I met my daughters for a leisurely breakfast at 8:30. Our plans for the day did not require rushing, which was nice.
When we left the hotel at 10:05, it was cool, windy, and sunny with a few clouds. We'd stopped at the front desk to ask about Mass times for Sunday, but the man could only tell us where the church is. Really? In a Catholic country, the hotel guests do not frequently ask about church? So, we walked around the corner to the church and found a notice with the times.
The Metro train came immediately, when we reached the station and we were on the train to Bilbao at 10:14. Stopping in the station to take some quirky pictures of my daughters made us miss the next train, but that was okay. We arrived at Atocha at 10:35.
We'd changed our original schedule a bit to move the Botanical Garden to our first stop. The heat the past few days had convinced us to do this in the morning rather than late afternoon. So, we strolled there from the station and it took only 11 minutes to reach the entrance, which is next to the Prado. We saw a lot of police around the Prado and could never determine why. The garden was truly lovely. We found lots of gorgeous flowers still in bloom in spite of the heat. It was perfect for picture taking, both of the flowers and ourselves.
Black-eyed Susans!! A touch of Maryland in Madrid.
Tall, old trees made the setting park-like. Some trees were obviously planted to be part of the display; some seemed to have always been there.
Along one side of the main garden, there were statues of people, whom we didn't know, but we were sure they meant something to the Spaniards.
After the floral area, there were gardens of foods, which, unfortunately had signs saying they couldn't be eaten. Perhaps that was just to keep people from picking them. We saw potatoes(the 2nd picture below), tomatoes (3rd),corn, berries, tobacco (!), and gourds, such as Calabaza- Turk's Turban:
We were surprised to see that so many of the other guests were wearing long sleeves and/or pants. It was too warm for that.
At the bottom of the garden, there was a little hill with rocks and a bit of a path, which my younger daughter climbed.
There was also a very nice pond, as well as palms, some of which where from the US.
Going to the side of the main garden, we found the Conservatory, which had a very nice setting.
We didn't go in, but continued on to the restrooms, which were near the grape arbor. Helpfully, the vines were labeled. These are garnacha blanca:
Our final stop was the greenhouses, one of which had a huge display of cactus, many from the American Southwest.
The small shop at the exit/entrance mainly featured seeds and pots, which was not surprising. We did pick up a couple of botanical postcards.
When we left at 12:30, there was still a breeze, but it was noticeably warmer. The 10 minute walk to the Reina Sofia was uneventful. This was the third and final art museum on our pass.The museum stands out, because of its modern entrance that was attached to the front of an 18th century hospital that had been renovated.
The museum is named for the queen who founded it. It features art that is much more recent than the Prado. In fact, it sort of picks up where the Prado leaves off, since many of the works here were moved from the Prado. We paid for the audio, just as we had at the Prado, but this time it was a waste of 4,50 euros. It really talked about very few of the paintings. The website warned that it was chilly inside to protect the art and to bring a jacket. We found it to be very comfortable and were amused by how bundled up the guards were. But, perhaps, if you are standing around all day it is colder.
All of the usual suspects of 20th century art are here, with the most famous painting being one you can't take a picture of: Picasso's Guernica. There are guards on either side of this huge painting, because someone attacked it in the past. I was surprised by how immense it was. I'm not sure that it really stirred my emotions, however.
I tried to take pictures of paintings that I liked and/or were famous. Well, at least I'd seen reproductions of some of them.
Woman in Blue by Picasso. So, even though we didn't visit his museum in Barcelona, we did see some of his works.
Arrangement According to the Laws of Chance by Arp. Now, doesn't that look like it is someone's rather abstract take on a dinner plate of food?
Ingres's Violin by Man Ray. I feel like you see lots of take-offs on this, including the logo for the current TV show,
Nashville. I wonder if Man Ray was the first?
The Secret Life of Courtship by Rene Magritte. I love his surrealist paintings. I was unfamiliar with this one.
Painting (Head of a Smoker) by Miro. You know, I could wrap my head around this one more than most any of those we saw in his museum in Barcelona. His best works must be anywhere but in that museum.
I was very happy to find Dali so well represented:
Still-Life dates back to 1924, which seemed surprisingly early to me.
I know I've seen The Great Masturbator before. There is so much to discover in that painting!
Girl from Back seemed very un-Dali-like.
A painting that struck me by Gris is titled Open Window:
We took a break at 3:05 for lunch. This meant heading over to the modern addition to the museum and passing through the enclosed area between the two buildings, which was like an art piece itself.
We found lunch to be very uninspiring and the worst museum food we'd ever had. The cafe was in a great open space with tables and a central bar. Sandwiches were displayed piled up in cases. My choice was a hot Sandwich Mixto for 2,60 and a Coke Lite for 1,80. It was so-so. My daughters were quite unhappy to find salmon on their sandwiches.
Back in the museum, I was happy to see a couple of paintings by Albers including Homage to the Square from 1972. I've always liked these paintings. Maybe it is the geometry teacher in me.
Paul Klee was represented by a painting that was familiar to me, Senecio (Baldgreis):
I also liked Yarns by Hildago. Oddly, its date is a span from 1972 to 2009. My younger daughter and I had seen a similar installation in Los Angeles, but you could walk through that one.
After buying a few postcards, we left the museum at 6:03. It was so hot! We headed for a nearby souvenir shop before going to the Metro at 6:47. It was only a five minute walk and a four minute wait for the train to Bilbao. We arrived at San Bernadino at 7:15.
We went to the nearby Tea Shop, which is its actual name, even though it is a Spanish company. My older daughter is very into tea and this was our second visit to one of these this week. At 7:40, we bought chocolate at El Cortes Ingles, the department store up the street from our hotel.
Leaving there at 8:02, it was just 7 minutes later that I reached my room. That gave me time to dump my stuff, before the four of us left for dinner at 8:20. We walked down Calle del Conde Duque to Restaurante O' Potino III, a 20-minute walk.
There seemed to be a lot of locals here, which boded well, I suppose. We ordered our usual variety of plates to share, as well as Sangria de las Casa for three of us for 6, 50 and the Coke my older daughter likes. We also got Empandas Gallega for just 3,00 euros.
Here we have Patatas Bravas in the back for 2,50 with Huevos Rotos con Morcilla in the front for 5,00. The latter was an interesting egg dish.
Because we all like asparagus and it is my favorite vegetable, we ordered Esparragos Trigueros a la Plancha for 6,00. Very nice.
Setas rebozadas al Roquefort were breaded mushrooms with Roquefort dressing for 5,00. Not sure I liked them.
We wanted to get flan for dessert, but they were out of it. They recommended Pudding de Casero for 3,00 euros. We ordered 2 to share and they turned out to be sort of a flan/bread pudding. Quite good.
At 9:45, we left feeling full. Sunset had been at 9:39 and we could still enjoy it. We were back in our room at 9:55, with another busy day completed.
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