This has been quite the jam-packed week. Every night we’ve had something going on in Madrid. But that’s good, right? No chance to be bored. And right now, I’m in Valencia – more on that later.
Bueno, it seems there is always one day a week where famous sites open their doors for free. For la Reina Sofia it was Monday. La Reina Sofia is an art museum, like the Prado, that houses the works of artists such as Picasso and Dalí (the surrealism guy, the one who painted the melting clocks painting). Picasso’s famous “Guernica,” is displayed here, a depiction of the bombing of the Basque city Guernica by the Germans during the Spanish Civil War. This museum is full of a lot of modern and contemporary art, which includes styles such as cubism (Picasso) and surrealism (Dalí). In all honesty, not my favorite. I have a difficult time seeing beauty in these particular styles. Maybe they are too bizarre for me, or maybe I just don’t know enough about art to see the beauty and innovation there. I don’t know. I can appreciate the skill that went in to creating most of the pieces (others, not so much), but I don’t think I’ll ever become an adoring fan. I’ll just leave it at that.
Tuesday, most of the group went to a pro soccer game! El Estadio Santiago Bernabeu, home of Real Madrid (yes, this time I rooted for them), is the biggest stadium I’ve ever been in. Incredible. And the soccer? Wow. Yeah, it was awesome, even though we sat in the nosebleeds. And by nosebleeds, I mean the very last row in the stadium. Was it worth it? Absolutely. We had the best view of the field and could see everything. Madrid played Getafe, a small city in the Madrid area, and won 4-0, with señor Cristiano Renaldo scoring three of the four points. There’s not a huge rivalry between the teams, and the players were really friendly to each other. So it wasn’t super crazy, but I still had a great time.
Wednesday, I again found myself in Madrid, but this time for some flamenco at El Teatro Real. The show we went to had two parts. First, was Bodas de Sangre (Blood Wedding), packed into a thirty minute Latin-ballet-type production. I definitely enjoyed it, although I did think the five-minute, silent, slow motion, fight scene was slightly ridiculous (I’d be happy to do a short reenactment, if you’d like). The second part was all flamenco. It was unbelievable. The way they move and coordinate their hands and feet just blows my mind. As I mentioned early, flamenco comes from Andalucía, a province in southern Spain. For a while, this particular dance genre (there are tons of different styles within it, as well) was fading, but it has recently been making a comeback, and more people want to learn it. Thank goodness, because it’s amazing.
The rest of the week we’ll be in Valencia! Helloooooooo playa!
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