DAY 1: Woke up spooning my backpack and clutching a swiss army knife under my pillow. Apparently in my over-tired and jet-lagged state of mind I assumed that the kindly Asian couple in the beds right next to mine were going to try to rob me of all my belongings. This did not end up happening, instead I woke up just as they were leaving and probably ended up looking extremely guilty and slightly crazy. Sorry, Asian couple.
After that I went over to the Museo del Prado which has an incredible amount of historical Spanish paintings including Velazquez' royal paintings and Goya's Pinturas Negras. Goya's paintings, while incredibly dark and depressing, are absolutely breathtaking in person. I think partially of the intensity of the subject matter but also his incredible ability to capture raw emotions. I think my favorite painting was Goya's The Third of May 1808.
Aside from the amazing work by Goya and Velazquez, the Prado is absolutely filled to the brim with paintings of the crucifixtion. I swear there must have been one in every room. If I ever find myself in the Prado again I'm going to tally up all the crucifixtion paintings and if the number is any less than one thousand I'll be very surprised.
After the Prado I was exhausted so I stumbled back to the hostel and drank some cheap red wine out on the absolutely gorgeous hostel terrace and took in the view.
DAY 2: I woke up early with the intention of going to the Reina Sofia, but after getting lost for a bit I wound up at the entrance to the Palacio Real and figured that I might as well go explore it as long as I was already there.
The Palacio is incredibly extravagant. I didn't see anything that wasn't gilded, covered in bronze or made of marble. Every single ceiling had an elaborate sistine-chapel type painting that covered all subject matter from greek mythology, Spanish history and (of course) the crucifixtion. There were also so many varying styles of architecture like Roccoco and Baroque, but there are also rooms made entirely out of porcelain or decorated completely with oriental wood paintings.
Eventually I did make it to the Reina Sofia where I saw so much contemporary Spanish art including Picasso (my old favorite) and Miro (my new favorite). There was a great deal of post-modernist films, like close up shots of women eating ink from eye droppers and topless native-american women feeding applesauce to children...things like that. There was also a screening of Hitchcock's Rear Window with Spanish subtitles that was fun to watch for a bit.
I then made my way over to the Parque del Buen Retiro for a quick rest.
Then I went to a local market to buy some bread, cheese, meat, tomato and red wine to eat out on the aforementioned totally awesome terrace. While I was out there I met the group that was staying next door; an Australian couple and a British girl. We chatted for a bit and they gave some advice about getting around Greece and using couch surfer and other experiences they've had while traveling. I ended up spending a lot of time out on the terrace with them, talking laughing and drinking wine. I hope the rest of the people I meet on this trip are as friendly and as helpful.
DAY 3: I slept in until about 10 AM (something I never EVER do back home. I'm usually up at the crack of dawn. Might have had something do with the fact that I was out on the terrace until 2 AM but that's neither here nor there). I eventually decided to work my way back to the Parque de Buen Retiro and to wander around the city.
It seems whenever I get lost I end up the Plaza Mayor, and sure enough I ended up there again today.
And then immediately after that I wandered around some of the seedy areas of town, which was terrifying, but also featured some pretty nifty graffiti. Usually the graffiti in Spain is pretty thoughtless, just tags and names and the like, so seeing some thoughtful and well-made graffiti is pretty rare and pretty awesome.
Eventually I did make it to the Buen Retiro, but it took like 3 hours longer than it needed to due to my poor navigational skills. This time I explored the entire park, which is huge. There's a couple of art museums and this thing called Palacio de Cristal, which is just absurdly beautiful.
And more than just the beauty of the place, it's also filled with historical slogans from around the world spanning topics like abortion and politics to things taken from advertising. They have the descriptions of the various slogans archived in the Palacio, and they also broadcast a recording of an acapella choir singing the slogans. It's wild. There is also some funky graffiti written on the glass windows of the Palacio de Cristal spanning mostly political subjects. It's sort of haunting in a way.
After Buen Retiro I tried to find someplace to get dinner (this was around 6 PM) but was turned away from three restaurants because they didn't start serving until around 9. Spaniards start their evenings very late here, so dinner at 6 PM is a very unusual concept for them to grasp.
Tomorrow we're getting picked up by a relative of Luke's named Bunny who lives about 20 minutes outside of Madrid. I'm very much looking forward to a home cooked meal and sleeping in something that isn't a bunk bed. After that I'm taking a bus to our next stop, Granada.
I'll try to keep my updates more consistent. Hope everything is going well stateside.
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