Cinderella's Castle and Marzipan

From Monday the 2^nd of Feb to the Friday the 6^th, our group had an excursion planned to Madrid/Toldedo/Segovia.  When we first got to Madrid we went to the Reina Sofia museum, which is Madrid’s modern art museum. Anne and I sprung for and audio guide, which ended up being the best decision we could have made.  While art is always interesting to look at, it is a whole lot more significant if you actually understand the painting. We spent nearly all of our allotted 3 hours on one floor of the museum looking at the painting by Dali, Picasso and many other well-known artists.  This museum houses Picasso’s Guernica, which is an absolutely unbelievable piece (and it's gigantic!) that reflects the horrible consequences of the Civil War. 

Picasso's Guernica 

One artist that I had never heard of but really enjoyed was Juan Gris. He had a very refreshing perspective on still-life (abstract) painting.  I still don’t understand the artistic value of a white canvas with a stripe of black paint, but for the most part I really enjoyed what I saw at this museum. 

  Juan Gris–Front of a Window

The next day we took a walking tour of Madrid, which was a great way to get to know such a big city (and our tour guide looked the Spanish version of Kramer).  

Gonzaga group in Madrid

These bulls are all over the city of Madrid

Afterwards, we went to the Museo del Prado, which Anne and I had already been to. I wasn’t too excited to go back and look at paintings of Saints again, but it just so happened that there was a Francis Bacon exhibit that had just opened that day.  His paintings were very interesting, although most were dark and sad. 

Francis Bacon–Three Studies For Figures at the Base of the Crucifixion 

On Wednesday our group took a trip to El Escorial and el valle de los caidos (valley of the fallen).  El Escorial is a palace/monastery outside of Madrid in which nearly all of the past kings and queens of Spain have been buried since King Felipe II commissioned it in the 16^th century.  The kings and queens, however, are not buried in a cemetery but are rather in coffins (elaborate ones!) on the bottom floor of the palace. It was very strange to be in a room with 24 dead Spanish kings and queens. 

After leaving the palace, which represented Spain’s most powerful years, we went to valle de los caidos, which represented Spain’s worst years.  There is a huge basilica (bigger than St. Peter’s), commissioned by Franco and built by his prisoners, built into the mountain.  While basilicas typically are beautiful, this one looked like a prison (which I guess is rather appropriate).  In addition to the dark appearance of the building, the mountain is the final resting place of 30,000 known and at least 10,000 unknown people who died in the Civil War (from both sides).  Franco is buried in the floor in front of the alter.  Above the basilica on top on the mountain is a gigantic stone cross.  Especially considering that it was a super foggy, rainy day, the cross just seemed really creepy.  Although I’m not religious, I can usually appreciate religious symbols if for nothing other than their artistic value. This one, however, did not seem like a symbol of hope and beauty but rather of darkness and domination. 

  Valle de los caidos–the basillica is in the foreground 

The next day we went to Segovia.  I guess it is usually one of the coldest places in Spain, but we had excellent weather! We took a walking tour and went to the castle, which Disney used as a model for Cinderella’s castle! It’s a small city– very quaint and very beautiful.

The aqueduct in Segovia

Gonzaga girls in Segovia

Anne and me in front of the castle in Segovia (ie: Cinderella's castle!)

My knight in shining armor 

View from the top of the Castle

On Friday we went to Toledo, which is also a small city with a lot of personality (it is famous for marzipan and weaponry).  Whereas Segovia was described to us as a “feminine” city, Toledo is a “masculine” city–a labyrinth of narrow streets, hills and old buildings.  I can’t wait to go back to both of these places with my mom and sister in June! 

View of Toledo