Madrid, 9-12/03/2011

"Guenica", Picasso

What can I say about Madrid?  I had stopped there on a school trip to admire “Guernica” in 1992 and hadn’t returned since.  It is a beautiful and atmospheric city.  I loved strolling in its streets.  The architecture is really impressive and there are lovely buildings every few meters, but what I preferred were the small streets with those cañas y tapas bars.  I loved this web of streets, which managed to disorient me a couple of times.

Metropolis building, Calle de Alcala

Alhambra, cañas y tapas bar

I was lucky enough to meet a friend there who brought me to a lovely tapas bar.  I still can’t believe at how cheap wine and food are compared to Ireland.  I also really appreciated the way they always give you a little snack when you order a drink; crisps, salami, cured ham, cheese, fried white bait, etc.  However, the late night life wasn’t what  expected.  I would have thought it would be possible to stay out late for a quiet drink in chilled out bars, but it seemed that after 2.30am, everybody went to late bars and night clubs, which are quite noisy and more expensive.  Maybe I wasn’t in the right area?

Cured ham in a tapas bar

I was there for a conference on “Myth and Subversion” and, unfortunately, did not get enough time to explore the city at my leisure.  However, I managed to escape for a few hours to visit a part of the Museo Reina Sofia and enjoyed looking at paintings by Picasso, Dali, Miro, Gris and others.

"Figura en una finestra", Dali

"Un Món", Angeles Santos Torroella

Here is the whole set of photos I took at the Museo Reina Sofia:
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And this is the set for Madrid, which does not do justice to what I saw:

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