the best of spain

Spain is like a dream. I am enjoying learning as much as I can about the beauty around me. My favorite experience to date was this last weekend that I spent in Madrid with my roommate Cristina from Ann Arbor. It was a thoroughly enjoyable lesson in paying attention to the details. One of my international courses here, art history, prompted an impromptu weekend adventure to one of the most impressive art collections I have ever had the pleasure of seeing. After meeting Cristina at Hotel Catalonia Gaudi on Friday, the two of us set out to visit el Museo Prado. The museum boasted awe-inspiring works by Rembrant, Turner, Goya, Gallego, and El Greco. Photography is prohibited inside the museum, although I probably won't forget the paintings I saw anytime in the near future. A print copy of Mariano Fortuny's painting 'los hijos del pintor en el salon japones' sits on my bed, waiting to be framed and hung on my wall in Ann Arbor. The soft turquoise background of this picture is a dreamy backdrop for a whimsical scene where two young girls lounge on a long couch. There are traces of Japanese flair in the painting, tiny details that remind me of part of my own heritage. After a weekend of shopping and dancing and little sleep, I saw Cristina off and headed to el Museo Reina Sofia on Sunday morning. I enjoyed both collections, although my second trip was striking in a completely different way; I felt like I was traveling back to the Renaissance and then moving forward through the sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth centuries on my visit to the Prado, but Museo Reina Sofia was a shuttle to a modern realm: surreal, sharp, and glossy. My favorite works at the latter were by Picasso and Dali. I was able to take photos, although I hesitate to post pictures of the paintings because they hardly do them justice (if art interests you/you have a pulse GO SEE THESE MUSEUMS!!!) The arquitecture of the building perfectly envelops all of the twentieth century treasures inside, with a wonderful terrace on the third floor that allows a breathtaking view of surrounding Madrid. Despite my fatigue, I couldn't help but be moved by the sketches and paintings that dealt with the Spanish Civil War. The entire room seemed somber, like the lines in the works that depicted a country steeped in sadness and desperation. The Reina Sofia Museum also had an extensive collection of photographs, 3D installments, sculptures, collages, and three rooms dedicated solely to arquitecture. The only lamentable thing about this weekend was that it was only 72 hours long!

Besos de Salamanca,

Allyson