Monday 26 December 2011
There was nothing lacking at the Hilton breakfast buffet and when an employee came to ask if we had enjoyed our stay we unanimously said, YES! (Well, Dian yanked his chain a little complaining of the loud fire crackers and people carousing but then quickly amended the comment to say she thought he had been asking about the town of Toledo. He seemed relieved when she used the word "
tranquilo" to describe the Hilton.) The waiter was smiling when Dian let him know she needed more coffee since she'd put salt in the first one by mistake. Yes, with little croissant sandwiches tucked into our jacket pockets, we were set for the snack we would need later in Madrid.
Charles had done the checking out the night before so all we had to do was dispose of our Christmas tree, (thanks Bill and Claire) and all the glitter decorations we had made in Piegaro. We made doubly sure NO GLITTER fell on the carpet (right mom!?) and did an idiot check before shuting the door to room 139. Our bags were a bit fuller with all the wonderful gifts that had arrived from Dian's mom and dad and were waiting for the Happy Trails Gang plus all the good junk we gave each other and Uncle Pat and Aunt Felicia's gifts, Mark Twain's "The Innocents Abroad" and an Amazon gift card.
It only took an hour to get to the Reina Sofia Museum in the heart of Madrid and we were lucky to find a paid parking space on the street right across from it. At the ticket window Charles pulled out his trusty press pass, Nicole produced her student ID card and Dian dug into the recesses of her money belt for the NOT ONCE ACCEPTED teacher card. All three were accepted and we entered one of the most fantastic museums in Spain for free!
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| A book Nicole read in her Existentialism class |
Let's put it this way. Dian has always loved Picasso since her college art professor chose one of his paintings for her to meticulously copy. Other students had Manet or Degas but the teacher matched Dian with Pablo and her appreciation of his genius and seeming childlike quality knew no bounds. Imagine then how she felt standing in front of his masterpiece
Guernica. The mural was commissioned by the anti - Franco forces and was based on a bombing attack on a little Spanish town with only civilians living there. When Picasso painted it, in black and white, it caused such a stir that it was used to moved people to see the horrors of war and it went on tour. It was eleven by twenty five feet. But until Franco left and a democracy was set in place Picasso exiled the piece to the New York Modern Art Museum only allowing its return 40 years later. Supposedly when Nazis approached him and said, "Are you the one responsible for this (
Guernica)?" "No" said Picasso, "you are."
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| "A Trip To The Moon" by Georges Melies, one of the first "magicians" of cinema |
There were so many great pieces by the Surrealists and of course being in the middle of a book about Salvador Dali, Dian was in hog heaven. We went up to the 4th floor for a view of Madrid at dusk then stopped for a quick coffee at the museum cafe. Nicole put money in the parking meter and we huddled in our van to have our snack. Yes, it was getting chilly as we walked to the Prado where we'd been told a temporary exhibit was open to the public. Unfortunately as Nicole quipped, "
El Prado es cerrado, no entrado!" Oh well, we walked around it and up the steps to a church where a christening was taking place.
Since it was already 7 PM we decided to drive back to Valencia on the most direct route and lo and behold there were no tolls! We arrived at midnight and parked in front of Don's place deciding we'd look for a more permanent parking space the next morning.
There was nothing lacking at the Hilton breakfast buffet and when an employee came to ask if we had enjoyed our stay we unanimously said, YES! (Well, Dian yanked his chain a little complaining of the loud fire crackers and people carousing but then quickly amended the comment to say she thought he had been asking about the town of Toledo. He seemed relieved when she used the word "tranquilo" to describe the Hilton.) The waiter was smiling when Dian let him know she needed more coffee since she'd put salt in the first one by mistake. Yes, with little croissant sandwiches tucked into our jacket pockets, we were set for the snack we would need later in Madrid.
Charles had done the checking out the night before so all we had to do was dispose of our Christmas tree, (thanks Bill and Claire) and all the glitter decorations we had made in Piegaro. We made doubly sure NO GLITTER fell on the carpet (right mom!?) and did an idiot check before shuting the door to room 139. Our bags were a bit fuller with all the wonderful gifts that had arrived from Dian's mom and dad and were waiting for the Happy Trails Gang plus all the good junk we gave each other and Uncle Pat and Aunt Felicia's gifts, Mark Twain's "The Innocents Abroad" and an Amazon gift card.
There were so many great pieces by the Surrealists and of course being in the middle of a book about Salvador Dali, Dian was in hog heaven. We went up to the 4th floor for a view of Madrid at dusk then stopped for a quick coffee at the museum cafe. Nicole put money in the parking meter and we huddled in our van to have our snack. Yes, it was getting chilly as we walked to the Prado where we'd been told a temporary exhibit was open to the public. Unfortunately as Nicole quipped, "El Prado es cerrado, no entrado!" Oh well, we walked around it and up the steps to a church where a christening was taking place.
Since it was already 7 PM we decided to drive back to Valencia on the most direct route and lo and behold there were no tolls! We arrived at midnight and parked in front of Don's place deciding we'd look for a more permanent parking space the next morning.
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