Just a quick note tonight since it’s late.
Our Ave train trip from Barcelona to Madrid went smoothly. We hailed a Cabify car – just like Uber – and arrived at the Sants station an hour early. The 375 mile trip took 3:10 with six or seven stops. Google says it takes almost seven hours to drive. The Ave is fast, smooth and convenient. The price is less than $100, about the same as flying.
Enrique met our train and took us to his apartment in suburban Madrid – a 20-minute drive from the train station. His place is small but very nice in a newly developed section of Madrid. We’re staying with him while we’re here. This is a B&B and then some. You should have seen the tapas lunch he had ready for us: gazpacho soup, bread, cheese, sausage and a spread that is delicious but whose name I’ll have to report later. A traditional Spanish breakfast is on tap in the morning.
The Prado, Madrid’s main art museum, opens to the public for free on Friday afternoons. Not being ones to pass up a freebee, we arrived in line about 5:30 PM. The line was long but at 6:00 it moved quickly. Judy and I hadn’t been in the Prado for the better part of 30 years. Our recollection of the building was hazy at best but seeing the El Grecos, Valezqueses, Goyas, Morillos, etc., brought back for me at least a flood of memories.
I’m no art expert but my impression of these 16ththrough 18thcentury masters is that they can be viewed on two levels. Of course, they are works of art, with masterful use of color, light, technique, personification, perspective and so on. I was also struck by the subject matter, which always seems to have an audience – a target market – in mind. For royalty, it’s a flattering depiction of the person or people, designed to enhance the person’s image when viewed by others. Philip IV always looks dashing on the back of a rearing steed. Sometimes the target is a religious story from the Bible or from the Catholic pantheon of saints. Many of the paintings were commissioned to hang in a church; telling the religious story in a reverent and inspiring manner was important. Other times the message was to reflect on a historical or mythical story. Now the emphasis is providing entertainment and diversion. It seemed to me that the masters had to work their art around the intent of the painting, which was often dictated by whomever was paying the bill.
Next, dinner at a very nice tapas restaurant. We shared some mushroom croquettes and had two individual plates for ourselves. Plus, of course, postres/dessert.
Then, to cap the evening, Enrique drove us through the central part of Madrid to a park where an Egyptian temple is on display. Egyptian? In Madrid? Turns out that Spain helped Egypt repair the Nile river during the construction of the Aswan Dam. The Temple of Do\ebod from the second century BC was in danger of being lost by the flooding behind the dam.
We’re now back at Enrique’s, more than ready for bed. Tomorrow we’re off to Segovia.
