Saturday morning I slept a little - a deserved rest from our busy Tolodeo day. After waking a little after 10, I was in my room (blogging about Friday) when Elena woke up and peeked into my room to see if I'd had breakfast yet. When I said no, she said that she wanted to make me something yummy. I assumed I'd go the kitchen in a few minutes, but to my delightful, surprise Elena appeared in my doorway with my breakfast on a tray. She is so sweet! Breakfast was cafe con leche, gingersnap cookies and buttered toast sprinkled with sugar. Yum! Plus, everything is tastier in bed don't you think? Elena is a super senora and I am loving living with her! Anyway, it was a lovely way to begin my morning and it made me happy while I finished my Toledo blog. (There's a little meta-blog moment for you).
After a morning of writing and homework and a lovely lunch with Elena - then Elena went to siesta and I headed out to Reina Sofia, Madrid's more modern art museum. There I met Lindsay and John. We all wanted to see the museum and on Saturdays it's free from 2:30-9 pm so this was the perfect time to do it :) There was a cool sculpture in the courtyard with which we took pictures. Then, we started our artsy exploration on the second floor where the most famous painting in the museum resides: Picasso's Guernica. This black and white war painting was huge in person and seeing it in person was a fantastic experience. You can see the texture of the paint as well as some of the images he painted under layers of paint. Always awesome to see a masterpiece in
person! After this we continued to explore - seeing many minor works by Picasso, Salvador Dali and Joan Miro. It was fun walking around to see the many unusual images. After this we
moved into the temporary exhibits (these were the most recent works, ones done in the past decade or so). I didn't know any of the artists but these exhibits were very moving. Two exhibits particularly caught my attention. First Exhibit: included 101 black and white portrait
photos each framed identically and lined up along three walls of a room. Each photo was captioned with a first name and an age (ie. Pamela 3 years). However, what made this most powerful was that in each photo the person was one age older than the last person. Each photo was unique and the ages ranged (from 8 months to 100 years old). The result, an exceptional display of "a human life." Super cool.
Second Exhibit: This one was even more powerful. This room had two rows of identically framed newspaper front pages running the length of all four walls. All the headlines shared a common theme: September 11. All different countries. All different languages. An exhibit in Spain about a fateful day in America. I actually was talking with Elena the other day about 9/11. Our conversation surprised me I guess. She spoke about it the same way people do in the States. She had that same tone of voice, she remembered where she was when it happened (about 4pm here) and she remembers watching it with disbelief on TV. I guess I'd just thought of it as such an American event and I forgot that
the rest of the world was watching too. I had that same wave of feelings in this exhibit. It reminded me that this event doesn't just belong to America. It is regrettably and forever part of our shared history as citizens of the world. It was a moving exhibit. For this reason, the exhibits of the "newer art" were fascinating. They are unknown and new and thus have a great power to move those who accidentally stumble upon them. I also enjoyed my exploration because we were allowed to take photos almost everywhere in the museum (without flash). This was strange to me but it was great as a way to capture what I was seeing and share it with you all. (The above photos are well known works by Picasso and Joan Miro). This was a pleasant visit. I always love art museums and this one is huge so of course I enjoyed it immensely!
After the museum I returned for supper and then set out for a night on the town. A group of us headed out to Chueca (the gay neighborhood) to check out the night life there. We first went to a bar with sweet, strong Sangria. It was good but 'un poco fuerte' (thus my only drink of the night). After this we ventured into the neighborhood and into a few gay bars. I could sense the fun vibe, but Lindsay and I decided to leave before we went to a club. I can tell that I would probably enjoy the Chueca nightlife a lot because the dancing is wilder and the chance of being hit on by a creepy guy is much reduced (as they aren't interested in me, lol). However, Lindsay and I wanted to visit the Rastro again in the morning and we didn't want to pay for a cab home. So we caught the last metro and ended our night "early" at 1:30.
My decision to come home early was rewarded when I awoke rested in the morning to visit the Rastro. It was a successful shopping trip :) Then, after the Rastro, we headed to the Almudena Cathedral. This cathedral is next to the Royal Palace. It was consecrated by Pope John Paul II, is the head of the Diocese and the seat of a bishop. The interior is beautiful - with "pop art" styled stained glass windows and brightly painted ceiling. I didn't take pics (because we were there for mass) but I intend to return to see it at length as a tourist. The mass was beautiful. Bells ringing in two towers called us to the church as we walked from the Rastro. We found seats in the center (to see better). This was wonderful because in a loft directly behind us the organ began playing and an angelic choir sang during the service. It was a very worshipful environment. And, I understood most of the service. It was a little longer because someone was "beatified" in the service. Lindsay (my Catholic friend) told me that this particular nun was being honored on her way to sainthood. Thus, the subject of the bishop's homily was all about this nun, her faithful life and her good works, as a good example to us all.
I am very glad I could go to mass at this Cathedral and am glad I found a "church buddy" in Lindsay. We won't be able to go much as we are traveling many of the other Sundays. However, we are planning to go close to our last Sunday here as it will be the first Sunday of Advent.
In short, though I "stayed home" this weekend, I didn't spent my days lounging about. It was a wonderful weekend spent seeing my "Spanish home" ... pues, es todo. Hasta luego.
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