Spain, Day 6

I think that one of the disadvantages of being American is a skewed sense of time.  We think of eras as separate and distinct.  It is jarring to see a modern roadway with cars from an arrow slit.  Unless that is just me.  I notice here in Europe that there is no issue putting the new next to the old; it’s just stuff here.  So I was amused at this sign poking fun at the whole traditional, long-standing establishment thing.

We walked from the hotel to the Plaza Mayor.  I liked this fountain because it has a fish.

We continued on to El Museo del Prado, where one is not allowed to take photos of the art.  Here is the outside:

There was an almost overwhelming amount of art in the museum.  The current exhibit is about El Greco and his influence on modern painters.  Quotation and allusion intrigue me in writing, so I enjoyed seeing the painterly equivalent, particularly since all the paintings involved are worth seeing in and of themselves.

My art education was pretty much nonexistent, so I didn’t have any reference in my mind for El Greco or Goya or Velazquez.  I was also totally surprised by Bosch.  Both The Garden of Earthly Delights and The Seven Deadly Sins and the Four LastThings knocked my figurative socks off.

One museum is never enough, right?  From El Prado, we ventured over to El Museo de arte Thyssen-Bornemisza.  Three more floors of art!  The collection is more eclectic, reflecting the taste of the family that collected the art in the first place.  There were plenty of Spaniards represented, including Picasso and Miro, but also a large group of American landscapes and a bunch of French Impressionists.  I was happy to see a Rothko there; I find something that feeds my soul in his color blocks.

I bought a zillion postcards because it is the cheapest way to collect art ever.  And after a nice siesta, we will forage for some paella.