Madrid day 1
Got here on a whim, late yesterday to be exact. The hotel was actually student/visitor housing during other parts of the year. Breakfast meager, but the coffee good. Started walking. The interwebs said wearing face masks was no longer mandatory as of late June. However, 86.3-ish percent of people did wear facial masks outside, so I just went with the majority vote. First thing on the agenda was the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum. For starters the Georgia O´Keeffe special exhibition represented a nice collection of colourful and invigorating abstracts along with some less instersting floral ones packed with vulvar symbolism. In addition some of NYC skyscapers. Next a multitude of arts from the fifteenth century and ondwards. Of note, these included that pomegranate/tiger painting by Dalí, and great ones by Hopper, Cezanne, and Singer Sargent as well as lesser works by Caraveggio, Delacroix, Miro, Manet, Monet, Schiele, Kandinsky, Rothko, Mondrian, Picasso, Ernst, Munch, Pissarro, and Degas. Feels like I’m more or less naming all the painters that I know. There was even a Seghers painting, an obscure Dutch landscape artist that I’d seen exhibitions about at Getty as well as the Met. In all, an extraordinary collection and a must see for anyone into art.
Next, I had an oxtail stew and a ricotta spinnach empanada as a very late lunch at Mercado San Miguel. Neat, and kind of like street-food if it was invented a century or two ago. Second dinner at the famous Bar Postas, which was a Bocadillos Calamri, a white bread roll filled with nothing but palate scorchingly hot calamari. Not worth the hype IMHO. After that churros with a big cup of melted chocolate to dip them in at the equally famous Chocolatería San Ginés furnished with neoclassic decor, partially obscured by a multitude of photos showing famous people who’d visited the place. Nice but nothing out of the ordinary. Surprisingly it wasn’t busy when I visited.
Next, I walked back to the hotel. Lounged at the small rooftop swimmingpool. Almost forgot to take off my face mask before going into the pool. A late dinner at a nearby Venezuelan place. I was the only patron, but they also did takeaway. Arepas with plantain, pulled pork, cheese, black beans in a pita-ish shell. Along with that koriander sauce and other dressings.
