NYR #31: Visit the House/Museum of Joaquín Sorolla

Sorolla's house and museum is really awesome, and it's definitely one of the coolest, yet lesser-known museums in Madrid.

Back in the late 1800s/early 1900s, Joaquín Sorolla was kind of a big deal, both in Spain and around the world. In contrast with many other famous Spanish painters, Joaquín Sorolla really focused on ensuring that his paintings used a lot of light.

He painted a lot of portraits, but he also used his unique style to draw attention to the pressing social issues of his day, such as poverty, famine, illness, and so on. And of course, as you can see by the paintings that I happened to capture with my camera, he painted a lot of beach scenes at Valencia. They're my favorites.

But the house is definitely the best part of the museum. The gardens are incredibly calm and tranquil, and it's right in the middle of Madrid, just off the Castellana.

It's totally worth a visit.

NYR #60: Take a photo of the Torres Kio

I think that technically, this one is supposed to be taken while lying down in the grass, but I was kind of lazy. 

The Torres Kio are the world's first skyscrapers that were built on a diagonal. At first, I didn't really get the importance of their structure, because they're not particularly tall, but that's when you realize that buildings normally don't look like they're about to kiss each other.

NYR #22: See the sunset at the Templo de Debod

So. WAY back in MArch, when Aubs was here, I took her to see the sunset from the Templo de Debod. Back in the 60s,  Egypt was building a dam, and the area that was to be flooded housed this lovely temple, amongst others. 

In thanks to Spain for helping to save the temples, Egypt gifted the country with the largest of them.

It's really really pretty, especially at sunset. 

I would attach a picture of the two of us, but I think Aubs has all of them. So I leave you with these. Some of them are from when Vica came to visit, too. 

NYR #43: Go to the Natural Science Museum

This one was supposed to be "Start a snowball fight with a stranger", but seeing as how it's about 60º and sunny here, that one probs won't happen. Also, I really don't want to throw a snowball at a stranger here. They'll probably start yelling at me, and then I'll forget my Spanish and just splutter around in tears and it would just be ugly.

So I'll stick with the rocks and the taxidermied animals (of which there are quite a few) in the lovely building that is the Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales.

It shares its building with a school of something (exactly what, I am not sure, and although the facade says "Escuela de Ingenieros Industriales", that may have changed). This means that in order to see all of the museum, you have to enter through one wing of the building, exit out the same door and walk around to the other wing of the building to see all the cool dinosaur skeletons, fossils, and the exhibit on evolution.

In the wing we entered first, there are a lot of animals. All dead and stuffed, with their glassy eyes just staring at you. Lots of dead bugs and birds...in a variety of vibrant colors...like these awesome butterflies on the homepage of the museum. It was kind of creepy, especially the "almacén de aves y mamíferos" basically a large round room with a whole bunch of glass shelves absolutely stuffed with the corpses of every flying or furry animal you can think of (except for maybe a platypus...don't recall seeing that, but that doesn't mean it isn't there).

However, not all of the museum was creepy, the part with the dinosaurs was really cool. Especially because they have taken some kind of video technology and with a television and some crazy pieces of board, they have created an exhibit where you can hold a virtual dinosaur in your hand. There's something about these boards that, when held at the right angle (while watching the television screen of course), allows for the image of a dinosaur to appear on the TV. And the dinosaur images even move!!! Mine kept eating the grass and wagging his tail in happiness!

So yeah...Natural Science Museums. Sometimes creepy, generally interesting (even for a non-science geek like myself), and always worth a visit.

Remember this Window?

I once said that it was my favorite part about my room. Wooden and peeling...it made me feel so bohemian.

That was when it was warm out.

Now it is quite chilly (and only going to get worse), and my prediction that my lovely, peeling, bohemian window was drafty (draughty?) has been proven true.

It doesn't help that my desk is right near it, so I feel the draught (draft???) every time I am sitting at my computer (which is quite often).

And what is with the word draft/draught?  Honestly, I'm looking at both spellings right now and thinking that both look alien, even though dictionary.com says they're both right.

Gothic Arches, Anyone?

This pretty cave is in the Reales Alcázares. It's a part of the baths. Hence all the water reflecting the pretty pointed arches.

It's also a sign that I have finally figured out how to take clear pictures in a poorly lit place.

Seville & Córdoba (Part II)

After Córdoba we headed down to Sevilla (which took up pretty much the rest of the day). Our hotel was a pretty sweet place, and we went out to tapas/dinner in a place kind of near the old Jewish neighborhood. Towns in Andalucia almost always have an old Jewish neighborhood (like from back before the Jews were kicked out of Spain in 1492), and it's always a pretty well-preserved example of medieval Spanish architecture. But that's beside the point...

The point is that for dinner I got a goat cheese and raspberry crepe, and it was one of the most delicious things I have ever eaten in my entire life.

It was actually a lot simpler than I had anticipated. Goat cheese. Crepe. and Raspberry sauce. I dunno...for some reason I was expecting real raspberries, not sauced ones. But it was still delicious.

The next day, we hit up the Reales Alcázares (Royal Castle-Fortress-Thingy), which were originally built by a Muslim king, but when the Christians conquered Seville, Pedro el Cruel decided to do some remodeling.

(BTW: Pedro el Cruel was probably no more evil than your average run-of-the-mill conqueror, it's just that this is the moniker that stuck).

Castles in Spain are awesome in that they have the cool little wall decoration/archer turret-things which are definitely my favorite part of castle architecture.  No matter how many arches and spires a castle has, I will always get the biggest kick out of the top of the walls.

And Pedro el Cruel really know how to get someone to spiff up a castle. The reason to visit this one is that it is one of the best examples of Mudejar architecture in Andalucia.

Mudejar architecture is the Islamic style of architecture, but built for Christian purposes. So you see a whole bunch of Islamic details, like Arabic writing or awesome capitals, or even this cool starry-golden ceiling.

And of course, castles are never complete without gardens, and gardens are never complete without mazes. (And PEACOCKS!)

Molly and Catalina are lost in Wonderland

Pretty Peacock

Seville & Córdoba

I love field trips. That said, they are only fun when you have time to do all your other work. Needless to say, instead of getting out and enjoying Seville during the two evenings we were there, I spent lots of time reading about Eva Perón's crazy propagandistic life. Which was cool, since I kind of love analyzing propaganda. But it still means I didn't get out much.

But that doesn't mean I didn't see some amazing sights. Because I totally did! And I have pictures to prove it!

We hit up some of the usual sights: The Mosque of Córdoba (did you know that it is actually a cathedral, but pretty much everyone refers to it as a mosque?), and the Cathedral/Giralda and Alcázares Reales (Royal Castle-Fortress-thing) in Seville.

My pictures of the mosque really don't do it justice. I wanted to be able to show how the inside was built to resemble a forest, but there's just no way to capture its beauty and grandeur. 

It's got some lovely intricate arches, and I would love to be to tell you what they are in English, but I only know their name in Spanish: Arcos polilobulados. If someone can tell me what that is in English, they will totes get a postcard!

But of course, the strangest, craziest part about the mosque is the part that the tourist/art history images seem to forget. Like I said, it is technically no longer a mosque, but rather a cathedral. When Fernando III (el Santo) invaded Córdoba in 1330, one of the first things he did was have the mosque sanctified as a Christian church. It's kind of the way that they did things back then. Conquest a city, convert the enemies' sacred places into your own, and then rule with an iron fist. (I kind of added that last part...but the first parts are totally true!).

Of course, as unique and wonderful as the mosque is, its architecture wasn't really in keeping with the Christian architecture of the time. So someone (I think it was an archbishop), got the idea to build a cathedral within the mosque. He hired a baroque architect and got the approval of the Pope to make the new Cathedral of Córdoba. 

And they built this:

Believe it or not, that Baroque monstrosity is actually plopped in the middle of all those beautiful striped Islamic arches. There's even proof on the arches themselves.

Apparently, King Carlos V (the king at the time of the creation of this hybridization) remarked something like this: "It's a shame that they ruined something so unique with something so mundane."

Apparently he was not a fan. 

It sure lets in a lot of light, though.  

This building

Is in my neighborhood.

I think it is really awesome. Just look at the intricacy of some of the brickwork:

Doesn't it look so cool?? Did you know that you could do that with brick??? I sure didn't.

It really makes me want to know who built it, when and why.

Tell me how to say brick in Spanish, and I'll send you a postcard! Winner picked at random.