Last day in Madrid

On the last day of this three week cultural adventure the priority was to see Picasso's Guernica.

Picasso was born October 25th 1881 in Malaga Spain. The Guernica painting which is at the Centro de Arte Reina Sofia (Museum of Modern Art) was painted and displayed at the Spanish Pavilion at the Paris Exposition on 26th April 1937. The Pavilion was sponsored by the Republican Spanish Government that was still in power in the middle of the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939).

The inspiration for the painting was the aerial bombing of Guernica by the Nationalists led by General Franco. The bombing was by planes provided by the Nazi and Fascists (Germans and Italians). It was the first example of aerial bombing that resulted in the killing of many of the population (particularly women and children) otherwise known to-day as collateral damage. Following the second world war the painting, which expresses the grief of particularly women and children,  travelled the world, underwent several restorations before ending up in the Centro de Arte Reina Sofia as Spain's "National piece of art" in 1981. 



The Museum has a huge collection of modern art including  works by Picasso and Dali but also other Spanish artists - Miro, Gris and Tapies and International artists.  

Madrid was the center of the Republican side of the Civil was but fell to Franco's Nationalists on April 1st 1939 five months before the onset of WWII. 

That evening I was able to take in another display of passionate Flamenco dancing at Cardamomo Restauraunt.

The following day it was 24 hours door to door from my VRBO to home in Victoria.

Segovia and the Alcazar

This fortified palace has a history dating back to Roman times. It’s function changed many times - a palace, a prison and an armoury. It burned in 1872 but was then rebuilt based on much of its original layout and rooms. There was an excellent audio guide. The restoration reminded me of how well many of the palaces in St Petersburg have been reconstructed.
It was cold (Segovia is at 3000 feet) and then it started to rain but I had a hot choclate in the cafeteria to get warmed up before taking the bus back to the railway station.

Segovia and the Cathedral

The outside of Segovia’s cathedral which was built in Renaissance times (1525-1758) was Spain’s last major Gothic building. Embellished to the hilt with pinnacles and flying buttresses, the exterior is a great example of the final, overripe stage of Gothic, called Flamboyant. Yet the Renaissance arrived before it was finished - as evidenced by the fact that the cathedral is crowned by a a dome, not a spire.

Segovia and the Roman Aqueduct

I took a fast train (30 mins) from Madrid to Segovia. The first objective was to see the Roman Aqueduct. Segovia was a Roman military base. Empezror Trajan’s engineers built a nine-mile aqueduct to channel water from the Rio Frio to the city, culminating at the Roman Castle (which is the Alcazar to-day). The famous and exposed section of the 2000 year old Aqueduct Romano is 2500 feet long and 100 feet high. It has 118 arches, was made from 20,000 granite blocks without any mortar, and can still carry a stream of water. It functioned until the late 19th century.

The Prado

I have a copy of Rick Steves snapshot of Madrid and am using some of his descriptions.
Like the Teatro Real the Prado is celebrating its 200 year anniversary. Rick says “ With more than 3,000 canvases, including entire rooms of masterpieces by superstar painters, the Prado is my vote for the greatest collection anywhere of paintings by the European masters. The Prado is the place to enjoy the Spanish painter Francisco de Goya, and it’s also the home of Diego Valazquez’s Las Meninas, considered by many to the be world’s finest painting, period.”

Anyhow - I spent half a day here. I particularly liked the Spanish painters with their Realism and Nativism. One gets a little overwhelmed by too many Christian (Christ, virgin birth, stages of the cross, church related, promotion of the faith etc) type of paintings. The works of Goya were refreshing and realistic. I would go again because one gets visually exhausted with too many paintings. An art history buff could spend days here. An audio guide was most helpful in interpreting different paintings and artists.  Most of these are by Goya. I found it difficult to find images to post but thanks to my newfound IPad skills I found these on the web.

Some impressions by a tourist in Spain

Although I have been to Spain before - in the 1960s to Lekeitio, San Sebastian and Santander when Ocean Racing and then about 5 years ago to visit an old friend of Penny’s on the Costa Del Sol near Malaga I had never been to Barcelona and Madrid.

I find very few people speak Spanish even in the tourist industry (my two guides exceptions) but with little understanding one does get by and nowadays you can have an App on your IPhone which translates if needed.

The internet availability is excellent enabling rapid uploading of pictures. (my way of knowing how good the internet is). Also helpful in buying tickets and finding out how to get to places.(Google maps).

It seems every person has a smart phone - travelling on the Metro people are glued to their smart phones texting messages or playing music or games.

Spanish people seem somewhat abrupt and matter of fact but also helpful if one can understand.

The infrastructure (trains, metro, buses and roads) seem to be very modern. The Metro in Barcelona and Madrid is very easy to get around on and is extensive even though it may have originally been built at the beginning of the 20th Century or before. Maps of the Metro are available to assist with navigation.

 Although there seems to be a good bus system it was impossible to get a map of the routes inspite of efforts by my guides so I did not use it.

The high speed rail - between Barcelona and Madrid and to Toledo and Segovia are very modern, efficient and the stations recently modernised. Spanish history is fascinating and how Spain during different periods stimulated the arts and literature.

Spanish people keep different hours. Shops are open till about 9 pm. People eat dinner around 8 pm. There are crowds walking the streets at 8 pm.

It has helped to do a little research on the history of Spain before coming but then you get into focused history for each city and places like Montserrat, Toledo and Segovia.

I leave to come back to Canada in two days but wanted to record all this while it was still fresh in my aging brain.

Teatro Real

This historic theatre is celebrating its 200th anniversary. I have managed to attend three music events that happened to be on during the week that I am here in Madrid.
The first was a chamber music concert. The music was played by several different groups. There was a clarinet piece by Tchaikovsky, a Borodin quartet for strings, a very difficul Shostakovich piece for violin, cello and piano, two pieces by Spanish composers - one for brass and the other for a string quartet. Much enjoyed.
Then I was fortunate to see and hear the Nutcracker Ballet performed by the National Dance Company. Wonderful costumes, superb ballet dancing and a great orchestra.
Lastly I went to an Opera “Only the sound remains” by Japanese composer Kabila Saariaho who composed it in 1952.  Two principle singers - a baritone and a counter tenor (or alto) and a dancer on stage. Off stage four singers and an orchestra playing unusual Japanese type of music. I had a ticket in the “Gods”. The audience liked it but I found it, although a very professional performance, somewhat difficult to get used to.

Some statistics

When travelling to another country it is interesting to compare some statistics.

Spain has a population of 46.5 Million. Canada 37 Million. British Columbia 4.8 Million.
Spain’s GDP per capita in USD $28,156. Canada in $51,315.

16% of Spain‘s GDP is tourism. In 2017 82 Million tourists visited Spain. 6 Million visited Madrid.

Annual health spending in Spain USD $3,371 per capita, Canada $6,604, US $9,596.
Of paraticular interest Spain Life expectancy at birth 82.83 years. For Canada at birth it is 79 years for men and 83 for women.

I could not help asking the question what is the current life expectancy for a 79 year old male in Canada and in BC.  At 65 a male in BC is expected to live 19.2 years = 84.2. There has been some recent publicity about male life expectancy in BC dropping because of the high number of deaths from Fentanyl related ovedose deaths. This illustrates that  the statistical models for calculating life expectancy are affected by deaths in each age group.

It might be that in Spain, which was not involved in the first or second world wars has a high life expectancy. However there was a lot of deaths (about 500,000 by one account) in the 1936-1939 Civil war. It needs someone more knowledgable than me to provide a better explanation. One thing is clear though is that countries who have very high health spending do not necessarily achieved better outcomes (like length of life).

Spain’s unemployment is 15.5% overall and 34.7% for those aged 16-24. The rate is falling rapidly based on one graph that I saw.  In discussion with a few young people - even if you can get a job having obtained an education you may still be in a low paid, service injures types of job.

Catedral de Toledo

With only three hours to spare I made my made the objective to visit the Catedral de Toledo. It was well worth the visit. This Cathedral has the most spectacular interior. The exterior is mostly just walls and the entrances. The interior however is one of the most spectacular I have seen - as spectacular as the interior of Basilica San Marco in Venice (where you are not allowed to take pictures).
The Cathedral is primarily Gothic. But since it took more than 250 years to build (1226-1495) with continued embellishments after that (every archbishop wanted to leave his imprint). It is a mix of styles, including Gothic, Renaissance, Baroque, and Neoclassical. Circling the interior are ornate chapels purchased by the town’s noble families. The Sacristy has its world-class collection of famous artists.

First day in Madrid

The fast train from Barcelona was travelling at 300 KM per hour at times but only took about 2 1/2 hrs.

As in Barcelona I hired a personal tour guide to tour the center of Madrid.  I also needed help plan the rest of the week - to get tickets at Teatro Real, to decide where to do side trips (Toledo and Segovia), how to get to different railway stations, how to travel on the Metros, how to get to the airport, finding a map etc.

My personal guide Jorge was most helpful and while doing the tour we covered the tumultous history of the Iberian peninsular and Spain. Madrid history includes the Roman occupation, the Moors (Muslims), the Christians including the Inquisition, the Jews, the Hapsburg Monarchy, the Bourbon Monarchy, the Civil War (1936-1939 - Madrid was the center of the Republicans and was bombed by Franco’s military), the Franco dictatorship and now the post Franco and post 2008 economic downturn eras. Jorge said I was staying in the Gay area (I quickly told him I was not Gay!). It is an area that used to be "rough" and has been renovated since the Franco era - now full of many shops and restaurants. I learned that the current minority Spanish Government (essentially a federation of states like Canada) is debating and hoping to bring in Proportional Representation.  

Here are a few pictures from the day.

The Royal Palace (Bourbon Monarchy).

The Parliament Buildings and a demonstration in process.

City Hall (local government)

Fast train to Toledo

It takes 30 mins on a fast train to Toledo. Because of the expected large crowds in Madrid (it is a long weekend) I decided to go to Toledo on the second day. In fact earlier trains were fully booked to I had to wait till 13.50. However I could still get in three hours in Toledo returning at 17.25.

It was a fairly long walk and steep climb up into the city. Perched strategically in the center of Iberia, for centuries Toledo was a Roman transportation hub with a thriving Jewish population. After Rome fell, the city became a Visigothic capital (A.D.554). In 711 the Moors (Muslims) made it a regional center. In 1085 the city was reconquered by Christians, but many Moors remained in Toledo, tolerated and respected as scholars and craftsmen. Whereas Jews were commonly persecuted elsewhere in Europe, Toledo’s Jewish community - educated, wealthy, and cosmopolitan - thrived from the city’s earliest times. Jews of Spanish origin are called Sephardic Jews. The American expression "Holy Toledo" likely originated from the Sephardic Jews who eventually immigrated to America. To them, Toledo was the holiest Jewish City in Europe ... Holy Toledo!

Toledo remained Spain’s political Capital until 1561, when Phillip II moved to more-spacious Madrid. It seems likely the Monarchy wanted to separate itself from the power and influence of the Roman Catholic Church.

These slides are out of order. The first is the river Tajo which surrounds Teledo.

Here are the fast trains that run to Toledo.

This is the Madrid main railway station called Atocha.

Here is a view of the ancient bridge over to Toledo with the town in the background.

A typical Toledo street - narrow and full of tourists.

Last morning in Barcelona

With two hours to spare before the train to Madrid I walked to the Arc De Triomf. This amazing structure and Citadel park were created for a World Exposition in 1888. I then took the Metro to Sants the main train station. Below the photos you will see the Catalan Independance flag. It was a fine sunny day and a nice way to spend the morning.