tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20627856754892978332024-03-12T19:35:07.057-07:00Every Museum in Madrid// an idiosyncratic review of cultural display //Molly Weslinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00923541998637446171noreply@blogger.comBlogger48125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2062785675489297833.post-41625822429324390622012-07-21T02:10:00.002-07:002012-07-21T05:51:27.834-07:00Madrid Río on Rented Bikes<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<b>Final Jaunts</b></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Manzanares River in January, Madrid</td></tr>
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This blog describes my visits in the course of one year to over 50 museums and exhibit spaces in Madrid. Given a bit more time, I might have moved on to palaces and private art collections that can be seen by appointment only, such as the <b>Palacio de Liria</b>, or traveled to even more obscure corners of the city. I never made it to the <b>Museum of Sanitation and Public Health</b>, for example, nor did I manage to see the museum of the <b>nineteenth-century gymnasium</b> at the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid. </div>
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Yesterday, I cajoled two teenagers into accompanying me south by metro to the <b>Museum of Angel Nieto</b>, Spain's 13-time Grand Prix World Champion in motorcycle road racing . (Angel Nieto is so superstitious, I read, that he refers to this feat as 12 +1). Alas, we walked up to a crumbling brick building with broken panes. Weeds sprouted from cracks in the sidewalk. A grimy flag with a motorcycle stenciled on it hung limply over the shuttered entrance. The temperature outside was almost 100 degrees. Then a miracle occurred: my sons did not throttle me. They agreed to walk on, into the nearby <b>Park Tierno Galvan</b>. We came across a few men drying their clothes on park benches; saw an igloo, which turned out to be the <b>Madrid Planetarium</b>, shimmering in the distance; and finally, stopped near a statue of Enrique Tierno Galvan<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">, a </span>former Mayor of Madrid. Sometimes an outing does not go as planned, and to my immense delight, the progeny have learned to take such things in stride. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Striding towards the Planetarium, Parque Tierno Galvan
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In contrast, our recent bike ride down the new riverside parkway <b>Madrid Río</b> exceeded all expectations. The massive Madrid Río<b> </b>project diverts the M-30 ring road underground, and has developed the banks along the Manzanares River into a 10k walking and bike path, with many interesting stops along the way: playgrounds, fountains, cafes, bridges, a skate park, sculptures and lovely vistas of the city. Along with visiting family, we rented 8 bikes at the friendly store <b>Mi Bike Río </b>(Aniceto Marinas, 26; metro Principe Pío; <a href="http://www.mibikerio.com/">www.mibikerio.com</a>).</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bike rental store near Manzanares River</td></tr>
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To our surprise, there were few riders during the heat of the day, and we had kilometer after kilometer of the bike path to ourselves.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One of many innovative playgrounds</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Resting</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Stopping for splashes, and ice cream. New spiral bridge in background.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Climbing the steps for city view. Southern end of the route.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Heading back.</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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We rented the bikes for 3 hours, enough time to ride to the
end of the route and back. Sights along the way include the <b>Vincente
Calderon Stadium</b>, home of the football team Atletico Madrid, and<b>
Matadero Madrid</b>, a former slaughterhouse complex with neo-mudéjar features,
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Our year in Madrid, one of the world's great cities, has come to an end. I can't wait to return here again someday. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dulcinea (L) and friend near Plaza de Oriente</td></tr>
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<br />Molly Weslinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00923541998637446171noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2062785675489297833.post-7257519026960064672012-07-19T10:47:00.000-07:002012-07-19T11:19:18.413-07:00Dulcinea's Best of Madrid Exploration Kit: Top 10<span style="font-size: large;"><b>1. Best Map of Madrid</b> </span><br />
<i>Knopf City Map Guides: <b>Madrid. The City in Section-by-Section Maps</b>.</i> After trying several other maps, this one was my favorite. The pocket-sized book contains all the main sights of Madrid, along with useful suggestions for each part of the city. Museums are marked.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The maps are very good, but a compass is my secret weapon.</td></tr>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">2. Best Small Museum</span></b><br />
<a href="http://everymuseummadrid.blogspot.com.es/search/label/Sorolla%20Museum"><b>Sorolla Museum</b>.</a> The painter Sorolla's 1920s home and studio, with a lovely garden outside. This is a good stop for all ages.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-3kuDKeqrH0k/UAgt63V5WtI/AAAAAAAAA5w/o13_GqY-mwE/s1600/Nov+8+2011+004.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-3kuDKeqrH0k/UAgt63V5WtI/AAAAAAAAA5w/o13_GqY-mwE/s400/Nov+8+2011+004.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fountain in Sorolla's garden</td></tr>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">3. Best Place for Frugal Travelers to Find a Quick Snack</span></b><br />
The cafe chain <b>100 Montaditos</b>. Dozens of locations in Madrid. Home of the 1-Euro <i>cafe con leche</i>, the 1-Euro beer, and over 100 types of sandwiches on tiny rolls. Spaniards flock here as well---price/quality ratio is good.<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">4. Best Souvenirs</span></b><b> </b><br />
<b>Saffron...</b><br />
<b>Football memorabilia...</b> from Real Madrid or Team Spain.<br />
<b>Leather jewelry...</b> from the whimsical store <b>Tierra Madrid, </b>located on calle Gerona, 10 (just off Plaza Mayor).<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jewelry from Tierra (items pictured: 4 to 15 Euros).</td></tr>
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<b>Spanish fans...<span style="font-size: small;"> </span></b><br />
<b><span style="font-size: small;">Postcards from museum gift stores...</span></b><br />
<b>Espadrilles</b> from <b>Antigua Casa Crespo</b> (in business since 1863; calle Divino Pastor, 29; metro: San Bernardo) or <b>Casa Hernanz </b>(since 1845; calle Toledo, 18-20; located one block off Plaza Mayor).<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-a7GdB-CxWjE/UAg-pyHBM5I/AAAAAAAAA68/t81GLcPgVWU/s1600/Old+Friends,+New+Shoes+%282%29.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="123" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-a7GdB-CxWjE/UAg-pyHBM5I/AAAAAAAAA68/t81GLcPgVWU/s200/Old+Friends,+New+Shoes+%282%29.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Espadrilles from Spain</td></tr>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">5. Best Places to Take Small Children</span></b><br />
<a href="http://everymuseummadrid.blogspot.com.es/search/label/Railroad%20Museum"><b>Railroad Museum</b></a>. Room to climb (on antique train cars) and relax (in an elegant dining car from the 1920s).<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VRfYUuM6ukY/UAgu_gAoBWI/AAAAAAAAA54/eRn3BnC7420/s1600/Railroad+museum+september+010.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VRfYUuM6ukY/UAgu_gAoBWI/AAAAAAAAA54/eRn3BnC7420/s400/Railroad+museum+september+010.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">...or big children.</td></tr>
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<b>Retiro Park. </b> Rowboats, buskers, ice-cream stands, fortune-tellers, fountains, a Crystal Palace, and turtles sunning themselves in a pile nearby. Just a few of the pleasures of this park behind the Prado Museum.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-uD0Xw2h_x84/UAgw15uPLDI/AAAAAAAAA6A/ulSmpcy4FcY/s1600/Lauhon+3+020.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-uD0Xw2h_x84/UAgw15uPLDI/AAAAAAAAA6A/ulSmpcy4FcY/s320/Lauhon+3+020.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Learning to row in Retiro </td></tr>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">6. Best Store for Cheap, Useful, Attractive Odds and Ends</span></b><br />
<b>Tiger. </b>Art supplies, toys, kitchen wares, reading glasses, notebooks, greeting cards, and other things you didn't think you needed, all with a hint of Scandinavian design. A cross between Ikea and the five-and-dime. Various locations around town.<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">7. Most Intriguing Experience</span></b><br />
Buying sweets from the <b>Convent Nuns</b>. (See <a href="http://everymuseummadrid.blogspot.com.es/search/label/Monastery%20of%20Corpus%20Christi"><b>Adventure in the Cloister</b></a>)<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>8. Best Outdoor Running Track in Madrid</b></span><br />
Located at <b>Parque de Santander </b>(also known as Green Canal) in the the Chamberi neighborhood of Madrid, at the corner of Avenida de Islas Filipinas and Avenida Pablo Iglesias. Closest metro: Canal, Rios Rosas. Run past blooming lavender bushes, fountains, wisteria vines, and families out for a stroll. Restrooms and water fountains provided. Free access to track and park areas; other sports facilities can be rented on a fee basis. Track open 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7z3BbYlPjo8/Tjwcqdpu5_I/AAAAAAAAADg/b95rfh-Gb3k/s1600/Madrid+July+014.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7z3BbYlPjo8/Tjwcqdpu5_I/AAAAAAAAADg/b95rfh-Gb3k/s640/Madrid+July+014.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rubberized 1200-meter running track in Chamberi district</td></tr>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">9. Best Exhibition Space</span></b><br />
<b><a href="http://everymuseummadrid.blogspot.com.es/search/label/Sala%20Canal%20de%20Isabel%20II">Sala del Canal de Isabel II. </a> </b>Located in an old water tower that has been renovated for temporary art exhibitions. Check <a href="http://www.enxposicion.com/madrid/museo/sala-de-isabel">website</a> for current listings. Don't forget to bring passport. Entry is free, but because the tower is located within the headquarters of the city water utility, there is a security checkpoint. Located at calle de Santa Engracia, 125 (metro: Rios Rosas). Hours: Tues-Sat: 11-2 & 5-8:30; Sun: 11-2; Closed Monday.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-qJig49PLC3s/UAgzraATUhI/AAAAAAAAA6Q/CDX-6MYOgIw/s1600/Sala+Canal+nov+2011+006.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-qJig49PLC3s/UAgzraATUhI/AAAAAAAAA6Q/CDX-6MYOgIw/s320/Sala+Canal+nov+2011+006.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sala Canal de Isabel II</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>10. Best Free Art Exhibit Venues in Madrid</b></span><br />
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Consistently top-notch:<br />
<b>Fundacion Mapfre.</b> Paseo de Recoletas, 23.<br />
<b>Caixa Forum Madrid.</b> Paseo del Prado, 36.<br />
<b>Juan March Foundation.</b> Castelló, 77<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-CKiaF99ObzU/Tp3FxjOjd6I/AAAAAAAAAPM/M-rB59qkU9w/s1600/Open+air+sculptures+Oct+2011+015.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-CKiaF99ObzU/Tp3FxjOjd6I/AAAAAAAAAPM/M-rB59qkU9w/s320/Open+air+sculptures+Oct+2011+015.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Juan March Foundation. Ground floor has exhibit space. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>Molly Weslinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00923541998637446171noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2062785675489297833.post-85634136286531814622012-06-29T06:39:00.003-07:002012-06-30T07:36:02.919-07:00Please Touch Everything!<div style="font-family: inherit;">
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Museum of Typhlology
/ Museo Tiflol</b><b>ógico<br />
06/28/12 – Calle la Coru</b><b>ña,
18</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">The <b>Museum of Typhlology </b>calls itself “a museum to see and
touch,” making it a perfect destination for families with small children. Typhlology refers to the scientific study of
blindness. But rather than science, this
museum seduces through art and architecture. I brought a newly-minted teenager, somewhat against his will. I can say that he did not complain during the
visit, and even let himself be photographed.
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-OTqdgSE-0sg/T-xGLFtWmKI/AAAAAAAAA3Q/zp6yooxCyHk/s1600/June+28+009.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-OTqdgSE-0sg/T-xGLFtWmKI/AAAAAAAAA3Q/zp6yooxCyHk/s400/June+28+009.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Museum of Typhlology</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: small;">The lady at reception actually smiled and emerged from her desk to describe the museum to us (in Spanish), a welcome quite different from most art museums. Our favorite section contained
sturdy, detailed models of famous cities, monuments and structures. From the Eiffel Tower to the aqueduct of
Segovia, all were available to explore with eyes and hands. On a random Thursday, there were two blind visitors—an
older gentleman and his guide dog, and an adolescent girl with her family—and about two dozen sighted people in the museum. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Models included the city of Jerusalem, the Taj Mahal, the
Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, and the Alhambra. Many of Spain’s most interesting buildings
can be found here: El Escorial, the Royal Palace, the Mezquita of Toledo, and Gaudi’s
famous Cathedral in Barcelona, to name a few.
</span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ofta8ih0ok0/T-xHMmr-4KI/AAAAAAAAA30/0j0vpsIBNJM/s1600/June+28+023.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ofta8ih0ok0/T-xHMmr-4KI/AAAAAAAAA30/0j0vpsIBNJM/s640/June+28+023.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Alhambra in Granada, Spain</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-MszxsGsYBSA/T-xHey0nhdI/AAAAAAAAA38/IX-2TRYChlc/s1600/June+28+028.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-MszxsGsYBSA/T-xHey0nhdI/AAAAAAAAA38/IX-2TRYChlc/s640/June+28+028.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hagia Sophia, Istanbul</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-4qZyQmDMQzc/T-xG43KMmZI/AAAAAAAAA3s/uE2YxpnsF0E/s1600/June+28+021.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-4qZyQmDMQzc/T-xG43KMmZI/AAAAAAAAA3s/uE2YxpnsF0E/s400/June+28+021.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Royal Palace, Madrid</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: small;">To my disappointment, Madrid’s <b>Museum of Archaeology</b> has
been closed all year for renovations. So
I was excited to find in the Museum of Typhlology a full-scale reproduction of
the stunning <b>“Lady of Elche,”</b> an Iberian funerary bust believed to date from
the fourth or fifth century BCE. </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-06og7iGjuI8/T-xGlI11zTI/AAAAAAAAA3k/45JvaG731fc/s1600/June+28+019.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-06og7iGjuI8/T-xGlI11zTI/AAAAAAAAA3k/45JvaG731fc/s400/June+28+019.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dama de Elche. Found near Alicante, Spain in 1897.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1dD1vHdCUNU/T-xHrktDCLI/AAAAAAAAA4E/kKFb6qQabH0/s1600/June+28+030.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="160" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1dD1vHdCUNU/T-xHrktDCLI/AAAAAAAAA4E/kKFb6qQabH0/s200/June+28+030.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Autumn" (1989) by blind artist Rosa Garriga</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">After pondering a collection of photos, sculptures, and paintings created by blind or visually impaired artists, we descended a staircase to the lower level of the museum. </span></span> </div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">There one can
learn about the development of the Braille reading system, and machines that were invented
to make life easier for the visually impaired: special typewriters,
calculators, drawing boards, puzzles and voice recorders. </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-175F1Pv2wK4/T-xICblSL4I/AAAAAAAAA4Q/ZmPMp9sZnxg/s1600/June+28+032.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="288" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-175F1Pv2wK4/T-xICblSL4I/AAAAAAAAA4Q/ZmPMp9sZnxg/s400/June+28+032.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Machine for typing Braille as well as musical notation</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: small;">The Museum of Typhlology is perhaps the only place in the
world that hangs a frieze from the Parthenon at eye-level, and then invites you
closer.</span></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_p_bZkp1iXs/T-xGZw72zgI/AAAAAAAAA3c/nXJGQf9WrMk/s1600/June+28+014.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="287" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_p_bZkp1iXs/T-xGZw72zgI/AAAAAAAAA3c/nXJGQf9WrMk/s400/June+28+014.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b>_________________________</b></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b>Hours:</b> Tues –Fri, 10
am– 2 pm, & 5 pm – 8; Sat. 10-2.
<b>Address: </b><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;">Calle la </span></span></i><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;"><i>Coruña,
18</i></span><i><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b>. Metro:</b> Estrecho. Located on the
third floor of the ONCE building. ONCE
is a non-profit corporation devoted to improving the quality of life of blind
and visually-impaired persons in Spain. </span><b><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";"></span></b></i></div>
</div>Molly Weslinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00923541998637446171noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2062785675489297833.post-26765939752176090792012-06-21T08:16:00.002-07:002012-06-22T10:34:47.199-07:00School's Out, and a New Museum Opens<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Museum of Popular
Arts and Traditions / Museo de Artes y Tradiciones Populares<br />
06/21/12 – Calle Carlos Arniches 3-5</b></div>
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As June winds down, only a month remains of our year in
Spain. S1 and S2 finished Madrid public school this week. S2, in seventh grade, took part in an English
bilingual program—the result of a new campaign to encourage English at a time
when many young Spaniards will have to seek jobs abroad. The school’s American teaching assistant, a
recent college grad from Maryland, introduced his charges to lacrosse. He brought all the equipment to Madrid. Though lacrosse is a Native American sport, my son had never seen it. On the last day of
school, rival classes faced off in an epic match.</div>
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On the other hand, after only one month of language study, S1
plunged into tenth grade last fall: an all-Spanish curriculum of math, Latin,
music, history, literature, computers, ethics, gym, and classical culture. For two weeks he didn’t say a word, and
teachers just thought he was slow—no one told them about the foreigner in
their midst. Now at year’s end S1 has passed
his classes, and is fluent in Spanish. On a recent medical visit, I
strained to understand the doctor while my son chatted away. Later, he coolly informed me that the doctor's
accent marked him as a northerner, from Basque territory.</div>
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My kids will tell you school is different here. Some stories they bring home have raised my eyebrows. A sampling:</div>
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A child received a "Fail" on a color-contrast
exam, even though the teacher knew he was color blind. </blockquote>
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Gym students were graded on whether or not they won. (Victors in a badminton match received 10
points, the losers: 0). </blockquote>
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A boy was harshly admonished and sent to the principal’s office for the offense
of involuntary flatulence.</blockquote>
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Teachers told vulgar jokes.</blockquote>
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During a biology lesson in English on the dung beetle, the struggling teacher
used the word “shit” over and over, for lack of a more scientific term. </blockquote>
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They will never forget their year in Spanish public school. We also saved <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">sixty thousand dollars</i>, the cost of educating two children for one
year at the private American School of Madrid, not even including materials, lunch or transportation (I think I
hear you gasp).<br />
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Meanwhile . . . a new museum quietly opened this month in El Rastro,
Madrid’s old market neighborhood. The free
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Museum of Popular Arts and Traditions</b>
occupies a true nineteenth-century <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">corrala,
</i>typical housing for the masses in centuries past. The first <i>corralas</i> were built in the sixteenth century.</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-fb3oQIUpbJY/T9s4P4JvRZI/AAAAAAAAA2A/2PP5wG4rnDw/s1600/June+15+035.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-fb3oQIUpbJY/T9s4P4JvRZI/AAAAAAAAA2A/2PP5wG4rnDw/s400/June+15+035.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Museum blends into the surroundings on Calle Carlos Aniches, 3-5</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4IGlbVvH7d4/T9s38ipEMnI/AAAAAAAAA10/W2kGfa3PBs8/s1600/June+15+027.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4IGlbVvH7d4/T9s38ipEMnI/AAAAAAAAA10/W2kGfa3PBs8/s400/June+15+027.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Museum patio: the renovated 19th c. "corrala"</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-GJRAxmBMuR8/T-MtC-FEzYI/AAAAAAAAA2Q/pjRZM7PtIgc/s1600/La+Quinta+1973.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="149" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-GJRAxmBMuR8/T-MtC-FEzYI/AAAAAAAAA2Q/pjRZM7PtIgc/s200/La+Quinta+1973.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Footnote: La Quinta motel, USA, 1973</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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A <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">corrala</i>
is characterized by several floors of open galleries surrounding a common patio. The ground floor would house workshops and stores, with dwellings above. I’m tempted to reference a two-story La
Quinta motel from the 1970s, without the parking. What the heck: for all I know, motel architecture
owes everything to the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">corrala</i>.</div>
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The museum draws on a collection of folk art, both rural and
urban, of the Autonomous University of Madrid. Currently, an exhibit of the
yearly festival cycle has been mounted: “El Ciclo Festivo del Año.” </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yKPnyYMbq10/T9s3IuBBkSI/AAAAAAAAA1c/oP7uo6SPi_k/s1600/June+15+006.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yKPnyYMbq10/T9s3IuBBkSI/AAAAAAAAA1c/oP7uo6SPi_k/s400/June+15+006.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Carnival costumes from various regions of Spain</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/--CSRx2lYfBs/T9s3p1J2fMI/AAAAAAAAA1s/Mcwmqoix6dw/s1600/June+15+019.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/--CSRx2lYfBs/T9s3p1J2fMI/AAAAAAAAA1s/Mcwmqoix6dw/s400/June+15+019.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Metalwork</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-pu7lXUdhkss/T9s3WfO3Q2I/AAAAAAAAA1k/XB2qnadVxa8/s1600/June+15+013.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-pu7lXUdhkss/T9s3WfO3Q2I/AAAAAAAAA1k/XB2qnadVxa8/s400/June+15+013.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Giant papier mache heads, paraded during the celebration of Corpus Christi</td></tr>
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Afterwards, a stroll through the hilly streets of El Rastro will lead you past dozens of vintage furniture and antique stores, as well as photographs, waiting to be shot and framed. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-AHb8Up_ticw/T-M2yOniLXI/AAAAAAAAA2g/1ULrpoWa19I/s1600/La+Latina+june+2012+005.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="301" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-AHb8Up_ticw/T-M2yOniLXI/AAAAAAAAA2g/1ULrpoWa19I/s400/La+Latina+june+2012+005.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Across the street: impromptu exhibit</td></tr>
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<i>The Museum of Popular Arts and Traditions is open Mon. - Fri. 10-2 & 5-8; Sat. 10-2.</i><br />
<br /></div>Molly Weslinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00923541998637446171noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2062785675489297833.post-37648052770058752802012-06-12T13:50:00.000-07:002012-06-14T01:48:52.781-07:00Baroque and Beautiful<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Museum of the History of Madrid /
Museo de Historia de Madrid<br />
06/12/12 – Calle de Fuencarral, 78</b> </span><br />
<div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: small;">When the current renovation is finished, the Museum of History--originally the eighteenth-century Royal Hospice of San Fernando--will cover four centuries of life in Madrid. Until then, we can still enjoy the most head-swiveling doorway in the city.</span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-sDCgeB8RdFU/T9eKH6G3KeI/AAAAAAAAA1M/sbgSukvjSw8/s1600/March+15+003.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-sDCgeB8RdFU/T9eKH6G3KeI/AAAAAAAAA1M/sbgSukvjSw8/s640/March+15+003.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Pedro de Ribera's Baroque doorway (1726): Alms-house extraordinaire.</b></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: small;">A guard told me that part of the permanent collection re-opens at the end of 2012, but the museum won't be fully operational until 2013. In the meantime it will continue to host temporary, free exhibits on the ground floor. The National Library of Spain has organized <i>Otras Miradas </i>(<i>Other Views</i>, until July 8), with maps of old Madrid, oil paintings, and 3-D topographic models. </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-WXlCVR4sfkQ/T9eIeftJUJI/AAAAAAAAA0w/nkQIoySV8ig/s1600/La+Latina+june+2012+034.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-WXlCVR4sfkQ/T9eIeftJUJI/AAAAAAAAA0w/nkQIoySV8ig/s400/La+Latina+june+2012+034.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>3-D model of Madrid by Leon Gil de Palacio (1830)</b></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Wp_X3bgPhLg/T9eJI_JlwaI/AAAAAAAAA1A/iv-yRLIh5p0/s1600/La+Latina+june+2012+041.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Wp_X3bgPhLg/T9eJI_JlwaI/AAAAAAAAA1A/iv-yRLIh5p0/s640/La+Latina+june+2012+041.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The permanent collection will re-open in phases, starting in late 2012</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: small;">It boggles the mind that this building faced destruction in 1922. We can thank the Royal Academy of Fine Arts and the Spanish Society of Art-Lovers for intervening. <i>Muchas gracias.</i></span></div>
<br />Molly Weslinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00923541998637446171noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2062785675489297833.post-35630835113811842402012-06-05T10:00:00.000-07:002012-06-06T23:22:36.515-07:00Shopping, Then Stopping: What to See in the Skyscraper<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Espacio Fundación Telefónica : History
of Telecommunications Museum <br />
06/05/12 - Fuencarral 3</span></b></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0WaqYB6R12Q/T84i7K4JryI/AAAAAAAAAzs/z_hSAFspteY/s1600/June+5+more+001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0WaqYB6R12Q/T84i7K4JryI/AAAAAAAAAzs/z_hSAFspteY/s320/June+5+more+001.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fan with case, from Salvador Bachiller, 9 euros</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">I love the way Spanish
ladies still use fans to whip up a breeze.
A few weeks ago, my seventh-grader performed in his school play to an
audience packed with parents. As he
looked out at the crowd, he noticed that every mother in the room was using a
fan, and all the fans waved in unison. (The
play was ambitious for a public school whose only outside activities are chess
and boys’ basketball: an adaptation of a novel by Torcuato Luca de Tena, set in
a mental institution. Think <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">King of Hearts</i> meets Nancy Drew, with mod
lighting and video clips. My son, the only foreigner, was given a walk-on role
as one of the inmates). I've started to carry a fan wherever I go.
In fact, I’m using one now to deflect the heat rising from my
laptop. Cute and utilitarian—it is the
perfect souvenir. </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-4zgRvK0sYHo/T84aREO08DI/AAAAAAAAAzY/we__p52MsP0/s1600/June+5+2012+055.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-4zgRvK0sYHo/T84aREO08DI/AAAAAAAAAzY/we__p52MsP0/s320/June+5+2012+055.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Telefonica Building</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">Trendy stores
with names like <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Skunkfunk</b> and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Desigual</b> attract all sorts to the
shopping street of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Fuencarral</b>. I’ve
seen the gamut: pierced, tottering, and cutting-edge; school groups in matching
t-shirts; transvestites; a ballerina in street-clothes; and yesterday, a French
bulldog in a ruffled skirt. After a spell of window- and people-gazing, you might
dash into the stunning new cultural space that opened this year in the building
that calls itself “Europe’s First Skyscraper.”
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">When it was
finished in 1929, the American-inspired art deco Telefónica Building was the
tallest in Madrid. It recently added three new (free) exhibit spaces and a gift store, with an entrance
on Fuencarral Street number 3. A sculptural
staircase and a glass elevator set the tone for the renovation. </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-rJHavAPNgmA/T84X_9XccDI/AAAAAAAAAyM/kPjWVaNzqBU/s1600/June+5+2012+007.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-rJHavAPNgmA/T84X_9XccDI/AAAAAAAAAyM/kPjWVaNzqBU/s400/June+5+2012+007.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lobby and staircase, Fuencarral entrance</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">On one of the
levels, you’ll find a museum of sorts: an exhibit called <b>The History of
Telecommunications</b>. It traces the
evolution of remote communication since the nineteenth century. </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-eDjcw1e6Hyk/T84YP-PdvMI/AAAAAAAAAyU/eFkU5hK8ctA/s1600/June+5+2012+013.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-eDjcw1e6Hyk/T84YP-PdvMI/AAAAAAAAAyU/eFkU5hK8ctA/s320/June+5+2012+013.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">1920s linesman bicycle</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-j-C1yU3trPo/T84jxtc6icI/AAAAAAAAA0A/-aLdFbW_vqQ/s1600/June+5+2012+017.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="393" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-j-C1yU3trPo/T84jxtc6icI/AAAAAAAAA0A/-aLdFbW_vqQ/s400/June+5+2012+017.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">1925 telephone used by King Alfonso XIII to inaugurate new service in Madrid (1926) and to place the first transatlantic call (1928)</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">For art lovers, the
top level displays the <b>Telefónica Cubist Collection</b>, which revolves around the
work of Madrid-born painter Juan Gris (1887-1927). I couldn’t help peering at the rooftop patio
next door. The views of Gran Via are
pretty good as well.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-mZRaJBTEMos/T84aBKBEgOI/AAAAAAAAAzQ/E2hlRvfzNp4/s1600/June+5+2012+049.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-mZRaJBTEMos/T84aBKBEgOI/AAAAAAAAAzQ/E2hlRvfzNp4/s320/June+5+2012+049.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Terraza envy</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-5-Ms3Ar2E6g/T84ZxiFWXRI/AAAAAAAAAzI/AU-vsv-Nv1U/s1600/June+5+2012+046.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-5-Ms3Ar2E6g/T84ZxiFWXRI/AAAAAAAAAzI/AU-vsv-Nv1U/s400/June+5+2012+046.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Gran Via, viewed from fourth level of Telefonica</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">The middle level
currently houses a most intriguing exhibit called <b>“Art and Artificial Life
1999-2012.”</b> </span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-hjwptUy_C44/T84ZiIO-TxI/AAAAAAAAAzA/h_9ZrWl6B-c/s1600/June+5+2012+042.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-hjwptUy_C44/T84ZiIO-TxI/AAAAAAAAAzA/h_9ZrWl6B-c/s640/June+5+2012+042.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Philip Beesley, Rob Gorbet (2007, Canada). These "plants" have sensors to detect your presence and move their tendrils.</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-UFaWri-b8Iw/T84ZNNgwQPI/AAAAAAAAAy4/kCVAMvyzN3c/s1600/June+5+2012+035.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-UFaWri-b8Iw/T84ZNNgwQPI/AAAAAAAAAy4/kCVAMvyzN3c/s320/June+5+2012+035.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Robotic blob by Paula Gaetano Adi (2006, Argentina). It sweats when you touch it.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xg8Rn_oJZ5w/T84Y8WGb6jI/AAAAAAAAAyw/Av5-noxCpUM/s1600/June+5+2012+034.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xg8Rn_oJZ5w/T84Y8WGb6jI/AAAAAAAAAyw/Av5-noxCpUM/s320/June+5+2012+034.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Head." Ken Feingold (1999, USA)</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">I found myself all
alone in the dark with this lifelike “Head” by American artist Ken
Feingold, when it started to talk. Its
eyes blinked and its mouth moved, and it spoke to me in English. “When did you
get here?” the Head asked. I muttered
something in response. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">Head
continued. “I don’t care about you in the least. Ask me a question.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">I asked about the
Wisconsin Governor recall election taking place in my home state today.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">“Sorry,” Head
said. “I only understand when I am in
another mood.” Silence. Head abhorred a vacuum. He added, “I never forget a face, but in your
case I’ll make an exception.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">The notes said this
art work will raise doubts about the coherence of our dialogue with others. And
it does.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Hours: Tues - Sun 10:00 - 20:00 (closed M) </i></span></div>Molly Weslinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00923541998637446171noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2062785675489297833.post-11844317535128414692012-05-30T10:45:00.000-07:002012-05-30T11:16:01.765-07:00Free View from the Top: Palace of Cibeles<b>5/30/12 - Plaza de Cibeles, 1</b><br />
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The Palace of Cibeles (1919) must be one of the most conspicuous buildings in Madrid. A striking, white confection, it looms over the Fountain of Cibeles (1794) and dominates the Plaza. Since the 1970s, the city's biggest celebrations have taken place in front of the Palace, including the victories of the Real Madrid football
team. <br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-vbIi27VdlcI/T8Y1OV7kcjI/AAAAAAAAAwI/oL_EXjfH8QI/s1600/May+30+002.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-vbIi27VdlcI/T8Y1OV7kcjI/AAAAAAAAAwI/oL_EXjfH8QI/s640/May+30+002.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Observation deck is located on the central tower (8th floor). <br />
Enter building through main (arched) doorway.</td></tr>
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During the twentieth century, the building was called the Palace of Communications, and served as the main office of the postal, telegraph and telephone services. Impressive mail chutes for all Spain's provinces still line the side of the building that faces Paseo del Prado.<br />
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Today, the Palace of Cibeles is both the seat of Madrid's government and a newly-minted cultural space. In the past decade it underwent extensive restoration.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-99Lg9jctefI/T8Y4U0e_1PI/AAAAAAAAAxM/FDSmqtaG9mc/s1600/May+30+042.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-99Lg9jctefI/T8Y4U0e_1PI/AAAAAAAAAxM/FDSmqtaG9mc/s400/May+30+042.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo exhibit on the restoration process, 2008-2011</td></tr>
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As I discovered this morning, the main (second) floor is now completely open to the public--walk right in and place your bag in the x-ray machine. Take a look around, visit the cafe, use the restrooms, or fire up your laptop in the wifi zone. There is also a restaurant and a terrace bar on the 6th floor.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-DTAvDsQlBrc/T8ZNlX6A0_I/AAAAAAAAAx0/TTintc3CDb4/s1600/May+30+005.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="261" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-DTAvDsQlBrc/T8ZNlX6A0_I/AAAAAAAAAx0/TTintc3CDb4/s400/May+30+005.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Taking a breather in the public lounge/ wifi zone, Palace of Cibeles</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-vWsWcUDaIJs/T8ZSF597taI/AAAAAAAAAyA/xbFJhBi4e9I/s1600/May+30+011.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-vWsWcUDaIJs/T8ZSF597taI/AAAAAAAAAyA/xbFJhBi4e9I/s400/May+30+011.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Terrace bar, viewed from the observation deck.</td></tr>
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The observation deck or "<i>mirador</i>" has been open since 2011: hours 10:30-1:00 & 4:30-7:30 (closed Mondays and holidays). Visitors must ask for a ticket at the coat-check counter on the second floor and then ascend to the 6th floor at the appointed time. I arrived at 11:20 and received a ticket for 11:30.<br />
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Most people opt to ascend the final 88 steps on foot--there are more views along the way--but an elevator is provided for those who need one.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-dLJb2Jv_7U4/T8Y1oCZH4mI/AAAAAAAAAwQ/0ouWxkEwNzE/s1600/May+30+006.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-dLJb2Jv_7U4/T8Y1oCZH4mI/AAAAAAAAAwQ/0ouWxkEwNzE/s640/May+30+006.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Splendid 360-degree view from the 8th floor deck</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
On the way back down, you can explore the interior . . .<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YnEwH1_-6BQ/T8Y203FxkhI/AAAAAAAAAwo/eGU_qsal_nQ/s1600/May+30+034.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YnEwH1_-6BQ/T8Y203FxkhI/AAAAAAAAAwo/eGU_qsal_nQ/s320/May+30+034.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Original tiled marble staircase</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-d0hVleRVNH0/T8Y3l3szGJI/AAAAAAAAAw4/NSFDG_W-Mak/s1600/May+30+038.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-d0hVleRVNH0/T8Y3l3szGJI/AAAAAAAAAw4/NSFDG_W-Mak/s320/May+30+038.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Glass block floors</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-1GqC03ONt9E/T8Y3_KVyXYI/AAAAAAAAAxA/bpSkg_qoWv0/s1600/May+30+041.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-1GqC03ONt9E/T8Y3_KVyXYI/AAAAAAAAAxA/bpSkg_qoWv0/s400/May+30+041.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View of main floor </td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
. . . before continuing on your way. The Naval Musuem is right next door, and the Prado Museum just a few blocks further. Outside, dozens of chirping school children, dressed in summer hues, strolled down the shady avenue.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-C4F1ssLVnF4/T8Y5imJ2OqI/AAAAAAAAAxk/KN_2ROmXrcg/s1600/May+30+051.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-C4F1ssLVnF4/T8Y5imJ2OqI/AAAAAAAAAxk/KN_2ROmXrcg/s640/May+30+051.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Paseo del Prado, in the merry merry month of May</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />Molly Weslinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00923541998637446171noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2062785675489297833.post-87173824832674359012012-05-20T03:47:00.000-07:002012-05-30T11:13:47.560-07:00Legends of Fish Street<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-rwKB4Jbve_g/T7fB1msQ6nI/AAAAAAAAAu0/qhjzqs3WDx4/s1600/PEZ+street+001.JPG" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>me llaman puta, también princesa<br />
me llaman calle, es mi nobleza<br />
me llaman calle, calle sufrida, <br />
calle perdida de tanto amar</i></span></h4>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">--Manu Chao, “Me llaman calle”</span></h4>
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<b><span style="font-size: 12pt;">05/20/12 - Calle del Pez</span></b><b><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><br />A fish story, with lots of photos</span></b></h4>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">Early
last fall, at the beginning of our stay in Madrid, the Professor and I stumbled
around the barrio of Malasa</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">ñ</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">a until at last we found a street sign for <b>Calle
del Pez</b> (Street of the Fish, pronounced "Peth"). We met up with friends in the tapas bar <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">El
Pez Gordo</i>, or The Fat Fish. By midnight, the place was busting at the seams, and the evening was barely
getting started.</span></div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-z84qTV_t974/T7aM73u6OrI/AAAAAAAAAts/ModW9UWO1kQ/s1600/PEZ+street+014.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-z84qTV_t974/T7aM73u6OrI/AAAAAAAAAts/ModW9UWO1kQ/s320/PEZ+street+014.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">For
a very short street--400 meters--Calle del Pez is
long on legends. Over the course of the
year, I learned about several of them: the quaint origin of the street’s name; a
sordid tale of cloistered nuns, demonic possession and the intervention of the Spanish Inquisition;
King Felipe IV’s passion for a beautiful young nun from the same convent—and the <a href="http://www.biografiasyvidas.com/monografia/velazquez/cuadros10.htm">Velazquez masterpiece</a></span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> he commissioned to atone for his sin. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">Calle
del Pez also contains a surviving example of a sixteenth-century <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Casa a la malicia </i>(spite house), and appears
in P</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">í</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">o
Baroja’s 1911 novel The Tree of Knowledge (<i>El arbol </i></span><i><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"></span></i><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><i>de la ciencia</i>),
as well as the acclaimed 1997 </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">film Open Your Eyes (<i>Abre los ojos</i>). The singer Manu Chao immortalized street-walkers on Calle del Pez in a 2007 <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZivK8PmxPWQ&ob=av2n">music video</a> filmed in a local bar, the Palentino. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">I
can’t get enough of this street. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">Riffs on fish are everywhere...</span></div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-tlbqFU3TL7k/T7aJq6L8A_I/AAAAAAAAAsE/kymSel9yrk8/s1600/Pez+May+18+022.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-tlbqFU3TL7k/T7aJq6L8A_I/AAAAAAAAAsE/kymSel9yrk8/s320/Pez+May+18+022.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A bar on Calle del Pez</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Lucky Fish, State Lottery No. 361</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" 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style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-bucQXy-3L-I/T7aKHH_z5lI/AAAAAAAAAsU/w1RJ8FbtpaE/s1600/Pez+May+18+026.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-bucQXy-3L-I/T7aKHH_z5lI/AAAAAAAAAsU/w1RJ8FbtpaE/s320/Pez+May+18+026.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hostal of the Blue Fish</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_OKKVApQq-4/T7aObEAWzVI/AAAAAAAAAuM/vOzDjkIT3AI/s1600/Pez+street+2+022.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_OKKVApQq-4/T7aObEAWzVI/AAAAAAAAAuM/vOzDjkIT3AI/s320/Pez+street+2+022.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Darwin store sign</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-cS0eppw9-rU/T7aJLOvMuxI/AAAAAAAAArs/FDyKJS6z8uU/s1600/Pez+May+18+012.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-cS0eppw9-rU/T7aJLOvMuxI/AAAAAAAAArs/FDyKJS6z8uU/s400/Pez+May+18+012.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I *think* this means "The Fishbowl" (twee accessories shop)</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ggGTSdkovQU/T7bBS7dJMQI/AAAAAAAAAuo/Ibzyq3I8CYA/s1600/Pez+street+2+021.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ggGTSdkovQU/T7bBS7dJMQI/AAAAAAAAAuo/Ibzyq3I8CYA/s400/Pez+street+2+021.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sea creatures</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-h6VNMW1eAnU/T7iqsDbsaoI/AAAAAAAAAvk/CNvAzxyVIcY/s1600/Pez+street+2+018.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-h6VNMW1eAnU/T7iqsDbsaoI/AAAAAAAAAvk/CNvAzxyVIcY/s320/Pez+street+2+018.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Entry way detail</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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<b><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Sixteenth-Century Spite House<br /><br /> </span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">Start
at the corner of Calle San Bernardo (near metro Noviciado) and walk east on
Calle del Pez. On your left, a university student carries books to class in perpetuity. I call her the <i>sultry scholar </i>(the best kind, and <i>not</i> an oxymoron). </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-sEilg2EL2Fc/T7ivbyqX8yI/AAAAAAAAAvw/3xW5Pnv5AjE/s1600/PEZ+street+001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-sEilg2EL2Fc/T7ivbyqX8yI/AAAAAAAAAvw/3xW5Pnv5AjE/s320/PEZ+street+001.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The sultry scholar of Calle del Pez </td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">After
paying your respects, look across the street at number 31, a store selling religious figurines. This small
building is one of Madrid’s 1,000 known <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Casas a la malicia</i>, houses modified in the late sixteenth century
to hide extra living space beneath their rafters.</span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ncilPTEQXHo/T7aL_bFugtI/AAAAAAAAAtU/Zt1yS0wgFgY/s1600/PEZ+street+005.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ncilPTEQXHo/T7aL_bFugtI/AAAAAAAAAtU/Zt1yS0wgFgY/s400/PEZ+street+005.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The sloping roof at number 31 purportedly conceals extra rooms.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">When
King Felipe II moved the court from Toledo to Madrid in 1561, accommodations
for the influx of new arrivals were scarce.
Until more residences could be built, landlords were required to offer up any space above the first floor
(second floor in U.S. parlance), or suffer fines. To deter unwelcome strangers, owners resorted to all kinds of
trickery to fool the eye. You can find
<a href="http://pasionpormadrid.blogspot.com.es/2010/06/las-casas-la-malicia.html">more photos of spite houses</a> in this blog entry from Pasi</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">ó</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">n por Madrid.
The Museum of the City (Museo de la Ciudad) also has scale models of <i>Casas a la Malicia</i>.<i><a href="http://everymuseummadrid.blogspot.com.es/search/label/Museum%20of%20the%20City"> </a></i></span></div>
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<u><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></u></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 12pt;">The
Name</span></b><br />
<b><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">Before
the seventeenth century, this thoroughfare was called Street of the Cleric’s
Fount (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Calle de la Fuente del Cura</i>).
The area contained springs and ponds filled with colorful fish. When the property passed into the hands of D.
Juan Coronel, his daughter Blanca was delighted by the fish. But subsequent construction on the property caused the fish to die. When only one fish remained,
Blanca placed it in a bowl. It died as well, and Blanca was bereft. In its memory, Coronel had a fish carved into the
façade of their house. The
original house is long gone, but the fish remains, and can be spied on the building at the corner of Calle del Pez and Calle Jes</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">ú</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">s de Valle. </span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-bgF1Uz48x7g/T7jElzYgCOI/AAAAAAAAAv8/SuPujHi99B0/s1600/Pez+street+2+025.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-bgF1Uz48x7g/T7jElzYgCOI/AAAAAAAAAv8/SuPujHi99B0/s320/Pez+street+2+025.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Look carefully or you will miss it.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">Blanca
eventually joined the nearby order of Benedictine nuns, which brings me to the
next saga…</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Strange
Doings at the Convent of San Pl</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">á</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">cido</span></b><br />
<b><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><u>Scandal the First.</u> I’ve
come across several accounts of this case, none annotated and each more lurid
than the last. My recap tries to steer a
middle ground, if such a thing exists. The convent was founded in the year 1623
at Calle San Roque 9, adjacent to Calle del Pez. </span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-_ssKCH1mvto/T7aKS3OA0BI/AAAAAAAAAsc/fYnUvKRmDl8/s1600/Pez+May+18+030.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-_ssKCH1mvto/T7aKS3OA0BI/AAAAAAAAAsc/fYnUvKRmDl8/s640/Pez+May+18+030.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">If walls could talk. Convent of San Placido, seen from Pez.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">A
few years later, not long after the arrival of a new confessor named Juan
Francisco Garc</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">í</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">a
Calder</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">ó</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">n, one
of the nuns began to exhibit unusually violent states of rapture. One by one, all but four of the 30 nuns succumbed
to fits of extreme behavior. Calder</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">ó</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">n declared them to be possessed, and
embarked on an ambitious regime of exorcisms to rid their bodies of demons. Suspicions arose when folks pointed out that
the only nuns immune to Lucifer were old and unattractive. The Holy Office caught wind, and ordered the
entire group to Toledo, where they were placed for two years in the prison of the
Inquisition. Eventually, the nuns were recognized
as the victims of an unbalanced confessor.
(Was fish-lover Blanca among them?) They scattered to different convents, their prioress returned to San Pl</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">á</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">cido, and Calder</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">ó</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">n remained imprisoned. </span><br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fa1LnZC1kf8/T7aPUFTy4JI/AAAAAAAAAuc/e86yDg8Ersc/s1600/Pez+May+18+032.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fa1LnZC1kf8/T7aPUFTy4JI/AAAAAAAAAuc/e86yDg8Ersc/s400/Pez+May+18+032.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Convent at left, view down Calle San Roque.</td></tr>
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<u><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Scandal the
Second.</span></u><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> Not long after this incident, King Phillip IV
of Spain heard the news that a surpassingly beautiful young woman had just taken
vows in the Convent of San Placido. With
the help of his friend Don Jerónimo, the neighbor and patron founder of the
convent, the King built a secret passage through a coal cellar, and finagled
a series of assignations with Sister Margarita.
The prioress of the convent, unable to stop the courtship due to the
complicity of Jerónimo, took matters into her own hands: Margarita was decked
out in black, staged as a corpse in a coffin with burning candles and crucifix,
and presented as dead. When the men arrived
that night, they were shocked by the vision, and high-tailed it back to the
house next door.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">The King met with
his confessor, and soon after presented the convent with a splendid clock that
tolled the hours. He also instructed his
court painter Velázquez to paint the famous canvas known as “Cristo de Velázquez”
(c. 1632). The painting belonged to the
convent for several hundred years, until it was given to the Prado, where it still
hangs today. The clock disappeared in
1903 during renovation of the building. </span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Calle del Pez Today</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">In Pío Baroja’s novel about the provincialism of Spain, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The
Tree of Knowledge</i> (1911), the enterprising but ill-fated Lulu opens her own
sewing shop on Calle del Pez. She’s a proto-feminist
who enchants the cynical protagonist Andrés Hurtado (alas, also
ill-fated). Today, the neighborhood of
Malasaña is undergoing a kind of funky gentrification after years of gritty
neglect. The stores along Calle del Pez
illustrate this change. Where
prostitutes and junkies once roamed, we now see trendy dress shops and tapas
bars…and a pair of ruby slippers, worn by Lulu in her dreams. </span></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-NOBIK4J4DX0/T7aLMG26qAI/AAAAAAAAAtE/Ioe2vyInNds/s1600/Pez+May+18+042.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-NOBIK4J4DX0/T7aLMG26qAI/AAAAAAAAAtE/Ioe2vyInNds/s320/Pez+May+18+042.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-FZkyOx8J9ME/T7ipaGBlLKI/AAAAAAAAAvc/T3cnj43zMf0/s1600/Pez+May+18+043.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-FZkyOx8J9ME/T7ipaGBlLKI/AAAAAAAAAvc/T3cnj43zMf0/s320/Pez+May+18+043.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">There's no place like Calle del Pez.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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</div>Molly Weslinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00923541998637446171noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2062785675489297833.post-56022841452778919162012-05-11T08:38:00.000-07:002012-05-11T08:57:49.078-07:00It's a Bloody Mystery<br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Royal Monastery of the Incarnation /
Real Monasterio de la Encarnaci</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">ó</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">n<br />
05/11/12 – Plaza de la Encarnaci</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">ó</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">n</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">The
Royal Monastery of the Incarnation was established in 1611, a few years after
the <a href="http://everymuseummadrid.blogspot.com.es/search/label/Monastery%20of%20the%20Barefoot%20Noblewomen">Monastery of the Barefoot Noblewomen</a>.
In olden times, a passageway from the nearby <a href="http://everymuseummadrid.blogspot.com.es/search/label/Royal%20Palace">Royal Palace</a> allowed
the royal family to visit and worship at their convenience. The monastery
conducts 1-hour guided visits in Spanish. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-XWA2pynpnng/T60PkMqaoTI/AAAAAAAAArE/wMrw5yQvwT8/s1600/Encarnation+May+2012+008.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-XWA2pynpnng/T60PkMqaoTI/AAAAAAAAArE/wMrw5yQvwT8/s400/Encarnation+May+2012+008.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Royal Monastery of the Incarnation </td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">The
guide told us that 10 nuns still live in the cloister today, hidden from
view. A revolving wooden counter set in
an interior wall--identical to the “<i>torno</i>” for convent sweets at the <a href="http://everymuseummadrid.blogspot.com.es/search/label/Convent%20Sweets">Convent of Corpus Christi</a>--functions as their portal of communication with the
outside world. How I would like to
interview one of those nuns, or at least send a list of written questions
through the wall! </span></div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-mimLU36wusA/T60P3JunX7I/AAAAAAAAArM/eGO0Sem7kqk/s1600/Encarnation+May+2012+014.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-mimLU36wusA/T60P3JunX7I/AAAAAAAAArM/eGO0Sem7kqk/s400/Encarnation+May+2012+014.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">What's it like to never leave?</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">As
the guide whisked us from room to room, she pointed out religious figures in
time-darkened paintings; statues of the virgin wearing real outfits of
embroidered silk; and the royal visages of Spain’s pallid, pursed-lipped Austrian
monarchs. At one point the guide
chastised a hapless man who strayed several meters from the group. Perhaps he too was trying to get a glimpse of
a living being amongst the Stations of the Cross. The windows onto the courtyard, it turns out,
have opaque glass. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">The
paintings and sculptures are not as impressive as those in the Monastery of the
Barefoot Royals, and the rooms are not as lavish. My favorite painting showed a
nun laid out in her coffin, covered in flowers; the guide said it
was a rare illustration of the convent’s funerary tradition. A huge painting of a biblical wedding scene shows a banquet table laden with <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">empanadas</i>.
A life-sized 17<sup>th</sup> century sculpture by Gregorio Fernandez, of the reclining
Christ covered in blood, is all too realistic.
The final station for our group, a room chock full of saintly relics,
might be worth the price of admission (7 euros). </span></div>
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<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-soNuygNJe3U/T60vpJYrC_I/AAAAAAAAArY/AR_PBuII5Kg/s1600/SAN-PANTALEON.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-soNuygNJe3U/T60vpJYrC_I/AAAAAAAAArY/AR_PBuII5Kg/s400/SAN-PANTALEON.jpg" width="302" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">St. Pantalemon, usually portrayed as a mop-top</td></tr>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">From
floor to ceiling, the walls are lined with artfully displayed bone chips, the
arms of eight martyrs, and the leg of St. Margaret. A reliquary with a glass orb contains the
solidified blood of St. Pantalemon, a Christian healer from the early
fourth century. According to legend, he was tortured mercilessly and then beheaded for performing
miracles on sick people instead of treating them in the normal way—normal for Greek
doctors in the year 303 CE, that is. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">Every
year on July 27, the day of St. Pantalemon’s death, the reliquary is carried to
the Baroque church next door and displayed to the public, as well as broadcasted on
closed-circuit TV monitors. On that day
only, the blood in the orb is said to turn from a solid to a liquid before your
eyes. As luck would have it, we leave
Madrid for home on July 27, and will not be here to see it.</span></div>Molly Weslinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00923541998637446171noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2062785675489297833.post-8440134133499412692012-04-24T07:47:00.002-07:002012-04-26T13:49:42.906-07:00Adventure in the Cloister, or, How to Buy Sweets from Invisible Nuns<b>Monastery of Corpus Christi / Monasterio del Corpus Christi<br />04/24/12 - Plaza del Conde de Miranda, 3 </b><br />
<b>A Step-by-Step Guide to Buying <i>"Dulces del convento"</i><i><br /></i></b><br />
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jVp0-u9DbKU/T5aWjcLLqwI/AAAAAAAAApU/1atUkzkzq8E/s1600/cookie+001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jVp0-u9DbKU/T5aWjcLLqwI/AAAAAAAAApU/1atUkzkzq8E/s200/cookie+001.JPG" width="200" /></a>In college, I was startled to see a flock of nuns in full habit out for a jog on New York’s Riverside Drive, their white veils flapping in the breeze. I grew up far from nuns, in a southern California beach town that seemed to exist outside time. While it’s true that I fled the land of lotus-eaters in order to attend an all-female school in New York, I was lured by Barnard’s location, rigor, and scholarship aid. I can't imagine renouncing the secular world or the company of men, whom I find delightful much of the time. Still, I can admire the good works of nuns around the world, as they tend to the poor, the powerless, and the sickest among us. The Vatican’s recent crackdown on American nuns for their devotion to issues of social justice shows how completely out of touch it has become. <br />
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-WZjfRsx6dLo/T5aYqP_igfI/AAAAAAAAAqk/2l8gIZgYLYs/s1600/Convent+Sweets+022.JPG" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"> </a><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-WZjfRsx6dLo/T5aYqP_igfI/AAAAAAAAAqk/2l8gIZgYLYs/s1600/Convent+Sweets+022.JPG" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"> </a><br />
I wrote earlier about the art collection in Madrid's <a href="http://everymuseummadrid.blogspot.com.es/2011/11/barefoot-nuns-eyeballs-on-dish.html">Monastery of Barefoot Noblewomen</a>, a cloistered order in which only two dozen nuns remain. Another cloister has resided in the Monastery of Corpus Christi (also known as Las Carboneras) since the year 1605. <br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-WZjfRsx6dLo/T5aYqP_igfI/AAAAAAAAAqk/2l8gIZgYLYs/s1600/Convent+Sweets+022.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-WZjfRsx6dLo/T5aYqP_igfI/AAAAAAAAAqk/2l8gIZgYLYs/s400/Convent+Sweets+022.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Church entry, Plaza Conde de Miranda, 3 (doorway to sweets is at R, not shown)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
To help support themselves, the nuns bake traditional sweets, which they sell while hidden behind a wooden turnstile within the convent. The recipes, it is said, have been passed down through the ages from the time of the Romans and the Moors. Here is the buying process as I found it today:<br />
<br />
1. Once I arrived at the set of carved wooden doors to the right of the church entrance, I rang the top bell, marked <i>monjas</i> (nuns). When a voice answered, I stated my business, “<i>Dulces, por favor</i>,” and a nun buzzed me in. <br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-xu6VLqlI-oE/T5aXRLi1FjI/AAAAAAAAApc/Gf7L_hOmfAY/s1600/Convent+Sweets+001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-xu6VLqlI-oE/T5aXRLi1FjI/AAAAAAAAApc/Gf7L_hOmfAY/s400/Convent+Sweets+001.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ring the bell on the right side</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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2. I proceeded through a dim corridor that led to a small, open courtyard.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-eqJ1k9DoKII/T5aYVS_ENeI/AAAAAAAAAqU/cWWQgGlIEEQ/s1600/Convent+Sweets+015.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-eqJ1k9DoKII/T5aYVS_ENeI/AAAAAAAAAqU/cWWQgGlIEEQ/s640/Convent+Sweets+015.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Go straight through doorway</td></tr>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-McHxlrOoIOY/T5aX3Kk2alI/AAAAAAAAAp8/9xz_WWrnjzk/s1600/Convent+Sweets+011.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-McHxlrOoIOY/T5aX3Kk2alI/AAAAAAAAAp8/9xz_WWrnjzk/s320/Convent+Sweets+011.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Almost there</td></tr>
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3. Then I passed through another short hallway, a small open space, and at last a doorway where a revolving counter is set into the left wall. <br />
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The price list for sweets is posted. A friendly, self-appointed Roma lady might be present to guide you through the process. Her Spanish was as rudimentary as mine, but I didn’t mind her assistance--nor could I avoid it!<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-KnINOQdq9Mg/T5aXaB2FCkI/AAAAAAAAApk/ozZcgxyKtrM/s1600/Convent+Sweets+003.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-KnINOQdq9Mg/T5aXaB2FCkI/AAAAAAAAApk/ozZcgxyKtrM/s320/Convent+Sweets+003.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Today's selection of sweets</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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4. A disembodied voice behind the wall addressed us and the nun placed the selection of sweets upon a revolving counter (the <i>torno</i>), then turned it until the items appeared on our side of the wall. I told her I’d like one of each, and placed the money on the counter. The nun turned the counter yet again, and she tallied the total aloud in a wavering voice. “<i>She’s really old</i>,” the Roma lady informed me, as the voice started to tabulate a second time. I pictured a four-foot nun of about one hundred and ten. My change arrived, another group entered, and I left with my sweets: a box of starry <i>pastas de almendra</i>, and a bag of <i>galletas</i>, lightly scented with lemon. <br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-x94GUjTYUaI/T5aXj_eV6DI/AAAAAAAAAps/iVOimJPuhtA/s1600/Convent+Sweets+005.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-x94GUjTYUaI/T5aXj_eV6DI/AAAAAAAAAps/iVOimJPuhtA/s400/Convent+Sweets+005.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Arrival of the <i>dulces</i></td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Pm_ov9aL0pU/T5ay4JbYxlI/AAAAAAAAAqs/HJEdKgaBSjI/s1600/Convent+Sweets+030.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Pm_ov9aL0pU/T5ay4JbYxlI/AAAAAAAAAqs/HJEdKgaBSjI/s640/Convent+Sweets+030.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tea time. Crisp sugar biscuits (L) and chewy almond sweets </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-U9BZ3hMjqa0/T5azFJPlU3I/AAAAAAAAAq0/VgRicbGTvgw/s1600/cookies+002.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-U9BZ3hMjqa0/T5azFJPlU3I/AAAAAAAAAq0/VgRicbGTvgw/s320/cookies+002.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">S1 and S2: the testers </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-size: large;">After all that, how did they taste, you ask? -- <i>¡Riquísimo!</i></span><br />
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<br />Molly Weslinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00923541998637446171noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2062785675489297833.post-71002482060462935512012-04-18T03:47:00.001-07:002012-04-19T07:07:35.824-07:00Hand-Made in Spain, for Peasants and Queens<b>Royal Tapestry Factory / Real Fábrica de Tapices</b><br />
<b>04/16/12 - Calle Fuentarrabía, 2</b><br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-yuvQKNyQcBk/T46RUPWlM2I/AAAAAAAAApM/Z8Y_KnKd1hQ/s1600/Espadrilles.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="198" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-yuvQKNyQcBk/T46RUPWlM2I/AAAAAAAAApM/Z8Y_KnKd1hQ/s320/Espadrilles.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We have the same taste</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Just last weekend, I finally entered the renowned house of espadrilles <b>Casa Hernanz</b> (Calle de Toledo, 18), accompanied by two friends. After determining our place in the ragged line, we mentally recorded the styles and colors we wanted to try. The espadrilles (or, as the Spanish call them, <i>alpargatas</i>) may not be stitched entirely by hand, but they are made the old way, and still a bargain. The pair in this picture was 12 euros. <br />
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At the other end of the cost spectrum, the <b>Royal Tapestry Factory</b> fulfills custom orders at a dignified pace, much as it has done since the early 18th century, when King Phillip V started a factory in Madrid with the help of Belgian master weavers. The current factory, a brick building near the Atocha train station, has been in operation since the 1880s. It contains a museum with a half-hour guided tour for 4 euros.<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0_jj3ouFMKM/T421AQgcnyI/AAAAAAAAAos/IklVtmQ5Nt0/s1600/Real+Fabrica+006.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0_jj3ouFMKM/T421AQgcnyI/AAAAAAAAAos/IklVtmQ5Nt0/s400/Real+Fabrica+006.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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The museum tour lets you watch highly-skilled artisans at work (no photos allowed, but you can <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fhk9YkhKuoM">view the process from home in this 3-minute video</a>). In fact, we stood inches from the blue-smocked workers. We observed their fingers flying, and heard the thump of their mallets as they tamped down woven threads. My tour group of inquisitive middle-aged Spanish ladies even engaged the artisans in banter. <br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MS0wJ1UU1_I/T420sDvyGVI/AAAAAAAAAok/oQTR2BXDVPs/s1600/Real+fabrica+Goya.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="352" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MS0wJ1UU1_I/T420sDvyGVI/AAAAAAAAAok/oQTR2BXDVPs/s640/Real+fabrica+Goya.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tapestry based on a Goya illustration, Royal Tapestry Factory</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
One can only guess at prices. Four people will labor for two years to make a tapestry that covers an entire wall. The carpets I saw were too gorgeous to tread upon, even in virgin alpargatas.<br />
<br />Molly Weslinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00923541998637446171noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2062785675489297833.post-68229247577229532152012-03-23T10:47:00.000-07:002012-03-24T13:35:39.784-07:00Inside/Outside the Head (& the Museum of Anthropology)<span id="goog_96845897"><b>National Museum of Anthropology / Museo Nacional de Antropología<br />03/23/12—Calle Alfonso XII, 68</b><br /><br />This is a museum diary, but when I extend its reach to cultural display, all Madrid’s my oyster. One small observation can set off a chain of connected thoughts. Let’s begin with the utter lack of visual stimulation inside our local public high school. My sons each sit in one room all day, while teachers appear and disappear at intervals. The walls of their respective classrooms are completely blank. No posters, inspirational quotes, maps, or samples of student work. No Matisse prints or even “hang in there” kittens. <i>Nada.</i> This austerity strikes my 13-year-old as sad and bizarre. (The 16-year-old is more perturbed by the requirement to sit still for hours on end. He’s bitten his cuticles to the quick.)<br /><br />Outside, though, Madrid is a riot of movement and color. One moment you are admiring the parade of French bulldogs, the next, you’re face to face with monumental baby heads. </span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-QXcjhMxQh70/T2yQ2kTCXmI/AAAAAAAAAoM/ZEp6dAts1x0/s1600/Anthro+museum+march+2012+016.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-QXcjhMxQh70/T2yQ2kTCXmI/AAAAAAAAAoM/ZEp6dAts1x0/s400/Anthro+museum+march+2012+016.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Antonio Lopez, <i>Día y Noche</i>, 2008</td></tr>
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<span id="goog_96845897"><br />Across the street, oh happy day, spring is finally blooming, as this tree announces outside the <b>National Museum of Anthropology</b>. </span><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-9mONHRJeHiA/T2yRYBlt76I/AAAAAAAAAoU/UP6tS6SNEpw/s1600/Anthro+museum+march+2012+017.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-9mONHRJeHiA/T2yRYBlt76I/AAAAAAAAAoU/UP6tS6SNEpw/s400/Anthro+museum+march+2012+017.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span id="goog_96845897">A bright and modern space with three levels covering Africa, America, Asia, Europe and Oceania, the museum might be a nice place to spend an hour while you wait for your train to pull into Atocha Station. </span><br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-OimV4YDL9rA/T2yP1UPjAEI/AAAAAAAAAn0/MzONxzuhJt4/s1600/Anthro+museum+march+2012+001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-OimV4YDL9rA/T2yP1UPjAEI/AAAAAAAAAn0/MzONxzuhJt4/s320/Anthro+museum+march+2012+001.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<span id="goog_96845897"><br /> </span><br />
<span id="goog_96845897">Due to a lack of pizazz, and a perhaps an overly-cautious paring of the collection on display, I don’t recommend the Museum of Anthropology as a destination for the short-term tourist. You will see more, and better, at the <b>Museum of America</b>. Then again, on the top floor, the beaded dress of a 19th century Lakota Sioux will pull you straight into her orbit. </span><br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-wBEudLy8ySA/T2yQKZVMhcI/AAAAAAAAAn8/fs6agmIHzho/s1600/Anthro+museum+march+2012+004.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-wBEudLy8ySA/T2yQKZVMhcI/AAAAAAAAAn8/fs6agmIHzho/s640/Anthro+museum+march+2012+004.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
<span id="goog_96845897"><br /> </span><br />
<span id="goog_96845897">Returning to the lack of visual stimulation in our local institution of secondary education, I wonder if the classroom-as-monastic-cell is a pedagogic strategy, or just a sign of apathy. Either way, I say, <i>the world outside is teeming, please let it in.</i> In my mind’s eye I still see a picture I gazed at in Mr. Engberg's class, Muirlands Junior High, 1977: Picasso’s hands with a bunch of flowers, next to a quote by e.e. cummings, “i thank heaven somebody’s crazy enough to give me a daisy.” </span><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-guotUKk1inU/T2y46WDrzNI/AAAAAAAAAoc/qsDRxC-mi_I/s1600/Picasso.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-guotUKk1inU/T2y46WDrzNI/AAAAAAAAAoc/qsDRxC-mi_I/s320/Picasso.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Molly Weslinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00923541998637446171noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2062785675489297833.post-28856215933607220802012-02-25T14:55:00.001-08:002012-03-20T13:15:21.960-07:00The Museum of Ham<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Museum
of Ham / Museo del Jam</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">ó</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">n<br />
02/24/12 – Carrera de San Jer</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">ó</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">nimo, 6 </span></b></div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-DKl0sWFJo1Q/T0lcRUQNnbI/AAAAAAAAAnE/ZoAOqT7aU84/s1600/faux+museums+004.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-DKl0sWFJo1Q/T0lcRUQNnbI/AAAAAAAAAnE/ZoAOqT7aU84/s320/faux+museums+004.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bakery / Museo del Pan Gallego (Pl. de Herradores, 9)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">On my quixotic journey to every museum
in Madrid, I’ve come across a breed I’ll call the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">faux museum</i>. Rather than displaying
fine paintings or jeweled snuffboxes, these establishments provide the necessities of earthly life. For example, on a tiny plaza not far from Calle
Arenal sits the <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Museum of Galician Bread</b>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">Close to the touristy heart of the
city hangs a sign for the <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Museum of Wine</b>,
though the entrance to this restaurant, if it exists, can only be accessed
through a midnight incantation.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2hcxNyrc3RU/T0lctVALbJI/AAAAAAAAAnM/URq3j2-iZxk/s1600/faux+museums+008.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2hcxNyrc3RU/T0lctVALbJI/AAAAAAAAAnM/URq3j2-iZxk/s320/faux+museums+008.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Calle de la Cruz, 14</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">According to the website, the art deco <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Museum Chicote</b> (Calle Gran V</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">í</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">a, 12) has been serving cocktails to movie stars since
1931: Ava
Gardner, Joan Crawford, Rita Hayworth, Frank Sinatra... all drank here.</span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-VcEfDYq9yPI/T0ldNlzs_UI/AAAAAAAAAnU/FsrEYWSoXX0/s1600/museo+chicote+002.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-VcEfDYq9yPI/T0ldNlzs_UI/AAAAAAAAAnU/FsrEYWSoXX0/s400/museo+chicote+002.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cocktail bar Museo Chicote--seen better days?</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">And then there is <b>The Factory Beer Museum</b>. If I read the web site correctly, the Beer Museum offers a literary prize of 2000 euros... for the best "beer fiction."</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-mGoAg9f7c84/T0ldwg956-I/AAAAAAAAAnc/eGlAJJxP138/s1600/Dec+16+2011+005.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-mGoAg9f7c84/T0ldwg956-I/AAAAAAAAAnc/eGlAJJxP138/s320/Dec+16+2011+005.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Calle Genova, 21<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"></span><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"></span><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">Here is another specimen of interest, the <b>Museum of Tarot</b>, an occult store just off Sol.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-mJOBBBdUnK0/T2jkVn_LTwI/AAAAAAAAAns/PzNdbKKvBOc/s1600/March+15+001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-mJOBBBdUnK0/T2jkVn_LTwI/AAAAAAAAAns/PzNdbKKvBOc/s320/March+15+001.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Calle San Alberto, 1</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">Finally, as seen in various
locations around Madrid, the <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Museum of
Ham</b>. </span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-hrxy94HkesE/T0lf-UxlwFI/AAAAAAAAAnk/DFi3xzbNcJw/s1600/IMG_1288.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-hrxy94HkesE/T0lf-UxlwFI/AAAAAAAAAnk/DFi3xzbNcJw/s400/IMG_1288.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Carrera de San Jeronimo, 6</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-HRkceuKOpYk/T0iRpYuttqI/AAAAAAAAAmU/YXUMWn00idU/s1600/Dale+Madrid+2012+172.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-HRkceuKOpYk/T0iRpYuttqI/AAAAAAAAAmU/YXUMWn00idU/s320/Dale+Madrid+2012+172.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">As if arranged by Busby Berkeley</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">The most expensive ham, jam</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">ó</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">n ib</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">é</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">rico
de bellota, comes from a free-range black pig that dines on nothing but acorns and
herbs as it sashays through forests of oak.
After slaughter, the meat is cured for three years, sometimes four. On this trip to the
Museum of Ham, our </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">visitor from Wisconsin </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">wants nothing but the finest: 9 euros ($12) for
100 grams--enough to line two rolls. The
Museum of Ham is both deli and diner, with a bread counter for good
measure. </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-cTS_q0dZFnU/T0iRvQ9sOZI/AAAAAAAAAmc/XJNajA8QbCI/s1600/Dale+Madrid+2012+174.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-cTS_q0dZFnU/T0iRvQ9sOZI/AAAAAAAAAmc/XJNajA8QbCI/s320/Dale+Madrid+2012+174.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A range of prices and types. Top r: 90 euros/kilo</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-YE-jlYdXNj4/T0iSuuGx-zI/AAAAAAAAAms/kit9At8_xxs/s1600/Kessingers+day+2+feb+2012+029.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-YE-jlYdXNj4/T0iSuuGx-zI/AAAAAAAAAms/kit9At8_xxs/s320/Kessingers+day+2+feb+2012+029.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">100 grams of the best.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">We’ve never tasted acorns,
but now we think we know their essence, as filtered through a trotter from
southern Spain, who rooted in the shade of mighty trees. </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-51gzKdpMZfU/T0iTGUQJwBI/AAAAAAAAAm0/E8fNw0yxaY0/s1600/Kessingers+day+2+feb+2012+030.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-51gzKdpMZfU/T0iTGUQJwBI/AAAAAAAAAm0/E8fNw0yxaY0/s400/Kessingers+day+2+feb+2012+030.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ham in the afternoon, Plaza de Isabel II</td></tr>
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<br /></div>Molly Weslinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00923541998637446171noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2062785675489297833.post-61512374391975927902012-02-19T07:43:00.000-08:002012-02-19T10:23:12.965-08:00Chagall at the Thyssen: Two Venues, One Vision<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-CtguPxM7E54/T0EOkli5wCI/AAAAAAAAAmE/r1tkDuTbE4g/s1600/marc-chagall-the-rooster-.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-CtguPxM7E54/T0EOkli5wCI/AAAAAAAAAmE/r1tkDuTbE4g/s320/marc-chagall-the-rooster-.jpg" width="250" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Rooster, 1929</td></tr>
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<b><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Thyssen-Bornemizsa
Museum / Museo Thyssen-Bornemizsa<br />
02/16/12 – Paseo del Prado, 8<br /> </span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Fundación Caja Madrid<br />
02/17/12 – Pl. de San Martín, 1</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">The “golden triangle” of Madrid museums refers to the magnificent three: the
Prado, the Reina Sofia, and the Thyssen-Bornemisza, all within walking distance
of one another. The Thyssen-Bornemisza could use a bit of name re-branding—those
are six syllables many of us can’t begin to pronounce. How about a monumental, sparkling “T”
in the courtyard of the Thyssen? On a
gray day, the courtyard needs some perking up anyway. </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-C2vvEjwTIjU/Tz5V82aYQXI/AAAAAAAAAlU/k_JJm7LFt1k/s1600/Thyssen+feb+2012+013.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-C2vvEjwTIjU/Tz5V82aYQXI/AAAAAAAAAlU/k_JJm7LFt1k/s640/Thyssen+feb+2012+013.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bland courtyard of the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum (entrance at left)</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">But for now, just pronounce it “TEE-sun,” and go! Until 20 May 2012, the Thyssen is hosting a
retrospective of the twentieth century Russian-Jewish artist Marc Chagall (1887-1985)
that will leave you weak at the knees.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-iOAH4qYZdAM/T0EMAHIumQI/AAAAAAAAAl8/IbxO2ir9x9g/s1600/chagall+flowers.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="322" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-iOAH4qYZdAM/T0EMAHIumQI/AAAAAAAAAl8/IbxO2ir9x9g/s400/chagall+flowers.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bouquet at Window, 1959</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">Actually, the Chagall exhibit has been split into two locations. The Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum (8 euros) covers the first
half of the artist’s life, from his early years in the village of Vitebsk, through stints in Paris and New York, until WWII.
The continuation of the exhibit--Chagall settled in the south of France and died in 1985--continues across town at the Fundación Caja
Madrid<b> </b>building<b> </b>(free of charge).
Both halves will make you happy. </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-z48PCiSjzZU/Tz5W2Jxm3hI/AAAAAAAAAlc/BZ7h9b__u8U/s1600/Thyssen+caja+feb+12+001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-z48PCiSjzZU/Tz5W2Jxm3hI/AAAAAAAAAlc/BZ7h9b__u8U/s400/Thyssen+caja+feb+12+001.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Entrance, Fundacion Caja Madrid (free exhibit)</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-wfjM5josn-4/T0EP_8GVIRI/AAAAAAAAAmM/fkTmGmbHyS0/s1600/Chagall+Window+in+the+Country.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-wfjM5josn-4/T0EP_8GVIRI/AAAAAAAAAmM/fkTmGmbHyS0/s400/Chagall+Window+in+the+Country.jpg" width="312" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Window in the Country, 1915</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">In addition to major paintings, bronzes, ceramics and stained glass, the exhibit
presents Chagall’s original illustrations for the novel Dead Souls, for the
Bible, and for La Fontaine’s fables. </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">A great many of the works have been gathered from private
collections: it's likely that you will never see them again in your lifetime.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">There
is something very satisfying about retrospectives. </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"></span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Presented this way, the works
themselves tell a far better story than a book on Chagall ever could--unless it’s the exhibit catalog, a hefty
39 euro door-stop you will be sorely tempted to acquire. </span></div>
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<br /></div>Molly Weslinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00923541998637446171noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2062785675489297833.post-16688511860030765902012-02-08T10:56:00.000-08:002012-02-08T13:08:50.860-08:00Eighteenth Century Dream Kitchen<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<b><span style="font-size: 12pt;">National
Museum of Decorative Arts / Museo Nacional de Artes Decorativas<br />
02/08/12 – Calle Montalbán, 12</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">Something truly fabulous resides on the top floor of the National Museum
of Decorative Arts. As you make your way through the other rooms and floors, everyday
objects of extraordinary beauty—used by commoners, or by Kings—help illustrate
the past four centuries of domestic life in Spain. Here are a few examples from the many on
display: The buttery yellows and Mediterranean blues of Talavera tiles…</span></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-1xgAeAXf6us/TzKZPPQNxVI/AAAAAAAAAlM/YkCz3QYXy38/s1600/museum+dec+arts+feb+12+036.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-1xgAeAXf6us/TzKZPPQNxVI/AAAAAAAAAlM/YkCz3QYXy38/s400/museum+dec+arts+feb+12+036.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">Whimsical animals painted on household dishes….</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-25fD5d0F2jg/TzKYud-by7I/AAAAAAAAAlE/SljEihnRmrU/s1600/museum+dec+arts+feb+12+035.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-25fD5d0F2jg/TzKYud-by7I/AAAAAAAAAlE/SljEihnRmrU/s640/museum+dec+arts+feb+12+035.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Look closely. The wild boar is peeing on a tree.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">Over-the-top rococo mirrors…</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-wQRxXB5ZmRI/TzKTTAWIIcI/AAAAAAAAAjc/BzijRrdOgQI/s1600/museum+dec+arts+feb+12+005.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-wQRxXB5ZmRI/TzKTTAWIIcI/AAAAAAAAAjc/BzijRrdOgQI/s640/museum+dec+arts+feb+12+005.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Newt and Callista, this one's for you.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">Plush stools…</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">Hand carriages…</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">Excess giving way to order, in the form of a neo-classical bassinet…</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">Finally, a feast for the eyes: an entire kitchen from Valencia, circa 1775-1800. All 1,604 painted tiles were transported from the original palace, which was pulled down after the Spanish Civil War. During the eighteenth century it was fashionable
to cover every inch of the kitchen walls with <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">trompe l’oeil</i> decorations. In this lofty kitchen, servants and lords mingle, while hungry cats nibble on whatever they can reach. </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-L8Mj3-CFyGM/TzKVnT9hsHI/AAAAAAAAAkM/w9f6ve68qEI/s1600/museum+dec+arts+feb+12+022.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-L8Mj3-CFyGM/TzKVnT9hsHI/AAAAAAAAAkM/w9f6ve68qEI/s400/museum+dec+arts+feb+12+022.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">(Tourist has coordinated purple shoes and jacket. Me gustan).</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-nGRyuXJt9bc/TzKXRFDkbMI/AAAAAAAAAks/SwDrqpdWP9o/s1600/museum+dec+arts+feb+12+030.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-nGRyuXJt9bc/TzKXRFDkbMI/AAAAAAAAAks/SwDrqpdWP9o/s320/museum+dec+arts+feb+12+030.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bad cat.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-vHMKrQ9pTdE/TzKWB8VBxHI/AAAAAAAAAkU/AJJm6bzu0Gg/s1600/museum+dec+arts+feb+12+023.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-vHMKrQ9pTdE/TzKWB8VBxHI/AAAAAAAAAkU/AJJm6bzu0Gg/s400/museum+dec+arts+feb+12+023.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">More bad cats.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-9xI8IsXU6xw/TzKYOLDmEeI/AAAAAAAAAk8/KFhXcyjV61g/s1600/museum+dec+arts+feb+12+032.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-9xI8IsXU6xw/TzKYOLDmEeI/AAAAAAAAAk8/KFhXcyjV61g/s320/museum+dec+arts+feb+12+032.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Servant with broom appears to be African. </td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_5-bNSz7tNw/TzKWehvtECI/AAAAAAAAAkc/Ikvmxuxmia8/s1600/museum+dec+arts+feb+12+024.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_5-bNSz7tNw/TzKWehvtECI/AAAAAAAAAkc/Ikvmxuxmia8/s640/museum+dec+arts+feb+12+024.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Real items on shelves mix with painted items.</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-EqblBNpRmdg/TzKW4sgwgEI/AAAAAAAAAkk/2uyhN0tzc0E/s1600/museum+dec+arts+feb+12+028.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-EqblBNpRmdg/TzKW4sgwgEI/AAAAAAAAAkk/2uyhN0tzc0E/s400/museum+dec+arts+feb+12+028.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Spilling the chocolate.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-rg5ns53dVc8/TzKVKKk8ccI/AAAAAAAAAkE/zytZiKcgwSA/s1600/museum+dec+arts+feb+12+018.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-rg5ns53dVc8/TzKVKKk8ccI/AAAAAAAAAkE/zytZiKcgwSA/s640/museum+dec+arts+feb+12+018.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Unwitting focus on Spanish docent. I just like this photo.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">____________________</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">As an added bonus, the ground floor of the museum has a visually stunning
exhibit on <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Spanish Graphic Design
1939-1975 (Diseño Gráfico Español 1939-1975)</i>. The temporary exhibit runs through 29 April
2012.</span></div>Molly Weslinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00923541998637446171noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2062785675489297833.post-42379073458429392412012-01-30T09:32:00.000-08:002012-01-30T13:40:08.675-08:00Guns of Spain<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<b><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Museum
of the Civil Guard / Museo de la Guardia Civil</span></b><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><br />
<b>01/30/12 - Calle Guzmán el Bueno, 110</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">This obscure but diverting museum nestles within the headquarters
of Spain's military-status police force. Be prepared to show a passport at the
entrance. Once inside the compound's courtyard, you'll walk past a construction site, as
well as live examples of military brass, to the museum entrance. Upstairs,
hundreds of guns fill the first room of the collection (<i>Sala de Armas</i>):
old revolvers, pistols, carbines, rocket-launchers, guns in the form of pens, pearl-handled guns, stiletto-guns, guns confiscated from terrorist groups,
and tiny guns from the 1950s that might hide in a satin evening clutch.
Not to mention hand grenades, machetes, swords and wavy-bladed daggers. Looking ahead, the final room has a bicycle from 1914, built to
suspend a German Mauser along its frame.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">The
Civil Guard was created in 1844 to protect travelers from bandits along Spain's wild mountain passes, especially in the southern parts
of the country. </span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-th5mLEXDeNM/Tyako7pe2uI/AAAAAAAAAjM/9qMUsX_qhLE/s1600/Asalto_al_coche+GOYA.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-th5mLEXDeNM/Tyako7pe2uI/AAAAAAAAAjM/9qMUsX_qhLE/s640/Asalto_al_coche+GOYA.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Goya, "Assault of a Coach," 1786-87</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">The
Civil Guard also broke up demonstrations, monitored poaching, and patrolled the
borders and the coast. Its role grew in modern times to include foreign
peace-keeping missions, anti-terrorism, intelligence, and many other duties.
During the Spanish Civil War (1936-39), the Guard split its loyalties down the
middle, when almost half supported the rebel forces under general Francisco
Franco.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-eus5PrcpMlc/Tyaj_bhAVyI/AAAAAAAAAi8/zbEta9a21m4/s1600/guardiacivil.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-eus5PrcpMlc/Tyaj_bhAVyI/AAAAAAAAAi8/zbEta9a21m4/s400/guardiacivil.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The tricorne hat of the Spanish Civil Guard</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">The
second room presents the history of Civil Guard uniforms, with the help of life-size mannequins. </span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-l837HP-XVUI/Tyaj_zQ6fqI/AAAAAAAAAjA/DPIZ7oZbc-8/s1600/Philippines+1862+civil+guard.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="332" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-l837HP-XVUI/Tyaj_zQ6fqI/AAAAAAAAAjA/DPIZ7oZbc-8/s400/Philippines+1862+civil+guard.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Early uniforms. The striped version was worn in Africa.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Finally,
the third room contains miscellaneous objects. Lining the walls, dozens of miniature dioramas dramatize historical
scenes from the lives and deaths--in the line of duty--of the Civil Guard in
Spain and the Spanish colonies. An engraved brass plate describes each scene. For
example: a group of Guards in "Equatorial Guinea" (Cameroon)
encounters a huge snake; two officers are killed and mutilated in 19th c.
Granada by a family of criminals; four officers are killed in Castilblanco when
they try to break up an illegal demonstration (31 December 1931); officers
are killed by E.T.A. terrorists at a traffic stop (7 June 1968). The displays
are meticulously crafted, down to the smallest fallen branch or piece of broken
chair. In this museum, amidst the weaponry and violence, children will have a field day.</span></div>
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<i>Hours: M-F, 9:00 - 14:00. Metro: Guzman <span style="font-size: 12pt;"></span>el Bueno.
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<br /></div>Molly Weslinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00923541998637446171noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2062785675489297833.post-52402296636444178922012-01-24T11:26:00.000-08:002012-01-25T08:07:14.018-08:00The Hermitage at the Prado Museum: Scythian Bling v. Malevich's Black Square<b>The Prado Museum / Museo del Prado</b><br />
<b>1/24/12 - Paseo del Prado</b><br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-gUQVubXem1k/Tx7S9IGN3ZI/AAAAAAAAAiM/mHTSEhnYTM0/s1600/Prado+Jan+2012+014.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-gUQVubXem1k/Tx7S9IGN3ZI/AAAAAAAAAiM/mHTSEhnYTM0/s320/Prado+Jan+2012+014.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Prado Museum ticket entrance</td></tr>
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Ancient gold ornaments, dug up from burial mounds in Siberia and the Black Sea coast, form the glittering center of an exhibit on loan to the Prado from the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia. The Scythians, a nomadic Eurasian people from the fifth to third centuries BCE, wore exquisite belt buckles the size of iPads. Their posture must have been exemplary. Another dazzler, created in the 4th century BCE and described as an "<i>earring with pendant element in the form of a boat</i>," might just blow your mind. <br />
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The Hermitage has loaned over 170 objects, including sculpture, royal jewels, paintings, decorative art, and clothing from the Russian imperial court. Caravaggio, Matisse, Rembrandt, Rubens, Fabergé, Bernini, Monet, and Kandinsky all make an appearance. If you don't look closely, you might miss the foppish shoes on <i>Henry Danver, Earl of Danby</i>, as painted by Van Dyck in the late 1630s: kitten heels, with a burst of ruffle at the instep. One of Kazimir Malevich's four <i>Black Square</i> paintings from the early 20th century hangs here as well, small and mute in the presence of so many riches.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-3GQHh3J8yMk/Tx8CbtxBW4I/AAAAAAAAAiU/r6I4RmOYoRo/s1600/El-Hermitage-en-el-Prado.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="325" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-3GQHh3J8yMk/Tx8CbtxBW4I/AAAAAAAAAiU/r6I4RmOYoRo/s400/El-Hermitage-en-el-Prado.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Matisse at the Prado until 25 March 2012</td></tr>
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I'm halfway through Robert K. Massie's new biography of Catherine the Great, the obscure German princess who came to rule Russia from 1762 to 1796. Catherine collected many of the artworks now housed in the Hermitage. (She also collected Lithuania, Belarus, Ukraine and Crimea). I enjoyed seeing the full-length portrait of the aging Empress by Giovanni Battisti Lampi (1793), as well as the filigree Chinese boxes from her dressing-table set. One of them takes the form of a crab on a leaf.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-YhWJHUr9J1A/Tx7SLRGTTLI/AAAAAAAAAh8/TjgqqCw0dHg/s1600/Prado+Jan+2012+003.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-YhWJHUr9J1A/Tx7SLRGTTLI/AAAAAAAAAh8/TjgqqCw0dHg/s320/Prado+Jan+2012+003.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cafe Prado</td></tr>
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After a stop in the museum cafe...<br />
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I viewed a small exhibit about the re-discovery of Pieter Bruegel the Elder's painting, <i>The Wine of Saint Martin's Day</i>. During restoration work in 2010-11, the painting was attributed to Bruegel when his signature and the date (1566 or 1567) appeared in the lower left corner. A brief slide-show documents the restoration and identification process. <a href="http://www.museodelprado.es/en/research/estudios/el-vino-de-la-fiesta-de-san-martin-pieter-bruegel-el-viejo/el-tema-del-vino-de-la-fiesta-de-san-martin/">The subject of the painting is curious</a>. Did the 16th-century Dutch feed wine to babies? Bruegel takes his subjects to task. Then, as now, human foibles gave rise to spectacular works art.<br />
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<b>The Hermitage in the Prado </b>and <b>Pieter Bruegel the Elder: The Wine of Saint Martin's Day</b> run until 25 March 2012.Molly Weslinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00923541998637446171noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2062785675489297833.post-72153953354703884512012-01-11T02:45:00.000-08:002012-05-19T02:42:34.365-07:00Saint Isidro and the Woolly Mammoths<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Museum of Origins. House of Saint Isidro / Museo de los Or</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">í</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">genes. Casa de San Isidro<br />
1/10/12 – Plaza de San Andr</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">é</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">s, 2</span></b><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-13YPc3-K9gY/TwyKvD7yX0I/AAAAAAAAAhs/rPtPMhTXj8o/s1600/jan+10+2012+015.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-13YPc3-K9gY/TwyKvD7yX0I/AAAAAAAAAhs/rPtPMhTXj8o/s200/jan+10+2012+015.JPG" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Museum of Origins</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">The 12<sup>th</sup>-century farmer and Patron Saint of Madrid, San Isidro, accidentally dropped his baby down a well. When Isidro prayed for a miracle, the water in the well rose up, delivering the infant unharmed. The legendary well, or <i>Pozo de San Isidro</i>, is show-cased in a small room of the <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">House of San Isidro</b>. The connection of this well to Saint Isidro is unclear, since the house at this site actually belonged to Isidro’s master, Juan de Vargas. The house was rebuilt in the 16<sup>th</sup> century as a palace, and later served as offices for the Catholic Church. There are paintings, sculptures and a chapel dedicated to the popular Isidro and his sainted wife, Maria de la Cabeza.* </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-VfpNO0BoG3w/TwyKcZ9D_JI/AAAAAAAAAhk/EpPm8ms89mc/s1600/jan+10+2012+011.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-VfpNO0BoG3w/TwyKcZ9D_JI/AAAAAAAAAhk/EpPm8ms89mc/s320/jan+10+2012+011.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Is it or isn't it?</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">The same building houses the <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Museum of Origins</b>, which debunks biblical timelines through scientific excavation and study of Madrid’s prehistory. Numerous archeological sites have been explored along the banks of Madrid’s river, the Manzanares. The main exhibit begins 500,000 to 120,000 years ago, when aurochs, giant horses and woolly mammoths roamed the area. </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-98zWBYyKDUc/TwyJaRZtFjI/AAAAAAAAAhM/SGGb4fdG_pE/s1600/jan+10+2012+002.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-98zWBYyKDUc/TwyJaRZtFjI/AAAAAAAAAhM/SGGb4fdG_pE/s320/jan+10+2012+002.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Interactive display, with bones</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">The first human inhabitants, Homo Heidelbergensis, arrived from Africa about 400,000 years ago, followed by Neaderthals and Homo Sapiens. They left few bodily remains, but many tools. The museum interior has been renovated. A lovely Renaissance style patio and a separate garden area complete the ground-level space.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-hIxmGsZJO8I/TwyKF7UYTRI/AAAAAAAAAhc/Z7HU9kQrxxM/s1600/jan+10+2012+008.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-hIxmGsZJO8I/TwyKF7UYTRI/AAAAAAAAAhc/Z7HU9kQrxxM/s400/jan+10+2012+008.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Courtyard and fountain, Museum of Origins</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Upstairs, a temporary exhibit contains a sampling of man-made objects from various periods of Madrid’s development, including a bedroom recreated from the excavation of a 4th c. Roman villa, with the original mosaic floor. </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">The Museum of Origins is still a work in progress. A second phase of construction promises more exhibits on the history of Madrid, from the first productive societies (9000 – 2100 years ago), Romans and Barbarians (2100-1300 years ago), Islamic Madrid (711-1085 C.E.), and Christian Madrid through the 17th century.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">__________________________ </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">*According to the story, after this miracle, Isidro and Maria vowed sexual abstinence and lived in separate houses. (Might this be punishment for the egregious mistake of dropping their baby down a well?)</span></div>Molly Weslinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00923541998637446171noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2062785675489297833.post-20082999496381139272012-01-08T12:07:00.000-08:002012-01-11T02:23:38.236-08:00Heaven & Earth on Sunday: Goya, Roast Chicken, River<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Goya Pantheon, The Church of San Antonio de la Florida<br />
1/8/12 – Glorieta de San Antonio de la Florida, 5</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-lBhV-Am8kUI/Twm3ipaaQSI/AAAAAAAAAgo/MXuOPLQmla4/s1600/Goya+angel.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-lBhV-Am8kUI/Twm3ipaaQSI/AAAAAAAAAgo/MXuOPLQmla4/s320/Goya+angel.jpg" width="258" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One of Goya's angels</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">The artist Francisco de Goya y Lucientes (1746-1828), or simply Goya, is growing on me. He painted the lovely ceiling in the Church of San Antonio de la Florida at the height of his creative powers, in 1798. </span></div><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">According to a pamphlet for sale (1 Euro, 60 pp., available in English), this riverside neighborhood of Madrid has a long history of devotion to St. Anthony of Padova, the Patron Saint of unmarried girls. On his feast day June 13, maidens arrived at St. Anthony’s shrine to ask for a husband. They dropped thirteen pins into the holy water and dipped their hand to see how many pins would stick to it. The number foretold their suitors for the year. One can see the holy water font where this activity once took place, in the vestibule of the Church of San Antonio. The neoclassical-style building was a royal chapel until 1881, when it became a parish church. To protect Goya’s frescoes, the church turned into a museum in 1929. An identical church—for worship and yearly romantic divination—was built next door. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-jigl1NdJ0fY/Twm0Kb0txaI/AAAAAAAAAgA/jDf1SM6aRxU/s1600/Goya+mingo+jan+12+002.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-jigl1NdJ0fY/Twm0Kb0txaI/AAAAAAAAAgA/jDf1SM6aRxU/s640/Goya+mingo+jan+12+002.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Goya's tomb and his frescoes lie within this neoclassical church</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Goya died in France, but his remains were transferred to San Antonio de la Florida in 1919 (mysteriously, his skull was missing). Thus, in one visit, homage can be paid to both artist and his creation. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">The frescoes are remarkable for several reasons. Some elements of Goya’s style prefigure Impressionism, not to mention Goya’s creepy series of <a href="http://everymuseummadrid.blogspot.com/2011/08/prado-museo-del-prado-first-visit-6.html">Black Paintings in the Prado</a>. The highest point, the cupola, contains an earthly instead of a heavenly scene. Goya depicts a story from St. Anthony’s life, when the Saint’s own father was wrongly accused of murder. St. Anthony brings the corpse to life—a miracle—for questioning, and the dead man proclaims the father’s innocence. Onlookers in the scene are dressed as Goya’s contemporaries, from beggars to gossiping ladies. The luminous angels that decorate the vaults have been excoriated for their secular appearance—they might be beauties of Madrid high society, in sashes and diaphanous dresses. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">After admiring Goya, we stepped across the street to the venerable cider-and-chicken house, Casa Mingo, a fixture of the neighborhood since 1888.* </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-YQssXZyhyM0/Twnx3I4ASlI/AAAAAAAAAg0/BdVC1tlx02s/s1600/Goya+mingo+jan+12+006.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-YQssXZyhyM0/Twnx3I4ASlI/AAAAAAAAAg0/BdVC1tlx02s/s320/Goya+mingo+jan+12+006.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Casa Mingo, side view</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Casa Mingo serves its own fermented cider, along with spit-roasted chicken, in a bustling restaurant. On a Sunday, try to arrive before 2 p.m., when the line for tables can spill out the door. Son 1 was intrigued by the sparse occupational duties of the chicken guy—impale, stack, roast in flames, remove. Three chickens served the 5 of us. </span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Casa Mingo dining room</td></tr>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Afterwards, a stroll back to the train station, along Madrid's Manzanares River, was just the ticket. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-CYp8R2jNm0M/Twny5fQ90GI/AAAAAAAAAhE/I8_HqR8IE1U/s1600/Goya+mingo+jan+12+030.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-CYp8R2jNm0M/Twny5fQ90GI/AAAAAAAAAhE/I8_HqR8IE1U/s400/Goya+mingo+jan+12+030.JPG" width="400" /> </a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Manzanares River</td></tr>
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</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">In winter, the banks are almost empty. A lone fisherman cast his line.</span></div><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"> </span> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">______________________________________</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">*This expedition to Goya’s pantheon and Casa Mingo was first suggested to me by Kay, a long-time Madrid aficionada and Madison, Wisconsin resident.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><br />
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</div>Molly Weslinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00923541998637446171noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2062785675489297833.post-15942050648939373942011-12-27T09:57:00.000-08:002012-05-18T01:18:36.965-07:00Heroics in the Suburbs, with a View<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Museum of Firefighters / Museo de Bomberos</span></b><br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">12/27/11 – Calle Boada, 4</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">The weather this week, between <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Navidad</i> and the holiday of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Reyes,</i> has been glorious. On Tuesday morning, three generations (Grandpa, Dulcinea, Sons 1 & 2) set off by metro and emerged fourteen stations later at Buenos Aires. I sense that few tourists make it out to see the free <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Museum of Firefighters</b>, and that’s a shame. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_GTr-vrDchw/Tvnwmf6YVnI/AAAAAAAAAfI/rMcyMgXubRg/s1600/Dec+27+2011+firetrucks+036.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_GTr-vrDchw/Tvnwmf6YVnI/AAAAAAAAAfI/rMcyMgXubRg/s400/Dec+27+2011+firetrucks+036.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fire truck, Museum of Firefighters</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">The location southeast of the city center is one of the attractions, we later learned. As you walk north from the metro station, beyond a suburban superstore, a ramshackle courtyard on Calle Boada contains two old fire trucks and an unassuming entry door of corrugated tin.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Street view of the museum</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Courtyard</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Inside the dimly-lit but cavernous space, it smelled of gasoline and old machinery. We were surprised to be greeted warmly by a fireman, who shook our hands in welcome. He said that if we had any questions we should not hesitate to ask. Another fireman was leading around a group of children and their parents. </span></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-6qvK4J7Km2M/TvnxAB_uKSI/AAAAAAAAAfQ/0Kguaopknwo/s1600/Dec+27+2011+firetrucks+040.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-6qvK4J7Km2M/TvnxAB_uKSI/AAAAAAAAAfQ/0Kguaopknwo/s400/Dec+27+2011+firetrucks+040.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">From a brochure I learned that the city of Madrid hired the first 24 firemen, then called “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">matafuegos</i>,” way back in 1618. The museum chronicles the history of firefighting in Madrid: old photos, vehicles, uniforms, communications equipment, extinguishers, ladders, helmets, nozzles and hoses of every shape and size. Signage is minimal.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A chronology of nozzles</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Practical, sculptural</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The venerable FDNY, 1940s.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Red fire engines are the stars, with models from 1884 to 1949. Several sported the distinctive, peaked "M" for Madrid on their front grills.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"M" for Madrid</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br 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/></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-SobLz3Ao4aQ/TvnumCNw6kI/AAAAAAAAAeg/QDJOAQzMJ60/s1600/Dec+27+2011+firetrucks+023.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-SobLz3Ao4aQ/TvnumCNw6kI/AAAAAAAAAeg/QDJOAQzMJ60/s320/Dec+27+2011+firetrucks+023.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Early vehicle, English-made, 1812</td></tr>
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<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-72K7WLkvNe8/TvnvBrNFwoI/AAAAAAAAAeo/8x3XPBeeW3c/s1600/Dec+27+2011+firetrucks+028.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-72K7WLkvNe8/TvnvBrNFwoI/AAAAAAAAAeo/8x3XPBeeW3c/s400/Dec+27+2011+firetrucks+028.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> The "Merry Weather," London, 1915</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">After our visit, the boys made a beeline for the steep, grassy hill across the street. It turned out to be part of a vast park, the Parque del Cerro del </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">T</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">í</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">o P</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">í</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">o</span>.<i><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"></span></i><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"> They quickly returned for the camera, and entreated us to follow. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><br />
</span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-meBeXdkYdvU/Tvnzk3SGx3I/AAAAAAAAAf4/FMA1r7NOfSM/s1600/Dec+27+2011+firetrucks+079.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-meBeXdkYdvU/Tvnzk3SGx3I/AAAAAAAAAf4/FMA1r7NOfSM/s400/Dec+27+2011+firetrucks+079.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Grandfather and S1, ascending hill</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/--_RJ4aZU2kc/Tvny48PIQXI/AAAAAAAAAfw/YRn-5Zp4IBc/s1600/Dec+27+2011+firetrucks+074.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/--_RJ4aZU2kc/Tvny48PIQXI/AAAAAAAAAfw/YRn-5Zp4IBc/s400/Dec+27+2011+firetrucks+074.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">S2, ascending lamp post</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">At the top, a spectacular view of Madrid awaited: </span><br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/---MdBHqUFkI/Tvnyf964UzI/AAAAAAAAAfo/lcFMRUUiF3U/s1600/Dec+27+2011+firetrucks+066.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/---MdBHqUFkI/Tvnyf964UzI/AAAAAAAAAfo/lcFMRUUiF3U/s640/Dec+27+2011+firetrucks+066.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Skyline, sierra and smog</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">The Museum of Firefighters led us to this place, and we felt lucky to see both.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><br />
</span></div>Molly Weslinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00923541998637446171noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2062785675489297833.post-47520555197663801922011-12-17T01:40:00.000-08:002012-01-11T02:24:03.766-08:00The Money Shot<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Museum of Currency / Museo Casa de la Moneda</span></b><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">12/16/11 – Calle Doctor Esquerdo, 36</span></b><br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-XTp5i8roumA/TuvNStKOPqI/AAAAAAAAAdk/YSWRkuUT4IY/s1600/Italy+2011+037.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-XTp5i8roumA/TuvNStKOPqI/AAAAAAAAAdk/YSWRkuUT4IY/s320/Italy+2011+037.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My Pericles obsession. Vatican Museum.<br />
(Cameras allowed) </td></tr>
</tbody></table><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">I was in the Rome last week, on my first visit to the Sistine Chapel. Photographing Michelangelo’s masterpiece is strictly prohibited. I feared a Japanese tourist might be drawn and quartered after she chose to disregard this edict. Instead a guard yelled at her across the chapel, “NO!” </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">I understand the reasons for no-camera rules, but what accounts for variation from museum to museum? Some allow flash photos; others permit photos but no flash. Some make you check the camera at the door. Some let you carry but not use it, trusting that you won’t betray their trust. Some museums don’t have a guard in every room, but watch you via secret camera. A guard runs in to stop you, politely, the moment you withdraw the apparatus from your bag. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-yAENEPV3V_o/TuuTesXkmOI/AAAAAAAAAdc/DlYcaf7vlCA/s1600/Dec+16+2011+007.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-yAENEPV3V_o/TuuTesXkmOI/AAAAAAAAAdc/DlYcaf7vlCA/s400/Dec+16+2011+007.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Museum of Currency entrance (right)</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-UCxDIrLL6I4/TuxffDUzU0I/AAAAAAAAAd8/3aCt95BjUfg/s1600/50+reales.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="196" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-UCxDIrLL6I4/TuxffDUzU0I/AAAAAAAAAd8/3aCt95BjUfg/s200/50+reales.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">50 reales</td></tr>
</tbody></table><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">At Madrid’s free <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Museum of Currency</b>, housed at the National Mint (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">F</i></span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">á</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">brica Nacional de Moneda y Timbre</span></i><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">), the objects on display are too small for amateur photographs anyway. If you are over 40, bring reading glasses. The panther's head on a Greek coin became a crab when I took a second look. A notable exception: silver, coaster-size fifty reales coins from 17th c. Spain. The museum presents the history of money </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">in 17 rooms</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">. </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Items are described in Spanish only. </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">A huge collection of coins, medals, paper bills, machinery, and postage stamps represents every era. Ostrogoths, Visigoths, and Vandals all struck their own metal coins on the Iberian peninsula. During Islamic rule in Spain, coins held large amounts of text but no images. For the first time I saw actual “pieces of eight”; a United States three-dollar bill printed in 1776 in Philadelphia; a 6-shilling bill from the same year, printed in New Jersey; paper money from the French Revolution and the early years of the Russian Revolution; and a treasure chest (disappointingly empty). </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"> </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">The bland euro, Spain's currency for now, can't hold a candle to the gorgeous coins of yore. <br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>________________<br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Until 12 February 2012, the Museum of Currency has a retrospective of Madrid artist Alfredo Alcain: <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">“ALCAIN, MIRADAS SOBRE PAPEL. Retrospectiva gr</b></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">á</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">fica 1969-2011.”</span></b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"> His work is both witty and accessible. A poster is available at the information desk--no money needed. <br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"></span></div>Molly Weslinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00923541998637446171noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2062785675489297833.post-61199814941621830942011-12-10T10:47:00.000-08:002011-12-10T15:46:30.019-08:00Mousie from Madrid Will Take Your Teeth<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">House Museum of the Mouse Perez / Casa Museo de Rat</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">ó</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">n P</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">é</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">rez</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">12/10/11 – Calle Arenal, 8</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">The U.S. has a tooth fairy, but children in Spain and many parts of Latin America expect an elegant rodent named Mousie P</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">é</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">rez to collect teeth from under their pillows and leave behind a gift. The legend of Mousie P</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">é</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">rez—<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">el ratoncito P</i></span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">é</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">rez</span></i><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">—was created in 1894 by a Jesuit named Luis Coloma. Coloma wrote the story as a gift and moral guide for Spain’s 8-year-old King Alfonso XIII, or “King Buby,” as his mother called him. In the story, the mouse takes the young King along on a nocturnal visit to the poorest neighborhoods of Madrid, so that Buby can witness the lives of less fortunate children. It's more of an adventure than a treacly tale, and the character of <i>ratoncito </i></span><i><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">P</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">é</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">rez</span></i><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"> has plenty of appeal.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Mnu_vER1n3o/TrzkWSeSe7I/AAAAAAAAAPQ/i2aKmmt4Kic/s1600/RatonPerezcover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Mnu_vER1n3o/TrzkWSeSe7I/AAAAAAAAAPQ/i2aKmmt4Kic/s640/RatonPerezcover.jpg" width="417" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cover of first edition, 1911</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Mousie Perez lives with Se</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">ñ</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">ora P</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">é</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">rez and children (Adolfo, Elvira, and Adelaida) in a Huntley’s biscuit box in the basement of the Carlos Prast confectionery, at number 8 Calle Arenal. The building still stands today, on a busy pedestrian street just steps from Puerta del Sol and the Royal Palace. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><br />
</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-lu7UgVvQTto/Tr0lggmqmnI/AAAAAAAAAPg/PViTat-Qbvw/s1600/Raton+Perez+pt+1+Nov+2011+010.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-lu7UgVvQTto/Tr0lggmqmnI/AAAAAAAAAPg/PViTat-Qbvw/s400/Raton+Perez+pt+1+Nov+2011+010.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Former Prast confectionery</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">In 2003, the city of Madrid paid homage to the mouse by placing a plaque and a tiny bronze sculpture just inside the doorway. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gyB9sozD8Eg/Tr0lDyXqtvI/AAAAAAAAAPY/-xqLUwvbi2k/s1600/Raton+Perez+pt+1+Nov+2011+004.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gyB9sozD8Eg/Tr0lDyXqtvI/AAAAAAAAAPY/-xqLUwvbi2k/s400/Raton+Perez+pt+1+Nov+2011+004.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Upstairs, a rather gaudy, one-room museum trades on the Mousie P</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">é</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">rez legend. It sells trinkets, including a facsimile of Coloma’s book (8 euros). For 1 euro, children and their parents enter a second room and gather around a cross-section of the P</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">é</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">rez family’s biscuit-box, to listen to a guide tell stories about the famous mouse. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-tL-RYk3w0ho/TuOlTm7EodI/AAAAAAAAAdU/LQGtSGs0LQM/s1600/Raton+Perez+Dec+2011+007.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-tL-RYk3w0ho/TuOlTm7EodI/AAAAAAAAAdU/LQGtSGs0LQM/s400/Raton+Perez+Dec+2011+007.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pre-teen in front of House Museum of Mousie Perez</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">On this foggy Saturday morning a few weeks before Navidad, the stairwell was thick with families. The museum allows 30 visitors at a time, and the next available tickets were for 7:30 p.m., a full seven hours later. I’d brought along Son 2 for company. He's 12, and still has some baby teeth and an interest, albeit waning, in talking animals--though only when they are engaged in mortal combat. Still, I knew what I had to do in order to see the tooth of Beatrix Potter. I sent my dear boy outside, and brazenly talked my way into the exhibit for a brief look around. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">My readers will be surprised to know that the teeth of several luminaries in addition to Ms. Potter are on display: Isaac Newton, Marie Curie, Edith Piaf, Louis Pasteur, Beethoven, Rosalia de Castro, and… Miguel de Cervantes. I smelled a rat. But no, the pleasant guide told me, “Rat</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">ó</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">n P</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">é</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">rez told us these are their teeth, and we can only take his word for it.” She looked at me as if to say, <i>these walls have ears</i>.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Back outside in the throbbing heart of Madrid, the line to buy lottery tickets for El Gordo, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">the Big One</i>, stretched across the Puerta del Sol. A motley Sponge Bob, looking a bit unlicensed, tried to interest passersby in a photo with him, for a small fee. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-YM_MuuGRHic/TuOhCWrVqTI/AAAAAAAAAdM/9KkgjLU4GH0/s1600/Raton+Perez+Dec+2011+014.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-YM_MuuGRHic/TuOhCWrVqTI/AAAAAAAAAdM/9KkgjLU4GH0/s400/Raton+Perez+Dec+2011+014.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">And then we saw a frozen flash mob, row upon row of people standing still, looking mournful, and holding the carcasses of small animals in their outstretched hands. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><br />
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">The group <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Igualdad Animal</i>, an animal equality organization, was holding a protest. It certainly caught our attention. Son 2 was thoughtful. “I hope that’s not Rat</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">ó</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">n P</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">é</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">rez,” he said, with a glint in his eye.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><br />
</div>Molly Weslinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00923541998637446171noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2062785675489297833.post-79989155625475731262011-11-27T08:05:00.000-08:002012-01-11T02:24:23.067-08:00Surprise in the Water Tower<b>Sala Canal de Isabel II</b><br />
<b>11/26/11 - Calle Santa Engracia, 125</b><br />
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">I'd been eying the structure for months, and finally learned its purpose. The defunct water tower built in 1911 looms over the Canal of Isabel II. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-BA-B7bkfo4I/TtDlk-ICK6I/AAAAAAAAAR4/Tr-qHSJB6gk/s1600/Sala+Canal+nov+2011+006.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-BA-B7bkfo4I/TtDlk-ICK6I/AAAAAAAAAR4/Tr-qHSJB6gk/s640/Sala+Canal+nov+2011+006.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Sala Canal de Isabel II</td></tr>
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</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">In the 1980s, the circular tower was remodeled inside and took on a new function as a multi-level <i>sala</i>, or hall, for modern photography exhibitions. The other day I dragged the protesting progeny to the excellent <b>free exhibit “Juan Gatti. Contraluz.”</b> Do bring a passport or other form of ID to enter the complex; a guard will sign you in at the entrance on Calle Santa Engracia, 125. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Gatti, an Argentinian graphic artist and photographer, moved to Madrid in 1980, at the beginning of the post-Franco flowering of art and culture known as <i>La Movida</i>. He found work in Spanish fashion and film, and designed many of the colorful posters for Pedro Almodovar’s movies. The first level of the exhibit contains Gatti’s inventive commercial work, including Vogue covers and portraits of celebrities. The remaining 3 levels display his black and white photography on a grand scale. A trippy, multi-media treat awaits you on the top level, as you sit back on a comfy lounge chair under the water tower’s dome. My fifteen-year-old enjoyed it so much he stayed for a second viewing. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">They liked it! (Tower entrance)</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">The exhibit “Juan Gatti. Contraluz” runs daily until 1 April 2012.</span> </div>Molly Weslinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00923541998637446171noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2062785675489297833.post-52732909246798338442011-11-23T14:27:00.000-08:002011-11-27T09:07:31.300-08:00Barefoot Nuns, Eyeballs on a Dish<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Monastery of the Barefoot Noblewomen / Monasterio de las Descalzas Reales<br />
11/22/11 – Plaza de las Descalzas, 3</span></b><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Before it became a refuge for five centuries of barefoot nuns, the Monasterio de las Descalzas Reales was a medieval palace of the famously inbred Habsburg royal family. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-GhboxTItVU8/Ts1tkzvfr-I/AAAAAAAAARQ/ixq-bpvEc6U/s1600/nov+2011+convent+008.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-GhboxTItVU8/Ts1tkzvfr-I/AAAAAAAAARQ/ixq-bpvEc6U/s320/nov+2011+convent+008.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tour entrance at left</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Joan of Austria was born in here in 1536. She was married to a double first cousin in Portugal, who impregnated her and then promptly died. Joan was called back to Madrid in 1554 by her brother King Phillip II, to rule for him while he lived in England, leaving her baby (named Sebastian—an uncommon moniker at the time) to be raised in Portugal. She never saw Sebastian again. In 1559, Joan turned the palace into a convent for women of the royal household, including herself. She remained single and died at age 38. Today about 20 nuns reside in the convent unseen, their choice of footwear unknown.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Pad9yyxJdaE/Ts1txrEmMII/AAAAAAAAARY/9RMHSzDt83k/s1600/JoanAustria.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Pad9yyxJdaE/Ts1txrEmMII/AAAAAAAAARY/9RMHSzDt83k/s400/JoanAustria.jpg" width="298" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Joan of Austria, age 25</td></tr>
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</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">The Monasterio (nun = <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">monja</i> in Spanish) is located close to the center of Madrid. If you arrive at 11 and can’t get a tour until noon, there are dozens of nearby distractions, including Starbucks and the Chocolater</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">í</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">a San Gin</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">é</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">s. The building was designed early in the 16<sup>th</sup> century by royal architect Juan Bautista de Toledo (see my report on the <a href="http://everymuseummadrid.blogspot.com/2011/10/fragments-of-patrimony-historical-crime.html">Musem of the Sewers of Peral</a>). The hour-long, guided tour in Spanish (and perhaps in English, when there are enough takers) costs 7 euros. The guide speaks very quickly, and lot of basic information is covered, but not what one really wants to know. Where are the nuns? What do they do all day? Why are there two separate paintings of girls holding dishes of eyeballs? </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Even if you don’t speak a work of Spanish, it is well worth tagging along to inhale the medieval atmosphere: the staircase frescos, family portraits, religious treasures, tiny chapels, and a vast chamber of floor-to-ceiling tapestries based on designs by Rubens. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"> </span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ucacnVqDFJo/Ts1t2virgLI/AAAAAAAAARg/KxvcvjXejsc/s1600/Descalzas+stairs.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="265" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ucacnVqDFJo/Ts1t2virgLI/AAAAAAAAARg/KxvcvjXejsc/s400/Descalzas+stairs.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Main staircase leading to cloister</td></tr>
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</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Over the centuries, the dowries of noblewomen enriched the convent’s art collection. The most valuable painting here is <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Caesar’s Money</i>, by Titian. As for the eyeballs, a quick search of religious symbology in gothic art suggests that the eyeballs are held by Saint Lucy (283-304), a wealthy young girl whose eyes were gouged out as punishment for steadfastly guarding her virginity and refusing to marry a pagan. A fitting subject for a convent of recluses.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">The shiny brick floor of the cloister is not original, but the Talavera tiles that line the walls and chapels are authentic, and beautiful. The cloister on the second floor looks down upon a symmetrical garden of orange trees and a fountain. One fully expects a unicorn to canter by. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><br />
</div>Molly Weslinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00923541998637446171noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2062785675489297833.post-91722738038404876302011-11-21T04:19:00.000-08:002012-02-16T13:29:05.009-08:00Yves Saint Laurent, Out and About<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Fundaci</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">ó</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">n Mapfre: Yves Saint Laurent Retrospective<br />
11/20/11 – Paseo de Recoletas, 23</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">November turns out to be a wet month in Madrid. Every bar along the street glows invitingly. It’s not cold by midwestern standards, but dogs are wearing sweaters, and prams navigate the sidewalks like barges, their tiny passengers snug under clear plastic rain shields. Even on a rainy Sunday there’s plenty to do. Mapfre—a Spanish insurance company that sponsors cultural exhibits on a regular basis—is hosting a free retrospective on the influential French fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent (1936-2008). </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/--qli1WC-WGo/Tso99_CK_LI/AAAAAAAAAQg/3KlzZWDz-9g/s1600/mondrian.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/--qli1WC-WGo/Tso99_CK_LI/AAAAAAAAAQg/3KlzZWDz-9g/s320/mondrian.jpg" width="201" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">1965</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">The precocious Saint Laurent took over the House of Dior in Paris at age 21. He popularized the trapeze dress, safari jacket, tuxedo suit for women, and see-through evening wear. He scandalized the critics in 1971 with clothes reminiscent of prostitutes in Nazi-occupied Paris. Saint Laurent was also the first designer to use ethnic models in his runway shows. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">There is little here about Yves the man. His disastrous experience in the French army during the Algerian war of independence, his addictions, and his private life are not on display. A replica of his modest work-table and studio shows only a few of Saint Laurent’s obsessions—a passion for art, and for his French bulldog “Moujik” (as documented by Andy Warhol, below).</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Though he rarely traveled beyond his villa in Morocco, Saint Laurent drew inspiration from world cultures. I’m old enough to remember the splash he made in 1976 with his Russia-inspired collection. </span></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Zh53luNVduY/Tso-EZJLc4I/AAAAAAAAAQo/_qmZ62BgmrU/s1600/russian+collection.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="264" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Zh53luNVduY/Tso-EZJLc4I/AAAAAAAAAQo/_qmZ62BgmrU/s320/russian+collection.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">When I arrived in Moscow in 1985, I think I expected to see Russian women dressed like that; in reality, the economy dictated a wardrobe of soviet drab—with the exception of fur hats, whose exuberance exceeded anything Saint Laurent could conjure. The lower floor of the exhibit chronicles the creative process, with four decades of Saint Laurent’s sketches and fabric samples. How dispiriting to see in detail the rise and fall of 1980s shoulder pads. During the flower of my youth, styles were so awful. And now Spain won’t let me forget: the 1980s gem <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">El Coche Fant</i></span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">á</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">stico</span></i><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"> (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Knight Rider</i>, starring David Hasselhoff) plays <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">daily </i>on Spanish television. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">On Sunday evening I saw “The Help” at Cinema Verdi, one of the few theaters in town that shows foreign movies with subtitles instead of dubbing. The American South has always seemed like another country, and in this film, set on the brink of the Civil Rights era, it’s truly alien. Ladies of the Junior League wear hometown versions of Dior’s “New Look,” their waists still as girdled as their outlook on life. I find myself wondering about attitudes toward race in Spain. During “The Help,” there were sniffles all around. Some things are universal. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">The Yves Saint Laurent Retrospective runs until 8 January 2012. </span></div>
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<br /></div>Molly Weslinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00923541998637446171noreply@blogger.com2