Olé: DAY 2: MUSEO DEL PRADO/HUERTAS

At "Estación de Atocha" (Atocha Station)

Today, Salvador Dalí didn't seem as original as we thought. As much as we like him, we couldn't help seeing El Bosco's influence on the surrealist's thought and art. "El Jardín de las Delicias" was painted between 1503-1504 but it could easily pass for an "avant-garde" painting from the 20th century. Ideas are never reinvented: they are re-created.

A realization like this makes life much more interesting... it reminds us that each day brings its lesson with it.

Today, "Trinity's A-team" visited "El Museo del Prado." We rediscovered the paintings that we've seen for years on our Spanish books: "El 3 de Mayo" by Goya, "Las Meninas" by Velázqez, etc. It was both interesting and shocking to see the museum full of kindergarden field-trips and teachers explaining the relevance of each of the paintings to the 5 year old ones (Art isn't something you "visit" once in a while in this country... it is just part of life!).

You guys want to laugh? Well... We had a small but great lunch at the museum. Kathleen and I went to the cafeteria counter to complaint about Kat's bitter yoghurt. It was a natural flavored one that showed a "9/06" (SEPTEMBER/06!!!) as an expiration date. The kitchen women laughed hard... the 9 stands for the day, the 06 for June. The natural yoghurt is bitter here and spaniards add some sugar to it before eating it.... :)

María José was our guide for the day. She is another English teacher at Gonzaga. As many other young "madrileñas," she lives close to the museum (historic madrid) in an area called "Huertas." We had the fortune of having her to show us "her" piece of Madrid, an artsy and literary street filled with cafés, flamenco stores and restaurants. The biggest Spanish literary masters used to live in this area and many are still present with their lines or verses written on the floor.

We stopped at Café ELHECHO (game of words between El Hecho -The Fact- and Helecho -a type of plant) for "un café" and soda. Then we saw the old Hotel Victoria, where many of the great "Matadores" or "Toreros" used to stay when they visited Madrid. Afterwards we made our way back to "Atocha Station," where we took the "Cercanías" train to Majadahonda. Once in Majadahonda, we took the bus to Gonzaga to meet our hosts... I think the Jet-lag is starting to show some effects on our faces.

There are no pictures of El Prado (cameras were not allowed), but here you have some other images of our second day in Spain.
TOMORROW: DAY 3- PALACIO REAL (Royal Palace)/TEATRO REAL (Royal Theater)/MADRID's DOWNTOWN