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.
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.
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