Please finish that church in my lifetime!
I have finally done my Gaudi pilgramage and such wonders are hard to describe. For anyone who does not know who he is go to wikipedia and enter Antoni Gaudi; go on, I'll wait...good, you´re back - now that you know all about him you can understand why it is hard to describe his work. My suggestion for when you go to Barcelona (you know you're going, admit it) is to start at Parc Guell (go to Lesseps station and walk 1km). There you will get to see Gaudi's house, the infamous bench, the lizard and other amazing examples of his work. The park itself is also amazing. There are aqueducts everywhere and those are the paths that you wander on, over and under through much of the park. In my wanders I found a bench and just sat and read and contemplated - must be my nature girl side, I do love parks and this trip has certainly reinforced that. So after much time wandering through the park and taking tons of pictures I decided to wander my way down to the Sagrada Familia (again Wikipedia, I'll wait). I didn't really know exactly where it was, just the general direction and I had no map but again I figured if I got really lost I could break down & ask for directions. However I really hate asking for directions so eventually , after a lovely meander through Barcelona I came to the mind boggling Sagrada Familia. It is one of the most incredible things I have ever seen in my life. Honestly words cannot describe it; it's literally not possible. When I start posting pictures you will understand. However I was delighted to get to see the number square up close - I know you're saying what number square? Go back to Wiki and look it up...all I can tell you is the first time I saw a picture of it was 2 years ago (on or near my birthday) and since I quickly figured out it's secret it was very appropriate. That's all the help you're getting...
Monday, September 17, 2007
Saturday, September 15, 2007
Picasso
A true master...
So as of Saturday I had yet to do my Gaudi tour; mostly due to listening to the weather man (and the weather network). Friday I had intended to do all things Gaudi but the day started off exceptionally cloudy, grey and looking as though the heavens were going to open up at any second so I opted to go somewhere indoors and as the Picasso Museum was on my list of must sees I headed there. I am not sorry at all - it was amazing!! I am certainly not an art history major so there are lots & lots of things that I do not know about art & artists and Picasso is no different. I had no idea that he was such a technician - the man could paint anything and in any style - his protraiture was incredible (and at such a young age!). His anatomy studies were amazing as well as simple street or countryside scenes. To me Picasso has always meant Cubism or disjointed portraits or the Blue period; I knew he was a genius, just didn't realize to what level. I also had no idea that he had worked in ceramics late in his life - there were plates, bowls, pitchers; all done up in wonderful colours and pictures that were instantly recognisable as Picasso. Again, was there anything he could not do? What was most enjoyable was seeing the sketches that let to some of his paintings and just getting to see all of the different periods he went through. The one thing that really blew me away was a series called Las Meninas that is based on Diego Velasquez's painting of the same name. Now this calls for some backtracking to Madrid; I saw Velasquez's work at the Thyssen & I was not all that impressed by it - art is subjective after all and his work just didn't affect me the way other artists did. However, having seen Picasso's interpretation (as well as a really neat multi-media piece overlaying Picasso's paintings over Velasquez's) gave me a different insight into the original painting. I'm still not a big fan of Diego Velasquez in any way but I now have a new appreciation of him. Art is weird that way - just when you think you've got a handle on it...
One other thing about the Picasso museum was the temporary exhibit they had - it was the photography of Lee Miller who along w/ her husband Roger Penrose (Picasso's biographer) were close friends of the artist and pretty much any of the photos that would come to your mind as famous ones of Picasso were done by her. So the exhibit was a vast collection of the many photographs she had done of Picasso both at work & play as well as a history of Lee Miller herself. She was an amazing woman - she started out as a model & an actress and became this amazing photographer, war correspondent and political activist. I am sad that I did not know anything about her until now.
So as of Saturday I had yet to do my Gaudi tour; mostly due to listening to the weather man (and the weather network). Friday I had intended to do all things Gaudi but the day started off exceptionally cloudy, grey and looking as though the heavens were going to open up at any second so I opted to go somewhere indoors and as the Picasso Museum was on my list of must sees I headed there. I am not sorry at all - it was amazing!! I am certainly not an art history major so there are lots & lots of things that I do not know about art & artists and Picasso is no different. I had no idea that he was such a technician - the man could paint anything and in any style - his protraiture was incredible (and at such a young age!). His anatomy studies were amazing as well as simple street or countryside scenes. To me Picasso has always meant Cubism or disjointed portraits or the Blue period; I knew he was a genius, just didn't realize to what level. I also had no idea that he had worked in ceramics late in his life - there were plates, bowls, pitchers; all done up in wonderful colours and pictures that were instantly recognisable as Picasso. Again, was there anything he could not do? What was most enjoyable was seeing the sketches that let to some of his paintings and just getting to see all of the different periods he went through. The one thing that really blew me away was a series called Las Meninas that is based on Diego Velasquez's painting of the same name. Now this calls for some backtracking to Madrid; I saw Velasquez's work at the Thyssen & I was not all that impressed by it - art is subjective after all and his work just didn't affect me the way other artists did. However, having seen Picasso's interpretation (as well as a really neat multi-media piece overlaying Picasso's paintings over Velasquez's) gave me a different insight into the original painting. I'm still not a big fan of Diego Velasquez in any way but I now have a new appreciation of him. Art is weird that way - just when you think you've got a handle on it...
One other thing about the Picasso museum was the temporary exhibit they had - it was the photography of Lee Miller who along w/ her husband Roger Penrose (Picasso's biographer) were close friends of the artist and pretty much any of the photos that would come to your mind as famous ones of Picasso were done by her. So the exhibit was a vast collection of the many photographs she had done of Picasso both at work & play as well as a history of Lee Miller herself. She was an amazing woman - she started out as a model & an actress and became this amazing photographer, war correspondent and political activist. I am sad that I did not know anything about her until now.
Rambling on Las Ramblas
My first 2 full days in Barcelona have comprised a great deal of walking, wandering and looking up. I have been walking everywhere - using Las Ramblas as a landmark I pretty much go down any street that catches my fancy. I suppose I should describe Las Ramblas for those of you who have not yet experienced it's craziness. Is is a long avenue that is one of the world's largest tourist traps. In the centre is the main walking (and tourist trapping) area, it's around 20 feet wide, bordered by 2 lanes of traffic on either side and then buildings reaching up and blocking everything in. There are numerous smaller streets (really just large alleys) going off in all directions. But on the main strip you have a consistent jumble of sidewalk restaurants, !Hola! stands selling papers, magazines, postcards etc., flower stands, people selling a mulititude of birds and small furry creatures in cages and then the statue people. It is beyond crowded in some areas and can be frustrating to walk through, but if you just ignore all of the touristy stuff and look at the buildings and go down one of those little streets you will stumble across wonders. My favourite has been the barri gotti (gothic neighbourhood) - wonderful old churches, the old citadel...of course this is all still very touristy but the further you get from Las Ramblas itself the less touristy it gets. You can find cafes & restaurants where locals actually go. I have been walking everywhere - haven´t really wanted to get on the Metro as you start walking and don't even notice how far you've gone as you're busy looking at all of the amazing buildings everywhere...This is why I love Europe - the history in the cities isn´t confined to the castles or the old churches, it's in the buildings that make up the apartments, businesses and general government buildings. Everywhere you look you see just incredible stonework and detailing. Sadly outside of Quebec City you just don't see that in Canada - it's not our fault that we're a young country - maybe in 100 years? Although I can't look at it objectively as all I see are glass & steel, nothing to inspire wonder. Again Toronto is a young city in a young country - some of the older cities like Ottawa, Montreal etc. may have a better chance of inspiring that kind of awe in the future. However, having said all that - every city has it's hidden gems, go for a walk in your city sometime and see what you discover.
Thursday, September 13, 2007
A Plane, A Train, But So Far No Automobile
But there's still time...
Yesterday I officially departed Madrid for Barcelona. Keeping up with the theme on this trip that nothing really goes according to plan I ended up not getting on a train to Barcelona until 3:45pm. My first 2 choices of 11:45 & 1:05 were both already sold out at 11am...*el sigh*...So I had lots and lots of time to cool my heels in Atocha Estacione. I think the most interesting (and somewhat odd) thing about Atocha is the rain forest that they have in the centre. I kid you not; there is a rain forest in the middle of Atocha - they have mist/rain going at all times and all sorts of tropical foliage to go along with it. Sadly you cannot walk through the rain forest as they have it all cordonned off but I took pics to be posted later. And again my amazing ability to attract strange people showed itself while I was waiting. I am sitting there writing in my journal when an older gentleman sits down and wishes me ¨"bon dia" - I return the greeting and go back to my writing. But that of course is not the end; what followed was him doing his level best to converse w/ me in Spanish (he had no english) and I was pretty much sticking to 'lo siento' and 'no se'. He then tried to buy me a drink more than once, sang the Spanish national anthem to me, told me he was looking for a "mujer sympatica" and then finally! gave up and wandered away...Do I wear a sign that I am unaware of? Or is the fact that I just can't be rude and tell anyone to leave me the hell alone?
So finally it is time to go through security (just like at the airport only slightly less militant) and then wait for them to announce which platform for my train. I know that some people were surprised that I took the train but I enjoyed it so very much. There is something, well romantic about seeing a country by train. You get such a great sense of it and it's very civilized. For me the best part was seeing the olive groves - scrubby, gnarled little bushes studding the hillsides; seemingly random but with an order to everything. Also saw lemon groves which (along w/ the look of the landscape) actually reminded me of being in Arizona - it was kind of surreal in that aspect. Even though I knew that I was of course in Spain, seeing the red dusty terrain, outcroppings that are more hill than mountain and the lemons - again a real sense of the surreal. Eventualy (4 hours) later I reach Barcelona! A friend of the family met me at Sants Estacione (muchos graçias Joaquin) and helped me get to my new home, the Mambo Tango Youth Hostel. I will say that even having only been here a day that it is one of the best places that I have stayed. I will post more on that and my first day of experiencing Barcelona later.
Bon dia todos mis amigos y familia!
Yesterday I officially departed Madrid for Barcelona. Keeping up with the theme on this trip that nothing really goes according to plan I ended up not getting on a train to Barcelona until 3:45pm. My first 2 choices of 11:45 & 1:05 were both already sold out at 11am...*el sigh*...So I had lots and lots of time to cool my heels in Atocha Estacione. I think the most interesting (and somewhat odd) thing about Atocha is the rain forest that they have in the centre. I kid you not; there is a rain forest in the middle of Atocha - they have mist/rain going at all times and all sorts of tropical foliage to go along with it. Sadly you cannot walk through the rain forest as they have it all cordonned off but I took pics to be posted later. And again my amazing ability to attract strange people showed itself while I was waiting. I am sitting there writing in my journal when an older gentleman sits down and wishes me ¨"bon dia" - I return the greeting and go back to my writing. But that of course is not the end; what followed was him doing his level best to converse w/ me in Spanish (he had no english) and I was pretty much sticking to 'lo siento' and 'no se'. He then tried to buy me a drink more than once, sang the Spanish national anthem to me, told me he was looking for a "mujer sympatica" and then finally! gave up and wandered away...Do I wear a sign that I am unaware of? Or is the fact that I just can't be rude and tell anyone to leave me the hell alone?
So finally it is time to go through security (just like at the airport only slightly less militant) and then wait for them to announce which platform for my train. I know that some people were surprised that I took the train but I enjoyed it so very much. There is something, well romantic about seeing a country by train. You get such a great sense of it and it's very civilized. For me the best part was seeing the olive groves - scrubby, gnarled little bushes studding the hillsides; seemingly random but with an order to everything. Also saw lemon groves which (along w/ the look of the landscape) actually reminded me of being in Arizona - it was kind of surreal in that aspect. Even though I knew that I was of course in Spain, seeing the red dusty terrain, outcroppings that are more hill than mountain and the lemons - again a real sense of the surreal. Eventualy (4 hours) later I reach Barcelona! A friend of the family met me at Sants Estacione (muchos graçias Joaquin) and helped me get to my new home, the Mambo Tango Youth Hostel. I will say that even having only been here a day that it is one of the best places that I have stayed. I will post more on that and my first day of experiencing Barcelona later.
Bon dia todos mis amigos y familia!
Last Days in Madrid - 2
Part Two...
OK, so this is being told a little out of order because I went to Retiro Park before I went to the Prado but I know that everyone wanted to know what I thought of the Prado so I did that entry first. However, I have a interesting experience to relate about my visit to Retiro Park...First of all Retiro is an amazing place. It's HUGE (1.4 km²)and goes on forever. There is a lake and it´s full of giant goldfish or koi and you can rent rowboats etc. There are tons of open areas, benches, kiosks for food & drink, restaurants, fountains everywhere and hidden buildings that you just stumble upon. I actually got to see the infamous Crystal Palace except it's in a bit of disrepair right now (and was full of logs!), however it did appear as though they were redoing an entire section of the park so perhaps that is why. I could have spent an entire day there and it is on my list for my return visit (whenever that is). On to the story: I had only been in Retiro for a few minutes when this old spanish lady w/ 4 gold teeth comes up to me brandishing a large sprig of rosemary and talking (in spanish) about it being good for luck. She wasn't very tall (maybe 5 feet) and had such a sweet smile. Of course I know this to be a scam so I ask her how much and she tells me the appropriately outrageous price of 5€ and I of course refuse. Then she starts telling me (still in rapid-fire spanish) about how many children (or maybe just mouths) that she has to feed and how it's such good luck etc, etc...finally she brings the price down to the only slightly less outrageous price of 1€ and because I'm quite enjoying the whole performance I hand it over. Of course that means that I'm a soft touch and now she wants to read my palm and tell me my future. I'm doing my level best to graciously decline and she's going on about how lucky and happy my future will be w/ the addition (of course) of the `muy guapo` love coming into my life (all w/out looking at my palm) - I finally extricated myself and wished her luck. I still have the rosemary though...
OK, so this is being told a little out of order because I went to Retiro Park before I went to the Prado but I know that everyone wanted to know what I thought of the Prado so I did that entry first. However, I have a interesting experience to relate about my visit to Retiro Park...First of all Retiro is an amazing place. It's HUGE (1.4 km²)and goes on forever. There is a lake and it´s full of giant goldfish or koi and you can rent rowboats etc. There are tons of open areas, benches, kiosks for food & drink, restaurants, fountains everywhere and hidden buildings that you just stumble upon. I actually got to see the infamous Crystal Palace except it's in a bit of disrepair right now (and was full of logs!), however it did appear as though they were redoing an entire section of the park so perhaps that is why. I could have spent an entire day there and it is on my list for my return visit (whenever that is). On to the story: I had only been in Retiro for a few minutes when this old spanish lady w/ 4 gold teeth comes up to me brandishing a large sprig of rosemary and talking (in spanish) about it being good for luck. She wasn't very tall (maybe 5 feet) and had such a sweet smile. Of course I know this to be a scam so I ask her how much and she tells me the appropriately outrageous price of 5€ and I of course refuse. Then she starts telling me (still in rapid-fire spanish) about how many children (or maybe just mouths) that she has to feed and how it's such good luck etc, etc...finally she brings the price down to the only slightly less outrageous price of 1€ and because I'm quite enjoying the whole performance I hand it over. Of course that means that I'm a soft touch and now she wants to read my palm and tell me my future. I'm doing my level best to graciously decline and she's going on about how lucky and happy my future will be w/ the addition (of course) of the `muy guapo` love coming into my life (all w/out looking at my palm) - I finally extricated myself and wished her luck. I still have the rosemary though...
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Last Days in Madrid - 1
Part One...
So yesterday was my last full day in Madrid and I was sad to say adios. As most of you know I stayed over the extra day so that I could fit in a visit to the Museo Nacional del Prado and I'm very glad that I did. I am however, going to say that of the 3 museums that I visited it was actually my least favourite. I've thought about why this is for a bit now and I've come to the conclusion that I prefer art done in the last 150-200 years over other art. *pauses for the howls of protest from the art lovers* Now least favourite doesn't mean that I didn't really enjoy myself; I'm thrilled that I got to see amazing works from Reubens (The Three Graces & El Jucio de Paris) are now some of my all time favourites) and to see all of the amazing things that Goya put down on canvas - from political commentary to portraiture - you can always sense the emotion in each painting. He did an awful lot of the royal family, especially Carlos IV - struck me as interesting for some reason. I also have to talk about Tiziano and his pastoral paintings - he was a master and I have to say I went back to those 3 more often than others. 2 others that need mention are Brueghel the elder and of course El Greco. Brueghel did amazing work both on his own (incredible crowd scenes, huge canvases with amazing detail) and also w/ Reubens - their collaborations were amazing. They put each others paintings within the other - and it was seamless, like it was meant to be. El Greco was just so interesting; I think of him as a primitive painter - as in painter of primitives, not unskilled. But again his style & technique are unmistakeable. Overall a very enjoyable experience with a couple of caveats: use the map! it is a very confusing museum and you find yourself criss-crossing your path on many occasions. be well hydrated as they will not let you take water in to the museum with you and just be prepared for the crowds - there were people everywhere - an empty gallery was a surprise and a treat. I am very glad that I stayed the extra day for the experience; I would have fussed over it forever if I hadn't gone. My suggestion? Do the Prado first, Thyssen second & Reina Sofia last - but again, that's just me.
So yesterday was my last full day in Madrid and I was sad to say adios. As most of you know I stayed over the extra day so that I could fit in a visit to the Museo Nacional del Prado and I'm very glad that I did. I am however, going to say that of the 3 museums that I visited it was actually my least favourite. I've thought about why this is for a bit now and I've come to the conclusion that I prefer art done in the last 150-200 years over other art. *pauses for the howls of protest from the art lovers* Now least favourite doesn't mean that I didn't really enjoy myself; I'm thrilled that I got to see amazing works from Reubens (The Three Graces & El Jucio de Paris) are now some of my all time favourites) and to see all of the amazing things that Goya put down on canvas - from political commentary to portraiture - you can always sense the emotion in each painting. He did an awful lot of the royal family, especially Carlos IV - struck me as interesting for some reason. I also have to talk about Tiziano and his pastoral paintings - he was a master and I have to say I went back to those 3 more often than others. 2 others that need mention are Brueghel the elder and of course El Greco. Brueghel did amazing work both on his own (incredible crowd scenes, huge canvases with amazing detail) and also w/ Reubens - their collaborations were amazing. They put each others paintings within the other - and it was seamless, like it was meant to be. El Greco was just so interesting; I think of him as a primitive painter - as in painter of primitives, not unskilled. But again his style & technique are unmistakeable. Overall a very enjoyable experience with a couple of caveats: use the map! it is a very confusing museum and you find yourself criss-crossing your path on many occasions. be well hydrated as they will not let you take water in to the museum with you and just be prepared for the crowds - there were people everywhere - an empty gallery was a surprise and a treat. I am very glad that I stayed the extra day for the experience; I would have fussed over it forever if I hadn't gone. My suggestion? Do the Prado first, Thyssen second & Reina Sofia last - but again, that's just me.
Monday, September 10, 2007
Prado Here I Come!
Thanks to the lovley Mercedes (she runs the hostel I'm staying at in Madrid) I can stay that one extra night which means I can go to the Prado tomorrow! I'm so happy! I really hated to leave w/out having been. Thanks for all of your well wishes for my health - I am feeling much better - I would say 85-90% with hopes for 100% tomorrow. Geez, you know I'm not well when I sound like a weather forecast. I'll strive to be more witty in future posts.
Ese es todo para ahora!
Ese es todo para ahora!
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