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Madrid
We have never been to Madrid so were unsure of its charms. As it is we must brave the railway to get to the middle and that is a 'short' walk from the campsite. The campsite is on the bend of a river, very near to a hotel. The site is also very popular with the Milanese who use it at the weekends. Noise and hoards greeted us as we arrived on Saturday afternoon, unlike any site we have so far been to this year.
To get to the station is a 25-minute walk according to the campsite. After 50 minutes, as we somewhat wearily and grumpily walked into the station yard we were not convinced. We had not helped ourselves, however, by taking vast loop away from the station as the result of a map misreading but we were left unimpressed by the experience. The train, however, left on time, it was clean and reasonably quick and took us, via industrial outposts now closed, into the middle of Madrid; to Sol. This plaza was heaving with tourists and, given that there were five exits from the underground station, and we chose the one Jeremy and Nola had not seen, it took a few moments for us all to meet up. We set then off on a meander through the streets looking and seeing what ever was to be seen: apparently 'Museos of Jambon' are popular in Madrid although Salamanca shops looked better, smelt better and certainly, tasted good!
For our culture visit we made a quick visit to the Reina Sophia Gallery that houses Picasso's Gernika. It is a highly impressive building. We decided to wait until 1;30 pm for a free entry that would give us about 45 minutes to visit the galleries (at that point I spotted that over 65's were free at all times). Unlike most art galleries this one has opted to display its pictures in some attempt to provide a story, or 'discourse' rather than put paintings together by artist or era or type. Thus, it might be possible to see a Dali, a Picasso and Goya all in the same room possibly alongside photographs and video. According to a guide that I bought, the gallery 'seeks to examine the complexity of issues affecting the societies of the twenty-first century and it does so by substituting the linear, formalist discourse inherited from an ethnocentric vision of art history by a critical discourse based on the diversity and conflicts of a globalized world.' (The book does go no but maybe that's enough to whet your appetite and, maybe, perhaps, just possibly, wish to read more. And OK it all sounds a bit pretentious I know. Actually, the reason I quote this lies in my attempt some years ago to read and then understand a book about History written by a postmodernist. It seemed to me that I got lost in its explanation after about two words. I have been trying ever since to fathom out what they are going on about. And I continue my quest! So having bought this book because it offered some thoughts on Gernika I thought I would share that quote with you!).
To be honest the display was interesting and it did seem to avoid the pitfalls of Bilbao and left the viewer to determine what they were seeing. More time needed I think at this place.
We then strolled into Ribero Park, a large open space probably a bit like Hyde Park, and popular with the Milanese. Grassy, shady, traffic free and with lots of cafés' as well as a lake we had a quiet few hours chatting and watching the fun: children playing, flamenco dancers putting on a show, cyclists and runners, keep people building muscles and others just lying about in the sun.
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