At the end of our last blog Kristina’s folks had flown to Barcelona, and we had stayed behind in Sevilla. When we all returned to Madrid, we met Patty and Bill for a final get together in Spain.
Patty treated us to a delicious late lunch of sole and sautéed mushrooms, among other dishes.
Then we walked to the Caixa Forum building and looked at the impressive vertical garden nearby.
The Caixa Forum building is very interesting. It had been an electric substation built of bricks, but in 2001 architects Herzog & de Meuron began transforming it into an art museum. Construction took six years. The new floors have a facade of oxidized cast-iron that is similar to the original brick floors in color.
These close up shots from inside the building show details in the cast-iron and the interesting shadows that result.
At the top of the interior staircase you can look down at the six floors in the building. That’s Kristina one floor down.
And here she is on the ground floor entrance. The stainless steel flooring on the stairs and bottom floors was very attractive.
Caixa Forum had an architecture and furniture exposition of Alvar Aalto from Finland. He designed the chair that Pete and Patty took turns sitting in. Our visit with Patty and Bill was a perfect finale to a fantastic trip around Spain together!
This was our third time to stay in Madrid, so we have gotten to know the city pretty well. We love how vibrant the city is and how friendly the people are. Pete is in Plaza Santa Ana and next to a statue of Federico Garcia Lorca, the Spanish poet who was tragically killed at age 38 during the Spanish Civil War, possibly due to his political beliefs or his sexuality.
This is luxury hotel in the same plaza at night. We were walking back to our Airbnb apartment from the movies when Pete took this photo.
A great way for us to practice hearing and understanding Spanish is going to the movies. This is José Luis García Sánchez at Cine Dore. We watched a number of his short films including Español para extranjeros, a three minute film on difficulties and tragedies of immigrants trying to get into Spain. You don’t need to know much Spanish to be moved by Español para extranjeros.
For our week in Madrid we spoke only Spanish, studied and read in Spanish, and went to various cultural events. Coincidentally, the name of a new flamenco performance we watched was La Extranjera. Extranjera means stranger in Spanish. Here you can see dancer Gabriel Aragú, who was a blur of movement.
The director of La Extranjera is Natalia García-Huidobro, a Chilean feminist. She is also an incredible dancer, and her dress was amazing. Here’s a link to a short video clip of the show.
We were given free tickets for the Railroad museum while at the Cine Dore film festival, so we checked it out. Behind Pete is one of the model train exhibits that even had a flowing stream and harbor.
Pete is seated in a 1950s train car. The museum wasn’t very interesting, but it was fun to try to figure out all the signs in Spanish.
We visited Museo Cerralba, a 19th century mansion, and we found it more impressive than the royal palaces we have visited in Spain. The wealthy and knighted Enrique de Aguilera y Gamboa shown in this photo lived here.
His son left the mansion and all its contents to the state when he died, and it was decided to keep the museum decorated exactly as the mansion was. This is the impressive ballroom.
Here’s the dining room.
And this is where The 17th Marquis of Cerralbo entertained important political figures.
Pete is in front of a table decorated with swords.
We were struck by the contrast between the female figure and the swords.
One wing of the house held collections of armor and antiquities.
And this photo shows the slightly more modest personal living space of the family.
On our last day in Madrid we could not resist going back to San Gines. This time we tried chocolate con porras, which are larger than churros.
Kristina is ready to take a big, delicious bite!
We visited the Madrid History Museum. The impressive Spanish baroque facade is from the 1720s when the building was a hospital.
The museum had an exhibit on finding the mortal remains of Miguel de Cervantes this year in February. Cervantes, the author of Don Quijote as well as many plays, had died in Madrid in 1616. There are records showing he was buried in the cloister of a church of the Trinitarias, who in 1580 paid ransom to Barbary pirates and secured Cervantes' freedom after he had been a slave for five years. Cervantes never forgot the Trinitarians' kindness and requested to be buried among them. He died poor and therefore his remains were placed in an unmarked tomb in the crypt. Cervantes had been a soldier before he was captured by pirates, and he had been shot three times in battle. The damage to his ribs and left arm from the bullets was still visible in his remains, thus giving proof they were his.
On our way to Aranjuez we saw some old fashioned windmills that are similar to the type that Don Quijote might have tilted at 500 years ago.
The Spanish King Philip II had his summer palace built in Aranjuez and it was completed in the mid-18th century. The gardens were our favorite part.
With an aquatic theme throughout, we saw mermaids, sea horses and other sea animals around the grounds.
This bust has a smiling face on its waist that is unusual. Aranjuez is a UNESCO world heritage site.
The palace itself is not as majestic as Palacio Real in Madrid, but the scale of Aranjuez is impressive.
This corridor with its repeating arches seems to go on forever. The tracks down the center were used by carriages to avoid the cobblestones and soften the ride.
We also visited Córdoba because we wanted to see the mezquita (Mosque) with its iconic red and white arches. The mezquita was built starting in 784 and was expanded over centuries by the Muslim rulers. There are 856 columns holding up the arches that are made of limestone and brick.
At key points in the mezquita there are elaborately decorated arches, like these in front of the Mihrab.
This is the Mihrab, which shows the direction of Mecca and thus the direction to pray.
Here’s the dome over the Mihrab. With only a few skylights in the mezquita, overall it seemed dark inside.
During 1236 the mezquita was converted into a Catholic church. Behind these elaborate arches is a crucifix, one of many Christian symbols in the cathedral.
Cordoba has a long history dating back to Roman times. We walked across this Roman bridge. In the background is the Cathedral and former mosque.
We are in front of the Calahorra tower that was built in the 12th century to protect the bridge.
As evening approached, the light on the Guadalquivir River was beautiful.
Also in Cordoba are beautifully lit ruins of a Roman temple.
We took the train to Barcelona. We saw many Catalan flags hung on balconies, showing support for Catalonian independence from Spain.
It felt like fall in Barcelona with cool temperatures and overcast skies. We read good reviews about a ramen restaurant called Ramen Ya Hiro that it made us want hot soup.
The restaurant serves authentic Japanese ramen. Pete is clearly enjoying his miso ramen with chashu pork and an poached egg.
We love Barcelona for its Catalan modernism architecture, and we enjoyed walking around and discovering interesting sights like these cool doors.
Anton Gaudí is the best known Catalan modernist architect, and his impact on Barcelona is everywhere. Pete is sitting on one of the many Gaudí benches. Made of ceramic tile shards and wrought iron, the benches are also street lights.
Similar to nearby Valencia's coat-of-arms (a crown topped with a bat), Gaudí's street lights have a bat over a crown too. We think it's because both cities have roots in the ancient kingdom of Aragon, which first had a bat symbol.
Gaudí also designed the beautiful cement tiles on Las Ramblas, the popular strolling street of Barcelona.
In Gaudí's Casa Milà there was an exhibition on Catalan modernism. This is a mold for his iconic street tiles.
Included in exhibition was this flower mosaic from the Palau de Música Catalonia designed by Lluís Domènech i Montaner.
Wrought iron with curves and interesting animals were also common during modernism's heyday, approximately 1880-1910.
Modernism had an opportunity to flourish in Barcelona, because by the mid-1850s the population needed space beyond what the original walled city provided. The exterior walls were torn down and laws concerning building facades were relaxed. The result was the creation of the beautiful Eixample district, with its fantastic buildings.
In the heart of the Eixample is Casa Batlló, with its curved balconies and ceramic mosaic facade.
Casa Batlló was architected by Gaudí and it's one of our favorites. The locals call it the house of bones for the balconies that look like vertebrae.
We also enjoyed seeing it at night.
On October 19th Casa Battló was lit with pink lights for breast cancer awareness.
We also visited La Sagrada Familia, Gaudí's enormous church. You can see construction cranes, as the church is still being built.
We first visited Barcelona on our honeymoon in 2003. A lot more has been built since then! This photo we took from a tower shows part of the roof of the church that was still being built.
This photo is also from our honeymoon. We are on the bridge between two towers about 100 meters in the air.
And here's a contrasting tower shot selfie from this visit. The past 12 years has changed us too!
Started in 1882, there will be 18 towers when the church is finished. This is looking down a tower's interior staircase.
We could hear the sounds of power tools throughout our visit and see evidence of construction almost everywhere in the church.
This photo from a tower shows the nave with a colorful fruit-topped spire in front.
Gaudí designed the Passion Facade to depict the death of Christ in stark, angular forms, like this emaciated figure of Christ with a skull and mourners at his feet. The controversial sculptures are the work of Josep Maria Subirachs.
In tribute to the great architect, Subirachs carved Gaudí's face on this figure and included the iconic chimneys from Gaudí's Palau Güell as helmets on the Roman soldiers.
On the west side is the Nativity Facade with more traditional sculpture.
Pete is entering the church through a Catalan modernist style door.
Nature themes predominate in modernism.
Inside the church are huge columns that change shape as they reach up, like tree trunks growing up towards the sky. Gaudí used geometry to define the shapes of the columns. Wikipedia explains, "The simplest example is that of a square base evolving into an octagon as the column rises, then a sixteen-sided form, and eventually to a circle. This effect is the result of a three-dimensional intersection of helicoidal columns (for example a square cross-section column twisting clockwise and a similar one twisting counter-clockwise)."
The central and highest dome is a hyperboloid vault reaching seventy-five meters in height that is supported by four massive columns.
The altar is comparatively modest, with a crucifix by Carles Mani i Roig. The crucifix hangs from a small canopy that appears to be floating.
Currently there are two organs, but Gaudí's design calls for four. The church might be finished by 2026, the centenary of Gaudí's death. He is quoted, "My client is not in a hurry."
Other columns highlight important places in Catalonia. We will be going to Girona from Barcelona.
Gaudí took great care in designing the light sources for La Sagrada Familia, with stained glass at the lower levels. The choir balconies surround the church benches (shown in the right corner of the photo) with light from the stained glass windows flooding in.
We loved the beautiful stained glass. Since 1999 it has been designed by Joan Vila-Grau. There is still more to be added to the upper levels, although Gaudí's design calls for clear glass at the upper levels too.
You can see the word peregrin at the top of this close up. Peregrin means pilgrim in Catalan.
We couldn't resist visiting La Sagrada Familia at night too. It's so impressive!
We made a day trip to Montserrat, the most important pilgrimage site in Catalonia.
Montserrat is the holiest place in Catalunia because of its long history as a place of worship.
We enjoyed hearing the boys choir school, L'Escolania, sing in the church.
This is the black Madonna and child wooden sculpture from the late 12th century. The varnish used to seal the paint on the sculpture turned black over time.
We like this tile artwork of Mary and Jesus because it blesses pilgrims who make the journey here.
At Montserrat we were pilgrims in our own way, appreciating the 16th century ruined hermitages and the people who started a long tradition here of dedicated seclusion and meditation.
We loved hiking in the natural beauty of the mountains.
Montserrat is named for the steep rock formations that look like serrated knife blades.
There were a few trees with brilliant autumn foliage.
Next we head to Girona for a 6 day cycling trip. It will be a cycling pilgrimage to demonstrate our belief that we humans have a moral imperative to limit our use of fossil fuels and reduce our carbon output. Along with thousands of other pilgrims we are calling for our leaders to negotiate a legally binding climate action plan this December in Paris. Follow us on Twitter @pandkroam.
