it´s the wine...

argh...we just finished dinner across the street at a place called Cafe del Principe (Prince Cafe). it was soooo good. we had ham and potato croquettes, combination paella, a bottle of Faustino VII Rioja, tiramisu, and a couple super strong cafe con leches (cafe au laits). we escaped for 55 Euros (incl. tip)...not bad considering a bottle of wine and paella for two in denver runs about $50 anyway. and it was authentic here ;)

been a long day. we went to the Reina Sofia and the Prado and did some MAJOR walking. between the two, there are 145 galleries. i think we wandered through a bit more than half of them. had to. many of Madrid´s art galleris are free on sunday, saving us about 3-6 Euros at each one.

the Reina Sofia is quite interesting to say the least. much of it is modern art, mainly painting and sculpture in the postwar era. the gem of its collection is Picasso´s famous depiction of the Basque town, Guernica, which was destroyed by German bombers in 1937. it shows the general chaos and fear of the town´s citizens as they´re awakened by the noise and the carnage laid out by the bombs. it´s considered to be one of Picasso´s most famous works.

anyone who has studied a bit of art history is familiar with this painting...and has probably seen it ad nauseum in books or postcards...but to see the real thing is just mind-boggling! the canvas is SO freaking huge! i was not expecting it to be around 10 feet by 22 feet - damn!!! what´s even more stunning is the fact that picasso spent only five months working on the project (from studies to the finished product); talk about being driven!!!

as for the rest of the Reina Sofia, it was quite impressive, if not a bit confusing. i guess we´re not much for some modern pieces. there was some really strange stuff. still, to see a bunch of Miro´s and some amazin´ Picasso b/w photos of the first light of the Spanish Civil War...

and the Prado? there is so much that it just hurts yer tiny little head thinking about it. man, 105 galleries of goya...velazquez...caravaggio...rembrandt...el greco...flemish masters...i just don´t know what to say. it will leave you utterly speechless to view all the things you read about it books; the bold brushstrokes, the mastery of lighting...the perfect musculature...the gamut of emotions - it´s overwhelming. you simply can´t take all this stuff in on a daytrip. we´ll have to finish it on the 6th, the day before we leave.

well, i want to continue, but it looks like lois has fallen asleep on me. i promise that she´ll blog next time...she writes so much better than i.