Day 73, Familiar Places and Faces

As my new friend Calvin’s one full day planned for Madrid, I pointed out some places to go in the city.  Haha, I thought I hadn’t seen much, but it turned out that I, in actuality, was familiar with the biggest things on that tourist map. (Bless the Argentine woman who gave it to me!)  Nevertheless, I was there as a bit of a guide but also as a tourist myself, so we took advantage of the wealth of free time our lives have become and decided to go to the Cathedral of the Almudena, the Royal Palace, the opera house, the Plaza Mayor, the San Miguel market kitty corner to the Plaza, a couple of churches nearby, a kebab place at the Plaza for lunch, the Prado, the Reina Sofia museum, a restaurant for a paella dinner, and McDonald’s for internet and dessert to end the day.

While Calvin went to the Prado, I set off to the National Library to do more work on my thesis.  Yeah, I was so involved in it that I took a power nap next to my 17^th century books, compared all of 1.5 pages of text, and chatted it up with my sister, giving her advice for her trip to Europe.  The last bit of my time waiting for Calvin to finish with the museum, I took pics of the scenery and I sat on the lawn just outside of the Prado, enjoying watching the family next to me as the adults talked and the children rolled down the hill, listening to the sweet and simple Spanish guitar music nearby, and feeling the pleasant coolness in the shade.   

 Fountain scenery in between street lanes

A palace-turned-post office with a fountain

 When Calvin finally was ready, I pulled myself away from the pleasant scene to move on to a free visit to the Reina Sofía museum, where the famous Guernica painting by Pablo Picasso from the Spanish Civil war is preserved as well as works by Salvador Dali.  I am no fan of modern or abstract art, but seeing it in person along with Picasso’s practice sketches and actually looking at the details of the scene really me conmovió: I felt a small hint of what I’d imagine to be the terrible bombing, bloodshed, and horror suffered in the small bombed town of Guernica.

 Guernica and the horrors pertaining thereunto as portrayed by Picasso (not my pic--those were forbidden)

  

Didn't you know Dali painted me in "Girl at the Window"? ;)

To end the tourist day, we ended by having dinner and stopping in at a McDonald’s for internet and dessert.  Hah, I happened to wear a BYU shirt for once and that combined with Calvin and my speaking English tipped off a couple of women nearby.  One turned to me, simply because she could tell I was a fellow BYUian.  What she didn’t realize was that we already knew each other—the two women are pedagogy professors in the Spanish Department!  Thankfully, the one talking to me did remember my name once I pointed out the connection.

All in all, a day mixed with seeing old and new, both of places and of people.