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Cuba - More than old cars
Weather for Madrid today. Sunny and a high of 23 degrees C. Cool overnight at 7. The mornings right up to about 1pm are quite cool then it warms up quickly and lasts until at least 9pm.
So, no one queried or commented on yesterdays title. Guess you all know who's quote it was then - well of course it was one of Dali's.
We hit the road earlier than yesterday and caught the hop-on hop-off bus for Route 2. This took us to the more modern part of the city. Well a modern city is a modern city so nothing really to report except that the new buildings appeared to be more architecturally innovative than in other cities we have visited. Madrid would also have to be one of the greenest cities we have ever visited. Most of the streets, including main streets, are tree lined to some extent and there are parks everywhere. We had planned on visiting the largest of the Madrid parks, the 350 acre Retiro Park, however will not be able to fit it in. Have to wait until next time.
By the way, if you are visiting Madrid and want to watch a Real Madrid Football (Soccer) match at the stadium then you will probably be out of luck. We went past the stadium (Santiago Bernabeu) and were told that it had a seating capacity of 80,000, down from its original capacity of over 110,000, and that 70,000 of these were held by season ticket holders. You might have to go and watch Atletico instead.
Most of the day was spent at the Prado Museum which is full of European paintings mainly done between the 15th and 19th centuries inclusive. Thankfully, for Bruce, there were very few Madonna with Baby paintings or perhaps Anne, our guide, was avoiding those particular rooms. Couldn't get through the entire collection but certainly enjoyed what we saw. Anne's highlights were the paintings by Caravaggio and José de Ribera. Bruce's favorite was the Seven Deadly Sins by Bosch, a painting that was designed to be walked around.
After the museum we walked to the Temple of Debod, an Egyptian temple built in the 2nd century BC. The temple was donated to the Spanish government in gratitude for the help that Spain provided to save temples which would be destroyed by the building of the Aswan dam in Egypt. It is not a large temple and since we deferred our trip to Egypt in 2011 we thought we should see it.
From the temple we walked to a restaurant we plan to eat at tomorrow afternoon and made a booking then walked back to the apartment stopping for something to eat and drink on the way.
So, no one queried or commented on yesterdays title. Guess you all know who's quote it was then - well of course it was one of Dali's.
We hit the road earlier than yesterday and caught the hop-on hop-off bus for Route 2. This took us to the more modern part of the city. Well a modern city is a modern city so nothing really to report except that the new buildings appeared to be more architecturally innovative than in other cities we have visited. Madrid would also have to be one of the greenest cities we have ever visited. Most of the streets, including main streets, are tree lined to some extent and there are parks everywhere. We had planned on visiting the largest of the Madrid parks, the 350 acre Retiro Park, however will not be able to fit it in. Have to wait until next time.
By the way, if you are visiting Madrid and want to watch a Real Madrid Football (Soccer) match at the stadium then you will probably be out of luck. We went past the stadium (Santiago Bernabeu) and were told that it had a seating capacity of 80,000, down from its original capacity of over 110,000, and that 70,000 of these were held by season ticket holders. You might have to go and watch Atletico instead.
Most of the day was spent at the Prado Museum which is full of European paintings mainly done between the 15th and 19th centuries inclusive. Thankfully, for Bruce, there were very few Madonna with Baby paintings or perhaps Anne, our guide, was avoiding those particular rooms. Couldn't get through the entire collection but certainly enjoyed what we saw. Anne's highlights were the paintings by Caravaggio and José de Ribera. Bruce's favorite was the Seven Deadly Sins by Bosch, a painting that was designed to be walked around.
After the museum we walked to the Temple of Debod, an Egyptian temple built in the 2nd century BC. The temple was donated to the Spanish government in gratitude for the help that Spain provided to save temples which would be destroyed by the building of the Aswan dam in Egypt. It is not a large temple and since we deferred our trip to Egypt in 2011 we thought we should see it.
From the temple we walked to a restaurant we plan to eat at tomorrow afternoon and made a booking then walked back to the apartment stopping for something to eat and drink on the way.
- comments
alister I found a bear too. In 612 an Irish Monk ( Gallus ) met a bear on his wanderings and saw it as a sign from God he should stay at that place and establish a monerstry. Place now known as St Gallen, Switzerland. Also the town symbol. ( him and the bear )
Gael Very impressed with your local knowledge of what's what and your curator skills around the galleries! Enjoy.
Allison Mmm I could think of lots of comments for this photo!!!
dianne i love icecream