Madrid+2

WALKING MADRID With the help of a few self-guided walking maps and lots of readings of guide books etc (a few good ones in the apartment) we have been exploring this great city. Its very easy to get around and has a easier-going feel to it than say, Barcelona or Seville. Tuesday was spent in the Prado Museum – a repository of a great number of “masterpieces”. Philistine I may well be, but several hours of viewing dark 15th, 16th and 17th Century religious paintings, (broken by the occasional portrait of a Spanish king or queen – also dark and somber) and I was well and truly over it! Lunch in the Parque de el Retiro (Madrid’s huge green parkland – think Hyde Park or Central Park NY) was a relief. After a few hours siesta we ventured out late at night for a meal and some jazz at Café Central, Madrid’s premier jazz spot. Really cool jazz group (from Sweden would you believe?) played until after midnight when we strolled through the still busy streets to our “home”.
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Wednesday and it was the turn of the contemporary arts museum, the Reina Sofia. Some great stuff here – lots of Picasso, including the famous civil war picture “Guernica” which depicted the results of the Nazi bombing of this small Basque town. We quite enjoyed the visit although some of the works did take some puzzling out (unsuccessfully in many cases). From there we went to view the quite magnificent railway station – it has a palmery in the middle! - and on to the Botanical Gardens nearby where, besides wandering amongst the trees, shrubs etc, we viewed a wonderful photographic exhibition of Columbian natives. Probably it is this easy mix of gardens, parks, monuments and busy city that makes Madrid what it seems to us. In an easy walk you can go from the hustle and bustle of the Puerta del Sol to the peace, quiet and coolness of the parklands. Thrown in amongst it all are little surprises like statues, fountains and even whole walls covered in plants. What next?
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