Cuenca Perspectives by Jim: TRAVELING IN SPAIN : VALENCIA

Cuenca Perspectives by Jim: TRAVELING IN SPAIN : VALENCIA: Valencia Surprisingly to me, Valencia is about fourth in tourism among cities in Spain.  It's population for the city proper is ...

Cuenca Perspectives by Jim: Traveling in Spain: Part II: Madrid

Cuenca Perspectives by Jim: Traveling in Spain: Part II: Madrid: I'm back in Cuenca, Ecuador.  It's as if I never left.  I returned from Madrid on Saturday during a three day weekend festival ce...

Traveling in Spain: Part II: Madrid

I'm back in Cuenca, Ecuador.  It's as if I never left.  I returned from Madrid on Saturday during a three day weekend festival celebrating Ecuadorian independence from Spain.  Everybody in Cuenca must be on the coast or in Quito, the capital.  It's wonderful!  So tranquil, hardly a soul in sight, and all the traffic and congestion is like it never existed.  Possibly,  things may be shaking in El Centro, but there is no movement of groups of people walking back and forth from the center.  Even along the river as I walked this sunny Sunday afternoon, there is hardly a soul in sight.  Monday, things were back to normal, but another beautiful sunny day, and even for the beginning of a new work and school week things were quieter than usual.

No matter where I travel or how much I enjoy it; I am always happy that I have Cuenca to return to.  She may not be as large, culturally sophisticated, or as wealthy as some of these other cities; but she is truly the jewel of the Andes and a wonderful place to live.

I liked Madrid.  I only wished I had allowed a few additional days to take in a few other activities and feel more acclimated to the city as well.  So I'll share some photos with you of my remaining two days, which were spent in Madrid before returning home to Ecuador.  

Once I arrived by the speed train from Barcelona, I quickly wanted to make use of the rest of the day.  Luckily, museums are opened until 10:00 p.m.  I walked the six minutes from my Airbnb at about 4:30 p.m. to the Reina-Sofia National Museum of Modern Art.  This was my lucky day.  No lines and the entry was free.  As I mentioned in my first post on "Traveling in Spain", I wasn't impressed with the Prado and the Thyssen Art Museums, both of which share a triangular complex with the Reina-Sofia.  However, in the Reina-Sofia, I marveled at the paintings for two and a half hours.  Reading many of the placards, snapping photos, and taking time to study the paintings to attempt to actually see what the artists were attempting to convey, and what styles and techniques they used to convey perspectives to their viewers.  I haven't enjoyed a modern art collection this much since I visited the Guggenheim in Venice in 2015.

Surprisingly, of these three art museums, Reina-Sofia allowed photos to be taken.  Unfortunately, photos were not permitted in a few galleries adjacent to one of museum's top attraction, Picasso's "Guernicca", of the destruction of a town and its people during the Spanish Civil War, possibly Picasso's most famous work.

I so enjoyed this museum.  I had a magic wand audio, which worked beautifully with explanations of biographical and artistic technical details of specific paintings.  I wish I had time to discuss what the artists were attempting to convey, but that would take volumes.

There were wonderful collections, particularly of Cubism and Surrealism, and many of the artists like Picasso, Salvador Dali, Esteban Frances, Jean Metzinger, Angeles Santos, Auguste Herbin, Benjamin Palencia, Juan Gris, and Max Ernest--all contributed greatly to the birth and development of Modern Art movements.  Spanish artists were in the forefront of the movement.

                                          John Gris, 'The Bottle of Anis' 1914

               Xul Solar, 'The Walker's Meadow" 1917

Augusten Herbin, 'Portrait of Madame H 1912









Angeles Santos, 'The Gathering 1929

Salvador Deli in his early days of painting, 'Girl at the Window' 1925

 Juan Gris, 'Open Window with Hills' 1923, and the next painting is a variation from 1921.

Juan Gris, 'Inlaid Guitar' 1925

Salvador Deli, 'Still Life' 1926

John Metzinger, 'Still Life with Fruit and Jug' 1917

Esteban Frances, 'Wire Fences' 1937

Salvador Deli, 'The Endless Enigma                  













Salvador Dali, The Invisible Man' 1929-1932

Salvador Dali, 'Face of the Great Masturbater' 1929







Benjamin Palencia, 'Still Life' 1925

Max Ernest, 'Red Birds' 1926

Central Court Yard of Reina-Sofia.

Below is the entrance with glass elevators on both sides of the Reina-Sofia.  There are a number of restaurants on the square and I enjoyed sitting across the square from the entrance for hours, where I had a meal on three different occasions; especially since two of those meals were at a very good Italian restaurant.

A block from my apartment was the opera house, which has trees and bushes, etc growing on and out of the entire one side of  the building.  I am sorry this evening post below is so blurry.  The day time photo under it, shows just how awesome this is.  It is a wall to wall carpeting of vegetation.

Parque de El Retiro

My last full day in Madrid, I walked over to the Parque de El Retiro, Madrid's largest and most emblematic park.  Wow, another free entry, and any exhibits were free as well.  Another gorgeous day, and I wandered about the grounds for three and a half hours.  Not since I visited Kensington Park in London had I been in such a grandeur setting.  The pathways were everywhere., and the vast majority were paved.  I have no idea how much of the park I actually saw.

Some of the settings were cultivated like below.  There was a beautiful rose garden, but by the time I discovered it, I was looking for the exit and my cell phone battery was running low, so no photos of the garden, which was a shame because the roses were in full bloom.

I thought when I spotted this structure that it would be a botanical garden.  Not even close.

There were three or four sculpture pieces in all of this space, and there was the beauty of the park to appreciate as viewed through all the glass.

Another building situated in the park, had an exhibit of a Japanese painter by the name of Tetsuya Ishida.

Ishida's theme through all of his paintings in the exhibit--and there were many--dealt with man's lost of identity in a corporate structure of mindless consciousness.  A theme that was quite popular in Ishidas's heyday as a painter, which was especially held by those Japanese workers who were disaffected by the Japanese corporate culture.

The worker appears to be an automaton, and increasingly meshed with the machine.  Unfortunately, an entire exhibition with this theme gets depressing.  In fact, Ishida committed suicide when he was only thirty-two, so I'll spare you most of the collection.

Views of the park as some were cultivated.  Other areas grew wild.

It was an enchanting way to bring to a close my time in Spain, and to spend my last evening in my Italian restaurant across from the Reina-Sofia, return home to pack, and return to Ecuador the next day.

TRAVELING IN SPAIN : BARCELONA PALAU DE LA MUSICA CATALANA

Barcelona Palua de la Musica Catalana

The Barcelona Palua de la Musica Catalana was designed and constructed between 1905 and 1908 by architect Lluis Domenech Montaner..  It is one of many concert halls in Barcelona, and has been one of its cultural icons providing many concerts, operas, and music of many genres over the last century.

Upon entering through a court yard, I first came upon the cafeteria and gift shop below.

Notice the flower petals on the columns and in the ceiling, a reflection on Catalan Modernism and Gaudian influence.  The concert hall was built in what was then a working class neighborhood.  The architect was of the opinion that colorful floral and tree-like sculptures and tiles would bring something of nature to a neighborhood of brick, mortar, factories and pollution.

Gaudi was enlivened with the concept of making nature organic with art, so it appears that Montaner was influenced by Gaudi's work.

Area below on the way to the concert hall.

Outside area of colorful ceramic tiles and sculptured flowers springing from the tops of the pillars, which became some of the characteristics of Gaudi or Catalan Modernism.

          Beautiful Chandelier and stain glass ceiling inside the concert hall.

Notice the trees and galloping horses as a framework for the stage.

The Pipe Organ, which we in the tour group heard play Mendelssohn's Wedding March exit, served as a reminder of what a major role pipe organ music once played in Western musical compositions and performances.

I am sorry that some of the stage photos have a blank space, which is actually a projector screen, as workers were setting the stage for the next performance that appeared to include the use of the screen.

The concert hall seats about 2,200 people.  The hall is in the traditional style of length as opposed to width in relationship with the stage.  If one sits in the lower level (usually called the orchestra) or in the balcony directly opposite from the stage, one has a good seat.  The side balconies face directly opposite one another.  The side balcony seats were not angled toward the stage.  Not, in my opinion, the best sight views for the side balcony attenders.  

By today's standards, I found the stage to be quite small.  Other auditoriums in Barcelona are larger with larger stages to accommodate the sets often required of major operas, and the seating needed for grand orchestras.  The Palau de la Musica has nonetheless had an illustrious history as every major orchestra conductor of the twentieth and twenty-first century have performed in the concert hall.

Needless to say, the Palau de la Musica Catalana is an architectural and musical gem that is highly treasured in Barcelona as a reflection of Catalan tradition and culture.

Exterior of Palau de la Musica Catalana from a street view, which is actually located at the rear of the auditorium.  There are also a number of other concert halls and practice rooms in the building, which allows for multiple areas of practice, since four or more unrelated concerts can be performed in any given week in the main concert hall.