles Santos Torroella: the idea of the "new mujer" in the 1920s in painting Tertulia. These women not only read, they also talk and smoke! His giant painting The World was pretty cool too.

Profesora explained then how Surrealism was heavily influenced by both Marxism and Freudian thought. The surrealists were really into the idea of automatic writing or creating and representing the images and experiences of our dream. Miró was particularly part of the automatic school, and he'd write random words that came to mind and then connect them with artisitc strokes and dots, painting "without control" and 'without meaning'

Finally, returned to the works of Dalí to show how the themes of the class had come full circle. In Invisible Man, we see a man who has been constructed entirely from feminine symbols (water, flowers, circles) and body parts (uterus, etc) and references to Elektra complex. Dalí painted in a way that he described as searching for method in his own paranoia. There are all kinds of androgynous figures in his work, playing off these themes of man and woman as double (as we saw in Durer's Adam and Eve paintings in the Prado). In 1929 (same year as the film Un Chien Andalou, which I referred to in my essay because one of the most famous scenes is of a woman's eye being slit) Dalí painted The Great Masturbator, again depicting those themes of androgyny. The giant form is actually a self-portrait of Dalí (as if he's lying down face first) from which emerges the head of a woman -- but again, this idea of the man and woman, masculine and feminine, mixing. Interesting work of self-reflection, examining his own fears...

Segovia

Friday March 11, 2011

Got myself out of bed by 9 to catch the 10am bus to Segovia! Dreary rainy day so it was nice to be warm and dry as we traveled through the countryside. First stop: the IE university. We were greeted by a cheerful professor who explained to us the history of the site. He was a history professor who actually teaches the spring class about the Camino de Santiago! We learned that the (mostly) Gothic buildings had been used by the Dominicans and, of course, decorated with statues and emblems that reinforced the close links between catholicism and the Spanish monarchy, particularly Los Reyes Católicos. Isabel and Fernando were represented by statues and lots of "Y" and "F" emblems. The existing university does not have religious ties, but they use the little church (which had a balcony especially designed for Isabel II) for all their important ceremonies. We got to peek into a few classrooms, some of which actually had archaelogical excavation sites within their walls! We received little tokens of 2nd century Roman pottery from the floor as souvenirs haha. Outside we had a chance to admire the student dormitories, brick buildings originally used to house orphans (though our guide commented they look more like prison buildings). Also visited the little chapel that still belongs to the Dominicans. Inside was a beautifully, colorfully decorated room with a cave at the front.

We learned a bit about the town of Segovia too. It's a little smaller than Palo Alto (around 60,000 inhabitants) and about 50 miles from Madrid. The Romans originally settled here because it was ideally located at the crux of 2 rivers, making it easy to defend. Later, it was settled by Muslims and Jews and was one of the most cities of Castile. It's actually where Queen Isabel was coronated (coming soon...). Apparently it never gets quite as warm as Madrid (it was frigid during our visit) so lots of Madrileños come here in the summer time.

At 12:30 professor Baker gave his talk about the Obama health care reforms (his invitation was the reason we came to Segovia in the first place). Afterwards we enjoyed tapas with the few students who didn't have to go to class. I was surprised to see that there were so many non-Spanish students -- I noticed lots of British, German and Dutch students. Most of the advertising material I saw at the admissions desk was in English too.

Afterwards, we ascended the road towards the enormous Roman aqueduct. Like the one we saw in Mérida, the Romans built it to provide water in the homes of the townspeople. This one is about 9 miles long and leads to the Alcázar (the castle today). We visited the tallest point of the aqueduct, which is some 100 ft tall. It's really amazing because the structure has 118 arches and the Romans didn't use any kind of mortar -- it's all just granite blocks. The town actually still used it until the 19th century too.

After Isidro gave us the low-down on the aqueduct, we had free time to eat lunch. Kelly and I tried to enjoy our sandwiches outside but it was so cold we eventually ducked into a nearby café at the Plaza Mayor for hot tea, coffee and later a cream-filled pastry.  Apparently, the Plaza Mayor was once were the town held executions, theater performances and bullfights, now home to many cafés. The Renaissance church here is where Isabel was crowned Queen of Castile in 1474. Isabel and Fernando actually required that the noblemen of Segovia truncate the towers of their mansions, giving the Segovian "skyline" a shortened look. When their grandson (Carlos I of Spain aka Carlos V the Holy Roman Emperor) inherited the throne of Castile, the local Segovians were were upset and the nobles (led by Juan Bravo) actually revolted against the king in 1521. The nobles were quelled and Juan Bravo executed, not surprisingly, but the town is still proud of him.

The other impressive building here is the Cathedral, the last big Gothic building constructed in Spain, though it was actually built during the Renaissance (and thus explaining why it has a dome and not a spire on top).  Lastly we walked over the Alcázar, the fortified palace where the Castilian monarchs (Isabel's ancestors) lived in the Middle Ages. Since then it was also used as a prison and royal artillery school.... regardless, it has a great view of the surroundings and an enormous protective moat! The decoration of the castle show Moorish and Jewish decorative influences (I liked the little Moorish window with its narrow column and rounded arches). The use of clay circular designs with black dots on the facade was unlike anything I've seen anywhere else in Spain. I was very much struck by how closely the color of the castle matched the color of the clay/soil of the surrounding countryside -- it almost all just blended together!

First we visited the lowest floor to see the foundations -- literally, this structure is built into the mountain rock. Then we went up to see the throne room, Hall of Monarchs--very cool, had sculptures and shields of all the kings and queens of Castile from the 8th century (starting with Pelayo) up until Juana la Loca, daughter of Ferdinand and Isabel.  The little chapel had be built, just like in Yuste and Escorial, right next to the queen's bedroom so she could listen to mass from her bed if she was sick or too tired to get up haha.

Finally we climbed up the 150+ tower to briefly enjoy the panorama of the city in the brutal wind before dodging out back to the bus before the sprinkling became rain. I was definitely glad to have a chance to see Segovia, but it was nice to be home again in the milder climate of Madrid!

Thursday 10 March

Run through Retiro -- the weather is gorgeous again! Had to get to work on my final projects, but at 12:30 I met up with Isabel at the Thyssen to see exhibit of Jean-Léon Gérome (French, 1824-1904). He was a French painter who was often criticized in his time for defending the less-than-popular Academic painting genre at a time when the Impressionists and Realists were gaining steam. JLG's work is really varied though. There are lots of classical elements and icons in his works, but always with a twist (for example, La Pelea de gallos --The Cock Fight-- is a classical-looking scene of nudes but with a chicken fight at the center of attention, something that never would have been painted in classical times). Some of his paintings look absolutely photographic too -- and I love the vibrancy of his colors.

JLG started painting around age 16, and his first works were very technical to demonstrate his artistic skill and drawing ability. He was a student of Paul Delaroche, also studied Ingres, and painted lots of portraits and Italian peasants (during his year-long visit to Italy, which brought him in contact with Roman ruins and archaelogy). From then on he developed his "Neo-Grec period" during which he gained considerable respect and recognition (particularly with The Cock Fight piece from 1847).

In addition to classical theme, JLG was also very interested in the "East" and traveled to Egypt, the Middle East and Arab countries several times. I really liked the vibrancy of the colors and how extremely meticulously JLG paid attention to details in these paintings. There was a picture of a Mosque interior ("Public Prayer in the Mosque of Amr") which looked just like the mesquita in Córdoba with the red and white arches -- the sense of distance and representation of perspective in this painting is incredible too! There was another of a pigment vendor (such bright colors -- looked just like the markets we saw in Marrakesh! -- against the very dully colored, dusty street scene) and another of a rug salesman (reminded me of Velásquez's Las Hilanderas because it depicted a tapestry work of art within a painting). I really liked the painting of the bath scene (a white girl, probably a harem girl, curling with her back to the viewer in a beautiful bath, such gorgeous ceramic tiles around her but she looks so frightened and vulnerable) but my favorite piece was of "The Black Bard" -- a man dressed in a coral-colored robe, seated on the floor with a brilliant turquoise wall of painted tiles behind him -- which I actually thought was a national geographic photo when I first saw it used for advertisements of the exposition. JLG actually newly-invented photography to help him achieve the realism of these pieces.

Then we saw the room with all the huge history paintings -- JLG especially liked ancient Rome, 17th century France and the Napoleonic era. Apparently, Hollywood and American film studios used these scenes for inspiration in designing the visual layout for the big gladiator movies. Always an archaeology fan, JLG paid very close attention to accurately depicting historical details in these pieces (for example, the meaning of the thumb up or down in the Roman gladiator arena). What I really liked about the history paintings was how JLG often chose to focus on the moment just after the climax of the scene. For example, in painting Julius Caesar's death, he paints the moment when Caesar is lying dead on the floor and all the senators have just evacuated, leaving behind the dead man in a the empty room. Also, in painting the crucifiction of Christ, JLG paints the moment when everyone is leaving the three crosses on the hillside, night is falling and clouds hang heavy in the sky. Christ and the crosses are actually physically out of sight; however, the three long shadows appear eerily in the lower right hand corner of the scene -- an image even more haunting than any crucifix painting or sculpture I've ever seen.

The last room we saw was especially interesting because it combined JLG's painting and sculptural works -- in fact, the two often influenced and inspired one another. Recurring images (such as seated female nude) appeared cross-referenced in multiple works in multiple forms. One thing I really liked about the sculptures was that they were polychromatic -- the hair or jewelery would be painted, making the sculpture look all the more life-like. The exhibit suggested that JLG thought of himself as "a modern Pygmalion" -- interesting as my women in art class has talked a lot about the myth of sculptor Pygmalion and his beautiful sculpture-statue-turned-lover-and-wife Galatea. I really liked his painting of Pygmalion and Galatea as Galatea turns alive -- while her legs are white, cold and stone-like, her upper body skin looks warm and pink and she is twisted as she kisses Pygmalion. JLG really has an excellent use of color...

After the exhibit, returned home for lunch, then went to the institute for Spanish. Discussed how the topic of domestic violence -- "maltrato" has especially come to light in Spain over the last decade. Every evening on the news there is some story about a woman beaten and killed by her husband or lover. These types of stories rarely make it on the news in the US (at least, definitely not with this great of frequency) and so they've definitely caught my attention. We also talked about gender and politics in Spain -- for example, Spain's minister/secretary of defense is currently a woman and most Spaniards don't think twice about it. However, a female secretary of defense in the US would likely cause much more controversy... interesting how different countries view representations of power.

At 9pm we had the Cena Bing (sponsored by the Bing family) at Restaurante La Tahona, calle Capitá Haya 21 near Cuzco metro. We started off with drinks at the bar, then were seated at the long table (with all the Stanford students, program directors, most of the professors and even our flamenco teacher). We feasted upon: chorizo, red peppers, morcilla de burgos, housemade bread, lechazo asado (lamb), salad, and for dessert, vanilla ice cream with one of those flaky cakes with cream and powdered sugar. Various types of vino, champagne and some after-dinner shot of anis-flavored liquer too --  Santy (program director) actually started off the evening with a Spanish saying that went something along the lines of, "when spaniards get together, we have a drink. if we didn't know each other before hand, we drink until we get to know each other. if we get together with someone we already know, we drink until we don't know each other any more." Oh dear. Santy always has a joke up his sleeve...  and his cell phone (with ring tone of "Taxi! Taxi!") too. I was sitting across from Professor Baker and his wife though, so I definitely did not want to follow this Spanish style of drinking, but the other end of the table... good thing we had a room separated from the rest of the restaurant because they made so much noise!

After the dinner, which lasted until past midnight, all of us students headed out en masse to the metro. Max, being tall and a New Yorker, took charge in directing the herd through the metro station, changing metros at one stop, and eventually arriving at Gran Vía to go to Moondance, where Adam works. So we all got in for free, the music was good and the club had a good sized crowd. I stayed out until 3am when I caught the bus home and happily went to sleep! I'll miss these "social thursdays" when I leave Madrid, haha!

Las Sardinas y Las Cenizas

Flamenco in the morning -- we're practicing for our show exactly one week from today! Las Sevillanas always give me trouble haha, but I think I've finally figured out how the arms are supposed to look. Laura told us girls we had to swish our skirts more, otherwise (en español) "the husbands and boyfriends will ask, why did I buy you that skirt if you're not going to use it?!!" So I'll be sure to swish "mi falda" más!

Laura (flamenco teacher) saw me studying for my health care quiz before class and naturally asked me about what we were learning. Of course, the questions came up, "how can it be that America still lets people go without health insurance? Why can't the government just provide it for everyone like we do in Europe?" I was surprised to find I could actually sort of explain en español the reasons why universal health care coverage attempts in the US have repeatedly failed. I assured her that I and many other Americans would really like to see universal health care coverage, but America's health care situation is very different from Europe's, in part because we don't actually have a "system" like most European countries. We just have a mesh of things that have grown and evolved over time without any overarching organizing body giving directions or setting goals (eg. universal coverage). Anyway, I won't keep rambling, but the conversation definitely helped me clarify and reflect upon all the things we've been learning about in class this quarter. And while I don't want to defend or excuse America's uninsurance and health care coverage problems, I do feel it's important that I know how to explain (or begin to explain) them.

Quiz in Health Care Class about cost-effectiveness analysis and different kinds of health care insurance plans and payment structures, then we discussed the Obama reforms. Afterward, home for lunch and then off to the Prado for class.

Today we looked at lots of Goya's paintings. Started off with the cartones -- paintings made to be templates or models for tapestries that would eventually be hung in houses of the aristocracy. These paintings were very brightly colored, often depicting scenes outdoors, games, leisure, young aristocrats laughing gaily. The aristocrats were dressed as "majas" -- they wore outfits that imitated the dress of the lowest social classes as a way of distinguishing themselves from the bourgeosie middle class (who were always trying to imitate the aristocracy). So these aristocrats wore short pants, girls had traditional-looking dresses, hairnets, let their hair loose, etc. Very interesting phenomenon this "majismo" and not too unlike the fashion trends of the 21st century either...

After the majas, we saw several of Goya's portraits of Spanish kings (Fernando VII, Carlos IV and his family) and archduchesses and dukes. You could see the influence of Rousseau and his ideas about the importance of maternity and child-rearing, providing an optimal environment for the developing child in the family portraits especially (mother is often the central figure), kids look like kids, not like mini adults.

Of course, we also looked at the "maja desnuda" and "maja vestida" paintings -- so scandalous because the naked lady is actually a portrait of someone, not some representation of Venus or another mythical figure. Goya clearly diverted from tradition also by positioning the figure lying with her head in the upper right corner of the painting (usually reclining nudes were placed with heads in the top left), her head looks strangely attached to the neck and, the most controversial thing of all, she has corporal hair.

Next we visited the dark rooms where Goya's "pinturas negras" hang -- so awful with those floppy smiles, ravenous eyes (I get really creeped out by when I see these smiles reappear in the bright, cheerful maja cartones). Our profesora explained the three main theories that exist about the pinturas negras, which were completed between 1820 and 1824: 1) they're biographical in some way, depicting something from Goya's life, particularly after he went deaf -- though that was in 1792 so the deafness doesn't quite match up. 2) they reflect Goya's political commentary on the situation in España after the wars of succession, the new monarchy, etc. 3) these works reflect new artistic, aesthetic ideas of the time about the link between the imagination and reality, romanticism, expression of the imagination, discovering links between memory and imagination, the magic lantern that illuminates (eg. influences of William Blake).

Finally we visited the enormous historical paintings depicting scenes of Spanish history (I find the paintings about "Juana the Loca" particularly intriguing). It's interesting to think how these images project contemporary interpretations of history onto the past and influence the way we look back on history. Who knows if Juana really was loca, but painter Eduardo Rosales definitely wanted to portray her as such! This "women in art" art history class has really been excellent -- I'm so glad I stuck with it because I think it's taught me the most new Spanish vocabulary and the most history of all my classes.

After class, went to Principe Pío to see the final event of Carneval week: The Entierro de la Sardina (a  bizarre fish-burying festival most famously depicted by Goya). Somehow it symbolizes the fasting that is about to take place during Lent. Basically, I arrived outside the Florida chapel (home of Goya's amazing frescos) to see a bunch of people dressed in "mourning" -- 19th century funeral garb, black capes, veils, top hats... As a group of musicians played boisterously, the mourners cremated a sardine, then began to process across the bridge, holding flags, bearing giant sardine bodies, and throwing candy. The procession also included singers, dancers and many people dressed up in costumes. I tried to capture some video and not ruin too many of other people's photos by awkwardly being in their pictures, and it was fun to see! The procession was led by a giant float pulled by a team of 4 or 6 white horses (the horse driver was an old man who appeared to be sleeping!). Never seen anything quite like this before!

After the procession, went to the Institute to watch "Las Cenizas del Cielo" -- a movie about a thermal power plant in Asturias and the local farmers trying to get rid of it.

Home for dinner with Consuelo -- the Sardina procession was on TV too! Time for bed now because I'm wiped out.

Tuesday Torrijas

For this week's cultural activity with the Spanish students we went to La Casa de Las Torrijas near Sol to try a famous Madrid sweet -- "las torrijas".  I expected something like french toast based on the descriptions we'd heard, but it turned out to be more like a donut. Basically las torrijas are pieces of fried bread (generally a few days old), covered in sugar crystals and honey and full of a creamy, gooey substance made of milk and wine. They're typically enjoyed during the week of Carneval and Semana Santa. Our evening was extra dulce as we had some sweet wine to accompany the torrijas! All good fun

Charlas with Consuelo at dinner... apparently in Franco's day, the government used to profess that Spaniards were all good and happy as long as they had bread to eat and a bullfight to watch. Consuelo likened this mentality to the present in which 20% of the country is unemployed and fútbol is on the TV every single day for distraction. Así, es la vida.


http://madrid.salir.com/la_casa_de_las_torrijas

monday thoughts and funfacts

-It's really quite amazing that, in Spain, the country is in a state where 20% of the overall working adult population is unemployed and 40% of youth are unemployed, yet the country is still functioning relatively peacefully and democratically. Testament to the strength of social structures, family networks, social support systems?
-Lady Gaga wrote the song "Alejandro" in Ibiza district of Madrid (right near my house!)
-Living in Madrid near the Retiro park has reaffirmed and strengthened my belief that everyone needs access to nature, open spaces to watch flowers bloom, grass die, trees grow and birds sing!
-After Japan, Spain is the country with the longest life expectancy!

Lisboa -- que linda, que lively!

Saturday 5 de marzo
Started off the day a little later but enjoyed another delicious breakfast in the hostel, this time with our roommate from Buenos Aires. Did some email, showered, regrouped and then made our way towards the train station, stopping along the way so Rodrigo could pick up some groceries. At the train station, I was so impressed by how new and punctual the trains were! Also, they seem to have a really good public transportation system that integrates bus, metro, train (maybe more?) on all these little rechargeable green cards. The sky looked overcast so we were happy to be in the train! 40 minutes later we arrived in Sintra (a town which has been named a UNESCO world heritage site and is home to 33,000 people) and it started to rain. We ducked into a little restaurant for lunch -- I had some asperagaus soup, delicious bread, salad and then an amazing apple pastry thing (looked like a giant balloon with a cinnamon stick poking out the top and it was full of fresh local homecooked apples). Things are surprisingly cheap here -- soup is like 1.5 euros, salads and sandwiches (in a restaurant) are only 3... I don't understand how this country is so modern and artsy and efficient and also so cheap compared to the other EU countries?

After lunch, it was like a miracle, blue skies, sun, the smell of spring flowers, view of the ocean, lush greenery all around --a portugese paradise I never knew existed! We walked along the curvy road towards the historic center, savoring the view of the ocean, the beautiful stone sculptures along the sidewalk, the mudéjar buildings and the gardens on both sides of us. There are all kinds of things to see here but we just didn't have time to do them all. Apparently the kings of Portugal had a summer residence here (Palacio Nacional de Sintra), and there's an incredible old Moorish castle from the 8th or 9th centuries -- a little more rustic than the one we saw yesterday! Perched on a hillside, Sintra looks out upon the Sintra-Cascais Natural Park (that's why it's so beautiful and well-preserved I guess). As we ambled up to the church and the main plaza, passed beautiful flowering magnolia trees and some sort of community garden. Popped into a little port wine shop for a little shot of local "ginja" -- cherry liquer -- which came in a cute little dark chocolate cup. Stumbled across the little pink house where author Hans Christan Andersen once lived. Lord Byron also wrote home about Sintra, calling it the most beautiful village in the world. Then we proceeded to hike up to the castle -- a beautiful green walk, reminded me of Ireland. With the Fado music still in my head and Rodrigo and Xavier dancing like butterflies (they're both professional dancers and so incredibly graceful) we ascended the impressive mountain side. There were some more archaeological ruins and signs explaining how the Portuguese government is trying to prepare the castle to "maximize tourist-attracting potential" -- a phrase that greatly amused me. But overall I just really enjoyed the chance to be out in the stillness of the nature, especially since it smelled so much like spring time!! When we reached the entrance to the castle, we first found some very playful felines. Then the guard told us that we couldn't enter without a ticket, which had to be purchased all the way down at the bottom of the mountain. He also informed us that, since it was almost closing time, we probably wouldn't have enough time to go back down and climb back up before he locked the gates. Clearly, their whole ticket vending system was not up to  "tourist-maximizing" par!! They have quite some room to grow.  We had to laugh after climbing up and up for so long only to be turned away at the summit, but the walk was definitely worth it for its own sake.

So we descended back to the village, admiring the squat little houses of bright cheerful colors and then taking a curvy little cobblestone road that led us through the hillside municipal gardens (with a charming old greenhouse and colorful metal statues of animals). Back in the village, we stopped at an adorable tea café. Rodrigo informed us that there are lots of British influences in Portugal (such as tea houses like these) because Portugal has had a very strong historic relationship with England for a long time (beginning with the Anglo-Portuguese Alliance from 1373 -- the oldest alliance in the world that's still in force!!). There have been Anglo-Portugese marriages over the centuries and Portugal often relied on the British for support against Spanish encroachment. Anyway, I was very pleased to enjoy the fruits of this relationship in the form of a piping hot cup of English tea (I had a homemade apple-cinnamon blend, made from fresh apples and cinnamon stick, which we actually ate afterwards haha). It was raining like mad and dark by the time we finished, so we hopped on the train back to Lisboa.

Back at the hostel, found a little free guide book with recommendations for restaurants, chose one called "Fábulas" because it was close by (located on a little staircase street called something along the lines of Sao Francisco -- yet another reminder of my birthplace haha). We were delighted by what we found inside: an old building (centuries old) made of old stone arches. There was a bustling kitchen and coffee bar in front and 3 big rooms with tables and seating arrangements of all sorts -- couches, big old communal tables, little sewing desks for 2 people (the built-in sewing machine was just chilling right there on the table next to the customers' coffees and cakes haha) -- an eclectic, cozy, inviting mix! We opened the menu and found further evidence that this was the perfect place to round out an excellent day in portugal. Basically, there was no way to go wrong with this menu. Eliana and I ended up choosing a Venus salad (with chevre cheese foam, sautéed pears and rocket) and a mushroom-cheese crepe, both of which were splendid. The wine -- fruity and aromatic -- was incredibly flavorful, and for dessert we had housemade apple cake and a drink called "electric coffee" (aka spiked). We were so content haha. Afterwards, went to explore the local neighborhood. I think we must have gone to at least 5 or 6 different bars, each with it's own personality. First a techno bar (with blank white walls, pinkish lights and a delicious mango drink), then a reggae bar, an american oldies bar, a "mushrooms" place, a europop bar -- so many different kinds. It was great because Javier and Rodrigo are professional dancers, and they can dance to anything. As soon as they got warmed up, the entire bar  would be mesmerized just watching them. It was so much fun to watch them, and Javier even taught me merengue and some other steps in this little caribbean place on the corner. In that same place, just before we left, a couple came waltzing in and tangoed with such ferocity I was afraid an innocent bystander might get hurt! The girl was wearing very tall black heels and a bright red coat -- clearly they wanted to be noticed! Anyway, it was fun to watch them too. We paused for a few moments outside a metallica bar so Cullen could rock out to one of his favorite metalhead songs.. Javier and Rodrigo also checked out the gay bar scene, but since it was Eliana's bday as of midnight, we all deferred to her when it came to calling the shots with regard to which places to enter. Also, almost everyone in the bars and in the streets was dressed up for Carneval (I think pirate was the most popular costume but there were a lot of black swans too!) We stopped at the hostel for a little bit around 2 so Javier could change into his velvet red pants that he'd been dying to wear (he also couldn't resist lacing up a pair of white shoes and a silver lightning bolt earring) and then we descended to the shorefront to the discoteca scene. Ended up in a place called Europa which was okay, not the greatest, but entertaining and they had some decent music. The DJs were 3 youngish women with pixie haircuts and the bartenders were also very young (clearly they were together). The majority of the discoteca patrons were a little older than we would have liked, but more young people entered as the night went on. We stayed there until 4am when I just couldn't be on my feet anymore! Went straight to bed...

Sunday 6 de marzo
Slept until 9:30 when Eliana woke me up for breakfast. This time we breakfasted with a Mexicano and Columbiano who are studying architecture in Barcelona but are here in Lisboa for the weekend. After breakfast, we went out to explore the city a bit more, grateful for the glorious sunshine! It was almost too hot and we had to shed a few layers. Stumbled across a really cool Design museum in the city center. My favorite piece was a sofa set called "sunset in New York" -- there were several pieces of different heights that looked like grey NYC skyscrapers and then a giant red semi-circle cushion piece in the back-center that was definitely the sun. Really cool...

Next took the bus down to Belém where we found a wonderful little arts and antiques market. I was amazed by how many of the really old antiques were actually from Hong Kong, China, Japan -- clearly evidence of Portuguese prowess as a trading power over the last centuries! There were some really beautiful tiny little round tea cups so delicately painted... I was tempted. Eliana got herself a ring, perfect commemoration of her bday! Then we had 30 minutes left to check out the Cultural Center one last time -- this time to see an exposition of 40 Portuguese cartoon artists. Really fun, creative, lots of pen/ink/whiteout, some great watercolors... one of my favorites depicted an art gallery with really high ceilings. The paintings had all been put up really high on the ceilings and so the visitors were given balloons to float up and admire the paintings! Then all the balloons somehow popped, haha!

Quickly caught the bus back to the hostel, caught the train to the airport (admiring the colorful murals all over the city -- just like in the mission district of SF!!) on our way. Eliana and I shared a queso fresco sandwich just before she and Cullen departed -- I had another hour to catch up on homework, reflect, enjoy some Portuguese mineral water (full of minerals, for sure) before catching my Iberia flight back to Madrid -- only a little longer than an hour! I'll miss Portugal! Such a wonderful weekend of discovery and good memories. I'll have to return....

Lisboa, Portugal!

LISBOA

Thursday evening -- arrival in Lisboa. My flight with Iberia was delayed (I will never book with them again!) so we left Madrid at 11:30pm and arrived in Lisboa at 11:45pm local time. Took a taxi to the Lisboa Poet's Hostel, and the receptionist was very helpful in introducing me to the hostel. Portugese is SUCH a strange language. The first time I heard it I thought it was a Slavic language, then maybe German or Spanish in an Irish accent? Just when I think it's totally incoprehensible, I'll recognize a Spanish-sounding phrase and just be confused all over again. Anyway, walked around a little outside -- the square near us was filled with young people hanging out, drinking, bar-hopping. The streets are very slippery white cobblestones.. I finally found Eliana, Cullen, Xavier and Rodrigo and went to bed around 1:30am.

Friday 4 de Marzo
Woke up around 8:30am for breakfast in the hostel. I really like this hostel -- the lounge is colorful, lots of books, free internet, poet quotes all over the place, and breakfast incudes hot tea/coffee, muesli, toast, OJ, oranges and bananas! Talked to a British lady who was so relieved and excited to hear that Xavier was an Earth Systems major. In her vision of the US, everyone sleeps or wants to be able to sleep with a gun under their pillow....

Eliana, Cullen and I walked down to the waterfront -- I can't get over how similar this is to San Francisco! The narrow hilly streets, waterfront with green trees over on the other side like the Marin headlands, red bridge spanning the river just like the Golden Gate, cable cars, warm weather, friendly people -- it makes me miss San Francisco! I'm also surprised though because there are SO many modern, architecturally-innovative buildings here too. Portugal appears to be doing very well. Anyway, took a cable car along the water front to the 16th century Monasterio de los Jeronimos, which commemorates Portugesee discoveries and is also a UNESCO site. Visited the big Cathedral where Vasco de Gama (sailed for Portugal around Cape Horn and made it to India, establishing Portugal's trade dominance in the Indian Ocean). The inside of the church was unlike any I've seen in Spain -- all grey stone very elaborately decorative. On the ceiling were not only the usual suspects -- stars, apostles, crosses -- but also symbols of Portugal's navigation prowess (crosses surrounded by Ptolemic models of the universe). The Portugese oceanic and exploratory voyages of the secular world were considered evidence of God's will and closely linked to future voyages in the spiritual world..

Next walked along the water front to Belém Tower -- a squat little structure built in the 16th century as a key element of a military defense strategy. Another UNESCO site (or "patrimonio de la humanidad" as they say in Spain). It combines a few different architectural styles -- medieval bulwark and part Manueline--and was designed by architect Francisco Arruda. Its white stone contrasted beautifully with the blue sky and river. Unfortunately, we arrived at the same time as a rowdy group of teenage school kids, and the acoustics of this building nearly made us go deaf. Of course, we wanted to ascend to the top floor -- as did all of the kids -- so the very narrow spiral staircase was jammed constantly for about 45 minutes. But no matter because the view from the top of the tower was incredible and the sun was warm.  Cullen (who's from Marin) and I were "tripping out" (his lingo) because the view looked so similar to San Francisco's! We tried to find as many similarities as possible. The little cafés along the street look like Sausalito, the buses take forever, the giant cranes at the ports (they look like the ones in Oakland), public transportation only gives change in coins (I used a 20 euro to pay for my 1.50 euro bus ticket and received all coins -- just like how caltrain spits out sacajawea dollar coins!)... the similarities started to scare us after a while.

After the tower, we stopped at the Belém cultural center to check out the contemporary art museum. Outside the building was a very intriguing sculpture -- "Inhabitable object" -- a giant shell-like thing made of cork! Inside was a sign that said "don't smoke" haha. Also at the main entrance of the building: a tree made of green glass bottles. Very cool. Inside, the first piece on display was a light screen with orange lights depicting the outline of just the torso of a lady in a bikini walking down a catwalk. I laughed because this seems to be strategically placed to encourage reluctant men to enter -- and it definitely worked for cullen. He said he could watch that screen for hours and then proceeded to analyze why it was such a good piece of art, why orange was such a good color choice, etc. Eliana and I could only laugh.

Inside: went to a map exhibit-- "Mappamundi." SO COOL!!! Definitely one of my favorite exhibits in my life because it combined maps and art and culture and social commentary and history -- incredible! And so well done; the English explanations were thorough (for example, explaining how for centuries people were guided and oriented according to the location of Mecca or Jerusalem and really only quite recently most of the world "re-oriented" to the "more secular" idea of the North). It's amazing that the image we have of "the world" as that light blue sphere with colorful countries, neatly demarcated along political boundaries is still so recent. One of the artists exhibited here had used those light blue laminated maps used in schools and cut them up and reformed them into different shapes. In general, the design of the space and flow through the museum was really well-thought-out. It was hosted by the Berado Collection Museum with an aim to "review cartography's role in art" and illustrate how maps have changed, inspired artists and shaped our view of the world. Are maps to read or look at? Do they mirror the world or distort it? What do they describe, evoke, protest?

The four segments of the exhibit included:
1) Decoding -- how maps are a system of symbols to be decoded (the idea of North, scale of a map, reference lines, the idea of the Equator as a line...). These artists sort of break the rules here, playing with these entrenched systems of coding. For example: a digitized map in which continents were transformed into clumps of thin horizontal black lines. The artist then used computer formatting to move these lines moved around, smooshing them together -- sort of inverting the process by which pangea separated I guess. The artist was Detanico & Lain and the final image (all the lines of all the continents unified) was called "The World Justified, Centered." Another series was done by artist who cut up maps of the US and Japan and pasted them together in an intriguing way (for example, the US map only included the east coast and west coast, the middle of the country had been obliterated and cut out).

2) Materializing (the word "Corporizar" in Portugese sounds more fitting though because it captures that idea of corporal, giving body and life) -- bodies, sensations and matter. These artists "reassert" the sensitivity of maps and their existence as material objects. There were some maps printed on mattresses, clothing, mirrors... They also explore how maps can bring people together (for example, forcing people to sit side by side to view...). There was a really cool piece-- a collage of photographs taken of metro maps in Paris. Each photo of each station was taken in the actual station itself, so each map was very worn by the number of fingers that had touched the map over the years. Basically, the end product was an image of a map on which each metro station had disappeared (paper had worn through too much) so it was sort of like an inverted map -- the locations visited the most were the least visible. The same artist also used the Paris metro map and superimposed it on a relief sculpture of a woman's torso. All this use of metro maps made me really excited to do something with all the maps and paper things I've collected over the last 2.5 months!

3) Protesting-- how maps have been used by conquerors and are now used as tools of protests, making visible the invisible, refuting official versions, questioning political lines and censorship. I had to smile when I read how, the map is "a weapon with which to heighten awareness, denounce or organize collective action" and then the first pieces I saw (artist was Nelson Leirner) were maps of the world in which all the land bodies had been covered with gold and sparkly stickers of disney characters, daffy ducks, hello kitty or american flags.

4) Dreaming -- how maps represent the world of the imagination. There were some incredible pieces which were books (some blank, some actually atlases containing printed images of maps)  in which each page had been cut so that, when the book was opened to a certain page, the result on either side looked like a topographical representation of some land.

A few other favorite pieces:
-series of photos taken in western China and Mongolia (aka middle of nowhere) with a sign of the GPS coordinates in each place, the GPS depiction on an orienteering device, and a panorama of the site
- Mirror glass table shaped like a land mass with seats and chairs and sitting cushions from all around the world gathered around it.
-image of the world with vertical rips in a few places (the largest ran through Africa) from which blood oozed and someone had made attempts to stitch the map together with some thick twine
-dresses made of maps
-photos of an artist who tattooed an outlined map of china on his back and then traveled. In each city he traveled to, he got a new tattoo on his back. Now I have an answer next time someonw inevitably asks me what kind of tattoo I'd get if I ever got one... haha
-seeing 16 television screens, all showing weather forecast reports all over the world. Really interesting and surprising to see how different cultures represent the weather map, something I've never really thought much about! For example, the American and western European reports used lots of arrows, bold colors, straight lines -- very technical. The East African weather report just had some white lines and bubbles that were animated to look like smoke puffs or jiggly ripples in the water, very odd.
-Seeing an actual map of Dubai (wow, didn't realize how beautiful the aerial view must be with all those human-formed land masses!). In the corner was a little outline of the world and the words "under construction" -- !!! I found this attitude of terrestrial plastic surgery slightly disturbing.

Next we went to a famous little café with a beautiful blue "azulejos" (ceramic tile) facade and azul canopies: Pastais Belém. First we enjoyd delicious tomato-mozzarella sandwiches on whole wheat housemade bread and for dessert, the famous little cream cakes "pastais de nata" (sort of like creme brulée in quiche form? Also tasted a bit like french toast). I liked them with cinnamon on top!

So many building facades here are covered with lovely blue and yellow tiles! Even more of them than in Spain!

Took bus back to hostel and saw SO many museums along the way! Museums of popular art, sculpture, cars, the East, maps -- I decided right then and there that I could probably live in Lisboa. There are just so many cool places, influences from around the world, so much energy and activity in this city. Anyway, had some down time as we tried to reunir with Javier and Rodrigo with no success.

Then took cable car to the Castle. We were held up along the way because of many costumed Carnaval celebrators in the streets! I think my arms will be sore tomorrow from trying to stabilize myself as we ascended and descended those steep hilly streets!

Saint George's Castle. The fortification was originally built by the Moors in the mid-11th century as the last defensive stronghold for the elite who lived nearby. A little Portugese history: in 1147 Dom Alfonso Henriques conquered Lisbon (Moorish at the time) and became the first king of Portugal. He used this castle for his royalty and enlarged the place too so it'd be fit for celebrations, coronations and visitors receptions in the centuries to come. In 1580 Portugal came under the Spanish crown and the castle was used more for military purposes. Unfortunately a lot of it was destroyed in an 1755 earthquake but it continued to be used for military functions in the next couple of centuries. It's definitely well-guarded (we know from experience now because it took us a while to find--road signs are not a priority here--but eventually made it to the entrance!) Walked all along the wall, climbed all the towers, took lots of photos in the glorious evening sunlight. There was a neat little archaeological excavation of former royal palaces.

After the castle, it was already 6:30 so we made our way to a cool little café-- Pois, Café -- Eliana had seen on her last visit to Lisboa with her parents. Felt like someplace in Marin, once again, with a rustic, woodsy interior, homemade cakes, fresh squeezed juices, an eclectic mix of ceramic cups and plates.. Eliana and I got a pot of tea to warm up and savor the atmosphere. There were all kinds of books and DVDs and magazines in many many different languages so we amused ourselves for quite sometime before heading out to meet up with Javier and Rodrigo again for dinner. Went to a tiny little restaurant that didn't even have a name.... it was in the Alfama district with lots of little pedestrian streets -- one of the oldest districts in a city that has been the capital of Portugal since the conquest of the Moors in 1147! (According to Wikipedia, Lisbon is one of the oldest cities in the world -- Julius Caesar actually proclaimed it a municipum called Felicitas Julia). Anyway, the restaurant was run by some older Portugese folks and there were lots of Portugese folks eating inside so we squeezed around a little table. Rodrigo (from Mexico) also speaks some Portugese so, luckily, we were able to communicate some! I had the soup of the day (bean and vegetable), queso fresco and a mixed salad -- all incredibly tasty, especially with the house "green wine" (basically white wine). Had some homemade cakes for dessert (I think mine was almond of some sort) and each had some port wine as we tried to follow some Portugese version of "who wants to be a millionaire" on television and observed the restaurant owners shoot the breeze with the other clientele.

After dinner, we went to a tiny little bar in the Alfama district to listen to Fado music, traditional guitar and singing music of Portugal. Enjoyed another very rich glass of port as we huddled around the bar and the tables in the dim light, watching the musicians prepare their instruments. When they began playing, everyone was still, almost mesmerized by the music, and particularly the deep trembling voice of the singer. Even the bartenders and the ladies cooking in the kitchen came out to have a drink and simply listen. Over the next few hours new guitarists joined in -- including some boys who looked like they couldn't be older than 12 -- and so did the singers. People who earlier I thought were just audience members (a young woman in a beautiful dress, an old man with a grand mustache and fedora hat, and a young girl who was maybe 14 years old?) sang a few songs. We ended up staying until something like 3am -- and there was no sign of the music ending any time soon! It was really beautiful music though and it lingered with me along the entire walk home and even in my dreams when I eventually got to sleep.

Reflective Start to March

Tuesday 1 de Marzo
Tried out a cool ecological bakery-restaurant on Serra street with an earthy ambience and communal table. I was in the mood for good bread and fresh salad. Also stopped by [h]arina to sample one of their rolled pastries with dulce de leche inside.
Found an intriguing Catalunya Cultural Center with all kinds of really interesting books about Barcelona and Catalunya. There was a little photo exhibit downstairs -- black and white, mostly of people.

Checked out the Círculo de Bellas Artes also. They had an exhibit called "7 miradas africanas sobre España" -- 7 African views of Spain. 7 different young African artists (from Cameroon, Nigeria, Ghana, South Africa, Mali, Senegal and Equatorial Republic of Guinea) were given grants to create a series of photo, each artist in a different city -- Bilbao, Valencia, Madrid, Barcelona, Canary Islands, Sevilla, and Valladolid.

The artist who did Madrid definitely stayed here in the city during the summer (judging by the amount of skin I saw exposed by pedestrians), but I laughed when I read in his essay how the "rebajas" made such a big impression on him (I felt the same way -- it was probably one of the first words I learned upon arriving in Madrid!).

For dinner, Eliana, Juanaton, Dúglas, Adán, Xavier and I took advantage of the fact that it's "Restaurant Week" in Madrid at the moment. We met up at 9pm at Taberna Del Alabardero near Teatro Real. I arrived a little early and had a chance to overhear some very "pija" madrileñas in fur coats talk about their taste in art, their dabblings in portrait amateur painting and dislike for landscape art all over cigarettes. Inside the restaurant we were seated by friendly camareros and had a chance to choose a few dishes from the special 25 euro menu. The table started with little salty sausages, a "wreath" of bread, and fish croquetas. Then I had a "composición" of goat cheese and "earthy vegetables" -- basically a leaning tower of color! Next "hake" (this is the white fish Consuelo makes me! Spanish name = merluza) with "almejas" (clams). The rest of the table went for the duck thigh... For dessert, something called "bizcocha" which ended up being a delicious, white layered cake with cream and marzepán (a lot like princess cake) with vanilla ice cream and lingonberries. Rounded out the evening with tea and coffee and by the time we left it was after midnight! Good, all-español conversation and reflections on Madrid, Spain, the quarter overall, living situations for the coming quarter, etc...

Restaurant website: http://grupolezama.es/portal/taberna-alabardero-madrid/home

jueves 3 marzo 2011

Run through Retiro this morning. It´s grey and cloudy -- where did the summer go?

Met up with Isabel and the culta ladies at the Reina Sofía for a tour of the ¨vangaurdista¨ artists. The first half of the 20th century was filled with violence, war, shattering of illusions for Spain and the art reflects this loss of conventional notions of beauty and harmony. Started off with a Picasso piece called something like ïn memory of the spaniards who died for france.¨ Isabel pointed out the cubist elements (profile of a face), the expressionist colors and brushstrokes (rouge, bleu, blanc de francia) and the symbolism (laurel wreath of victory, among others). Next a series of papers with words and red paint, obviously suggestive of spilt blood. Lots of references to cadavers, blood, cruelty (I found the 3 red, bloody heads of lambs by Picasso particularly disturbing) throughout these first few rooms.

Then we came to a room with several watercolors depicting specific churches, buildings and towns plundered and destroyed in warfare. They were powerful but more striking was the more allegorical piece by Salvador Dalí: a painting of a Greek temple, emblem of Western culture and values, with columns toppling one by one and the form of a skull occupying the central space at the top of the temple facade.

We also talked about how Franco built so many big monumental buildings after the war to prove how Spain was recovering and developing so modernly.

Kadinsky

Bold colors and geometrical shapes -- reminiscent of prehistoric art, man´s attempts to impose order on the chaos of the world!

Really cool big black and white paintings that changed depending on where you stood in relation to them. I liked one that, when you stood at the opposite end of the room, the painting looked like a view of a river way far below from the perspective of very tall cliff edge.

Sculptures by Chillida. Impression of bird in flight -- wonderful contrast of concave and convex, pointed and blunted surfaces.

There was a room showing part of Rear Window by Hitchcock. I was all excited about the movie and Isabel laughed because she says everyone enters the room excited by the movie and too distracted to notice the Rothko painting hung on the side in a dimly lit corner. The painting is yellow with an ochre rectangle and a red rectangle. Very calming for sure.

In the final room we came across some work by Clifford Still and also several Spanish artists who had been inspired by his giant bold paintings. One artist represented Spain with 2 giant intrusive blocks of red and black, they seemed to fight for dominance on the canvas. The black represented dictatorship and oppression while the red represented Spanish passion, so explained the artist. He completed the painting in the US, and apparently this is the image he found himself confronted with when he thought of his homeland.

After the museum, Isabel drove me to Retiro and I walked home. Looks like I missed the 10 minutes of snow that descended upon the city this morning! Home in time for comida and then I met up with Annie in Sol to shoot some footage for our final project video in Spanish. It was really fun to use the flip because I can almost just pretend it´s a phone and then be very stealthy about capturing footage. When Annie arrived, we went over to Plaza mayor, Palacio Real, Plaza de Villa, Opera and the restaurant where I ate on Tuesday and she on Wednesday. Annie decided she wanted to try to the famous calamares bocadillo in Plaza Mayor so I got some film of the cook frying the squid and Annie taking a first bite haha! The calamari were very good.

Satisfied with the filming, we returned to the institute for tea and to collect our subsidies before Spanish class. We talked about condition, future verb forms, woohoo, and then I caught the metro home. Consuelo was just on her way out with the carneval disfraz -- costume -- she´d been sewing for her grandson. I had a lovely dinner of salad, beets and tortilla before packing up and taking the metro to the airport. Off to Lisboa!! I´m so excited to be going somewhere a bit warmer because it´s supposed to snow in madrid this weekend, ahh!

Collectors, Connoisseurs, and "Pack Rats" -- oh my!

Saturday and Sunday 26-27 de febrero

Museo at Fundación Lázaro Galdiano.
This impressive 20th century Italian-style mansion was built by Don José Lázaro Galdiano in 1903 to celebrate his marriage to an "Argentine heiress" named Paula Florido.  Don JLG was a publisher, businessman and collector who built up an amazing collection of books, paintings, textiles, silver, porcelain, jewelry and religious artifacts (13,00 pieces of art overall) during his lifetime and let them to the city of Madrid when he died. Throughout his collecting life, he was conscious about creating a well-rounded European collection that would both be accessible to Madrileños and inform them of the great influences in art over the past centuries.

The house is big but only big enough to show about 25% of the collection at a time haha! Since I visited on both Saturday and Sunday, I took my time and quizzed myself to see how well I could identify century, nationality and artistic tradition of the artist. Lots of Flemish school works represented, but also collections of English, French, German, Castellano, Valenciano, Arabic, Florentine... There was one Bosch painting (St. John the Baptist with weird allegorical and monstruous plants and birds), a few El Greco, several Immaculate Conceptions, weird Cranach figures haha.
I really liked how the collection had been arranged so deliberately -- it read almost almost like a very organized, comprehensive textbook of art history.
Beautiful painting of "Young Christ" that had once ben attributed to Leonardo but now is attributed to someone "in his Milanese circle."
I also liked how each room had a beautiful ceiling, often depicting some mythological scene, a historical event or some theme like "patronage of the arts" or "history of España" or "flowers" based on the function of the room. Each room had excellent descriptions -- in Spanish and English -- of the works, their contextual importance and how the room was used back in the day.
JLG really liked Goya, too -- there's a whole room of his paintings.
I was also just so impressed by the objects -- hunting guns with ivory inlay and attached fork and knife (for eating?? no sé), exquisite jewel-decorated vanity sets, swords, hundreds of beautiful rosary beads. It was almost too much.

Museo Cerallbo.
Another aristocrat home in the 19th-20th centuries, belonging to Marqués de Cerralbo (Enrique de Aguilera y Gamboa) -- politicians, academic, writer, archaeologist and avid collector. The palace was built with the dual purpose of being a residence and housing his collection. Very elaborately decorated interior, jammed with artifacts from around the world, paintings covering every inch of wallspace and marble pillars in practically every color of the rainbow. Bathrooms (with bathtubs made of one solid piece of marble) were designed to be displayed as much as used. Probably the room I found most intriguing was the "Sala Árabe" with its big Moroccan lantern, bold-colored cushions and dark, smoky atmosphere. He also had some Japanese armor, Chinese woodwork, lots and lots of porcelain tea sets, beautifully decadent Murano glass chandeliers (the kind with those delicate, colorful glass flowers) and, nbd, an assortment of paintings by El Greco, Zubarán, van Dyck and Ribera (as well as many many more paintings without labels).
The grand finale of the walking tour was the ballroom at the end -- the Marqués even had himself painted on the ceiling, wearing a conspicuous red coat. Must have been some wild nights here...

Lunched at bakery-restaurant called [h]arina at the Plaza de la Independencia. Fresh orange juice, 5-seed bread, salad and tarte of strawberries and cream.

Raíces exhibit in Parque del Buen Retiro
Roots wrapped up with chains and spiked by nails. What does this say about our relationship with history and ancestry?

Feels like summer

Friday 25 de febrero

Start of my 3-day weekend in Madrid -- I actually have trouble remembering that it's february because it's SO warm here! I'm all ready to sport my tanktops, summer skirts and colorful flats, but the Madrileños are still wearing fur coats, scarves and subdued winter tones of black, brown and grey! Anyway... after a run in Retiro, I headed down Álcala to: 

Portrait exhibit in Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando.
Highlights:
Félix Lope de Vega and his pointy mustache
Salvador Dalí holding starfish (he was a student at this academy)
Rey Carlos II -- always interesting to see how the artist attempted to strike a balance between idealizing the facial features and accurately depicting Carlos's face so that it was recognizable.
Miguel Ángel (aka Michelangelo) -- a depiction by Vasari, who famously wrote biographies of several Florentine artists and was actually one of Michelangelo's students
Recognizing King Fernando VII -- I'm getting better at quizzing myself on these Spanish royalty!

 Also I'm excited that I'm starting to recognize artistic styles, subjects and painting schools without looking at the labels -- Profesora Domenech has taught us well. Names like Zubarán, Coello, Sorolla and Chillida are now familiar.

Also explored the more modern collection upstairs. Juan Gris, Pablo Picasso, Benjamin Palencia. I think I found a new favorite sculptor: Julio López Hernández. He has a really fascinating sculpture of his daughter drinking a cup of tea, except the sculpture is only her hands (one holding the cup) hovering above a table top, on which there is a relief of her face being reflected on the table top. It's really cool!

We had amazing weather -- 80 degrees -- so everyone was outside. Kids had the day off from school for some reason, so Consuelo's little 3-year-old grandson came over. I went to El Retiro after lunch to read and lounge in the grass. I feel like I'm on vacation at the beach!

Today was the celebration of the 30th anniversary of Joy in Plaza del Sol. Annie and I met up at Chueca, went to El Tigre and then stood in line for a while at Joy. No luck getting in because it was too crowded, but I was glad to get home before 3am and even more pleased to have figured out the night bus system! Haha

"Hanami" de España

Miércoles 23 de febrero

Class was canceled this afternoon so I decided to check out the Palacio Real -- free on Wednesdays for EU citizens. First, of course, I had the opportunity to participate in the long-lasting European tradition of waiting in line for free services! However, the weather was beautiful (70 degrees at least), sunny and I really enjoyed listening to elderly, impatient British man behind me. He read the newspaper, made sarcastic comments and knew only one Spanish word (gracias). My 2 favorite comments he made to his wife:
- how we were moving "at the rapid rate of 200 meters per hour"
-about how if he had fainted in the line from sunstroke, he probably wouldn't have realized it until 45 minutes later because the line was so long

Anyway, I also had my book about myths of Spain to entertain me, so I was perfectly content. When I did enter the Palace grounds, I first made my way across the giant plaza to gaze at the enormity of the palace (3rd largest in Europe after Versailles and Schönbrunn). There used to be a Habsburg fortress here, but it burned down in 1734 and so King Phillip V (the first Bourbon king of Spain; he was born at Versailles and was King Louis XIV's grandson) had this monstrosity (over 2,000 rooms, which are filled with clocks, tapestries, overwhelming chandeliers and so many different styles of interior decór) built  to replace it. The Royal Family lived here until 1931, and today it's just used by the king for big dinners and receptions.

I entered through the enormous staircase to the Column Room (where Spain signed her membership into the European Community in 1985). It was first a ballroom and dining room (nice dance floor). Lots of Belgian tapestries and frescos on the ceiling -- common themes of this palace, as I would soon discover. Then over to the throne room, which actually had red velvet walls. The thrones were pretty cool because the chair backing of each had a gold gilded portrait on the back -- like an oversized gold coin. The ceiling fresco showed scenes and achievements from the Spanish Golden Age (including Christopher Columbus with a Native American). Adjacent were several rooms belonging to Carlos III (the one with the bird-like face)--I liked his big round lunching divan. The Goya portraits of Carlos IV and his wife Maria Luisa were very impressive but the lighting was so poor, you could barely see them! Carlos III had a giant Rococo dressing room -- monarchs dressed in public -- with very elaborate, Chinese-inspired silk wallpaper and ceiling decorations. I loved the dressing table (from Rome) -- it was a mosaic with miniscule pieces of colorful stone arranged in a floral design.

If the previous wall and ceiling decorations weren't evidence enough that the Spanish monarchs went all out, the next room dispelled all doubts: the walls and ceilings were made of porcelain!! (Obviously, the californian in me instinctively wanted to run away in case of an earthquake, but I guess they don't have those too often here haha). There are some several hundred porcelain plates with little angels and flowering vines that have been pieced together so meticulously that all the screws are actually hidden in the vine buds so it looks seamless. Never seen anything like this. Interestingly, they disassembled the room during the spanish civil war.

Gala dining room: enormous. This is where the king entertains guests, using over 900 lightbulbs to illuminate their faces. I was also impressed by the abundance of giant Chinese ceramic vases.

Several rooms were devoted to displaying the Royal silver and ceramic collections. It seemed like every occasion warranted a new ceramic set with the current monarch's monogram and some scene or emblem. My favorite set was actually the anomaly in this pattern: I liked the porcelain set in which each piece displayed a different plant with it's Latin name. I once toyed with the idea of doing something similar with t-shirts to encourage people to learn more about plants and botanical diversity haha

Breezed through the Stradivarius Rooms where they keep the 350-yr-old string instrument quartet made by Antonius Stradivarius. There are only 300 surviving in the world, and this is the only matching quartet (2 violins, 1 viola and a cello). The Billiards Room looked very British with its wooden paneling, and the Smoking Room did it's best to look "Oriental" -- it was designed to be like an Opium Den, apparently (the only furnishings were pillows). The silk wall coverings depicted embroidered, over-simplified Asians with pigtails. Continuing through the final rooms, took note of the clocks. There are over 700 clocks in this palace (yet still, not enough for every room!) because King Carlos IV (who looked a little like a George Washington caricature) collected them. 

Stopped by the Royal Pharmacy -- probably the most fascinating place in the Palace. Here they stored hundreds of ceramic pots and glass jars of every kind of herb, root and liquid that might possibly have medicinal value. I recognized some labels, cadmium and mercury, and I was reminded me of both 10th grade chemistry and Harry Potter potions. I noticed enormous jar of cinnamon sticks, and I was surprised to learn that the Spanish doctors used cinnamon to cure fevers -- I'll have to try that next time.

Lastly, visited the Royal Armory where the monarchs not only kept armor for use but also to commemorate past victories. I had to laugh at the armor "skirts" (I guess designed so that men could still run?). I was a little disturbed by the child-size armor -- heirs to the throne seemed to be outfitted with a new suit quite regularly so that they could practice battle skills from a young age.

Enjoying the beautiful warm weather, I went for a run in Retiro. There are SO many cherry blossoms blooming right now -- it's incredible! I felt like I was in Japan for Hanami season! I hear California might get snow, and I have to say, I'm really glad that the only things falling from the sky here in Madrid are flower petals.

Alcalá de Henares -- Citadel of Cervantes

Tuesday 22 de febrero

Early morning again to catch the train for Alcalá de Henares (meaning "citadel on the river Henares") with the whole gang of Stanford kids. We met at la Glorieta de Atocha, across from 2 giant baby head sculptures. Traveled 35 km via train to reach the town, which was once a Roman city called Complutum. Famous natives of Alcalá include Catherine of Aragon and -- the city's favorite son -- Miguel de Cervantes.

First: el edificio histórico de la Universidad de Alcalá. Has an impressive Renaissance facade with three clearly defined levels -- like in Kyoto, the 2nd level is reserved for nobility and the top (3rd) for royalty. It represents the humanist knowledge of the Renaissance men. The big shield of the Spanish royalty is flanked by 2 columns (representing Gibraltar, formerly thought to be the end of the world) and two little banners reading "plus" and "extra" which refer to the discovery of the Americas and the ironic reminder that Gibraltar is not the end of the world. Anyway, the university was founded in 1499 by Cardinal Cisneros to demonstrate Spain's commitment to Renaissance humanism and ecclesiastical "modernity".  It was also intended to educate future civil servants of the monarchy (remember, Spain's empire was expanding rapidly since 1492, requiring lots of administrators!) The emblem of the university contained a wordplay of Cisneros's name (2 swans = "cisnes" en español). It was considered the center of academic excellence --especially in the humanities -- for the next few centuries, and famous people like Ignatius Loyola taught here. Interestingly, in 1836 the university was translocated to Madrid because the queen thought that such a prestigious university must exist in the capital city. But in 1977, the university here in Alcalá was reopened with the historic buildings, which have been declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Visited a beautiful, sunlit, "trilingual" square (classical Renaissance and Mudejar architecture) where students learned Latin, Greek and Hebrew. We stopped in the grand, high-ceilinged room (once a stable) where the King and Queen of Spain now present the prestigious Cervantes prize to an author of Spanish literature from around the world once each year.

Next stop: El Corral de Comedias. Built in 1601 by the Ayuntamiento de Alcalá, it's well-known for musical performances because the acoustics are so good. Originally, it was kind of like a Shakespeare theater -- the masses congregated, standing up, in front of the stage while the upper decks and balconies were reserved for the upper class and female spectators. We got to check out the backstage area and some of the machines used to make rumbling "rain" and "thunder" noises. The building spent a few decades as a cinema, but now it's used for live theater, dance and musical performances again.

Next, las capillas (chapels) de Antezana y del Oider, founded in the 15th century by Don Pedro Diaz de Toledo, advisor to the King Juan II. Inside are collections of publications and artwork related to Don Quixote because Cervantes was baptized here October 9th, 1547. We saw the document which recorded the baptism and watched a cheesy little movie (with background music that sounded gospelly) about Cervantes.

Centro histórico: wandered the main streets, old Jewish quarter, lots of old brick/clay buildings standing with wooden stilts and with wooden beams.

The Hospital Antezana where Cervantes's  father worked (as a "surgeon-bleeder") was under construction so we couldn't enter. However, I was impressed because it was founded in 1483 for the poor, sick and pilgrims and has operated continuously with that purpose since then! I believe it is the oldest, continuously running hospital in Europe.

Museo Casa Natal (birth place and childhood home) de Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra. He was born in this beautiful little house (it has an inner courtyard and rooms all around -- like Cordoban patios!) in 1547. The lower floor was where daily life took place (women's sewing, embroidery room, a kitchen, dining room, surgeon's office) and above they had lounges and bedrooms (including children's bedroom). A few of the upper rooms are now devoted to displaying various editions of Don Quixote in different languages. Brief bio of Cervantes: went to Italy in his youth, enlisted in army, fought, was wounded, captured by Turks in 1575, taken to Algeria as a slave, but rescued five years later by Fathers  of the Holy Trinity. Published the first part of Don Quixote in 1605 and had immediate success with it. Published more in the next few years and died in 1616.

After visiting the house, we had free time. The only thing actually open, aside from some restaurants (since it was the hour of siesta) was McDonald's so we sat in the main square, enjoying beautiful sunshine and making sure the big dark clouds didn't come any closer!

Returned to Madrid, stopped by Hotel Mora to see Mamma and then I went for a run through Retiro since it was such a nice day. Met up again with Mamma and we went to a greek-ish-vegetarian restaurant called Artemesia -- how appropriate given lecture yesterday. I had an enormous salad with all kinds of tropical fruit and mamma had the eggplant specialty (thus I learned that the word for eggplant in Spanish is berejena.

Since Mamma had a taxi ordered for 4am, we called it a night after dinner. It was so nice to have her here and to be able to explore Madrid together!