Thoughts on Spain

I was so glad the bits of Spanish I knew came bubbling back up -- the last time I'd used it was maybe 2006? when I used to go to Latin America's budget meetings, before I worked on Brazil & was trying to learn Portuguese. Steve commented that people talking to me didn't seem to slow down (conversing in German with him, they did).

I was so glad Steve loves figuring out train & bus schedules -- all our transportation went smoothly & it's not easy navigating on strange systems in a strange town.

Maybe the Dogs of God wasn't ideal reading material? Maybe I was projecting onto the Spanish Baroque and the 16th & 17th centuries had more artistic richness than I gave them credit for? Even if they hadn't expelled the Jews from Spain, Spain's rule of its American colonies was brutal. I kept thinking of Fray Oviedo whose Historial General y Natural de los Indios (1535--I read him when I was doing my dissertation research) chronicles the first years of Spanish rule of Central America (even before epidemics killed millions):

neither paper nor time suffice to tell entirely what the captains did to destroy the Indians and to rob them and lay waste the land, if all was told as it happened, but...in this land of Castilla del Oro, there were two million Indians -- they were uncountable--and it is necessary that it be said how such a number of people ended in so little time.

(that quote from Oviedo is one of the few things I remember from my diss)

I think that even in those days for that time, this was an unusually brutal society, and in the places we visited, I just didn't see much awareness of history (I guess I should come out and say--remorse). But maybe a tourist to the US, who did nothing but visit the Smithsonian and the NY Mus of Nat Hist would think the same?

But in terms of Steve and me, it was a good time. We're good travel companions, and enjoy talking back and forth about new impressions. I hope we have many more years to travel together.

Oct 16-17 Cordoba & Madrid again

10/16/2010: Went yest by bus to Granada, which meant a hasty breakfast (amazing buffet) and walking fast through the dark to the bus station where we were ½ hr early. 2.5 hrs by bus to Granada – only garden tickets were available by the time we got there & S didn’t want those.

We were able to get into the Carlos V palace for free, starting 2 PM (S kept pressing me to ask the guard in Spanish, and he was right), so we did, & saw an exhib on Matisse at the Alhambre, also lots of Spanish Baroque religious art, which was hard to look at. S did not want to go to the Capilla Real, which had Isabella & Ferdinand’s body, also Joanna the Mad, who took the body of her husband, Felipe the Handsome, with her wherever she went, and opened the coffin each night to kiss his embalmed face. Can you IMAGINE???

Then , we went down a steep path & up a steeper street (hill of Albaizin), until we got to St. Nicholas’ square, which had beautiful views.

Some confusion at the bus station over which bus went to Cordoba, and the bus driver wasn’t so great – stopped v suddenly at one pt to avoid a car stopped for a red light. It seemed like a long way home. But we got to Cordoba & had (I thought) a nice supper at the hotel (S trying not to be cross because it was expensive) [vg lamb shoulder] & went to bed & slept & slept.

Biggest bed I’d ever seen – somewhere beyond king. You could sleep utterly unconscious of the other person. In fact, you needed to travel a vast expanse to find the other person.

Today, we slept late, ate vast amts of breakfast, went to the Alcazar, Roman Bridge & Museo de Bellas Artes (I’ve pretty much had it w/ Spanish Baroque painting, and kept projecting onto the scenes the animus I’ve been feeling toward the Inquisition & Ferd & Is). But certainly the people we’ve met have been delightful & obliging, and it has been ½ a millennium since the expulsion of the Jews from Spain. England expelled its Jews, too, and I feel no special animus against them.

We stopped for lunch at an outdoor café—the recommended restaurant being full. S happy because it was tasty & cheap. We called a restaurant in Madrid & I made a resv all by myself in Spanish – I was quite proud. Didn’t succeed in doing much of anything after lunch – the museum we tried was closed. Walked around. S naviagated to the Christa de los Faroles (Christ of the lanterns) in the Plaza de los Dolores, which is (according to Fodors) where you feel most deeply the city’s languid pace, but, quoth S, how can you feel the city’s languid pace in a square with noplace to sit??

We took the train back to Madrid & here we are, in a 2 story suite w/ 2 bathrooms (one w/ a jazuzzi) and 4, count them, 4 sinks. Also 2 genuine Roman mosaics. All for the princely sum of €175. Went to a local Italian rest & had a nice dinner (lots of veggies), but the people around us were smoking. Headed to the airport & home the next day, and here we are.

Read Dogs of God: Columbus, the Inquisition, and the Defeat of the Moors and a terrible, implausible mystery by John Dunning (the Bookman's Promise).

Thurs, Oct 14th, Cordoba

10/15/2010: Cordoba – we got up early yest & got to the train w/o incident – weather kind of grey & misty, so not much in the way of views. Got bus tickets w/o problem, took taxi to hotel, rm not ready so went off to the mosque-turned-cathedral – a forest of red & white arches, v. distinctive, v beautiful.

Found a recommended restaurant (by Fodors & hotel), had vg tuna/anchovy salad, went to Safared house, which had v detailed & bitter account of the Inquisition that I translated aloud to S (other American tourists listening, too), also v. long list of eminent conversos & descendents of conversos. (Part of the Inquisition was blood-purity laws, so anyone with even part Jewish blood couldn’t hold office).

The synagogue was v touching – small, w/ wall decorations that had been hidden behind other paneling. I took picture after picture of the walls & Hebrew writing.

Came back & got our room, which has a HUGE bathroom (but the tub v. slippery & no grab bar). Realized we’d neglected to get an online resv for the Alhambra—which we should have done weeks ago—they’re hard to get. The lady at the desk tried to help us, but none were available. We decided to go anyway, and see if we could get two of the tickets reserved for walkups. The guidebook said you could visit the Carlos V palace separately. Then went to the archaeology mus – some parts v touching, eg Roman burial stones often include STTL – sit terra tibi leva – that the ground over you be light.

A little priapic figure that S missed. Lots of Moorish capitals, and two Jewish gravestones, one pretty legible; the other worn to where I couldn’t make out a letter or a word. Letters opened toward the right instead of the left. I finally realized that if you looked at it upside down, you could at least make out a letter here & there. Communicated my thought to the front desk, where it caused much consternation. A volunteer curator arrived, who said we’d need to talk to the day curator.

Wednesday, Oct 13th - Madrid

Wed morning was much more leisurely. We found a Laundromat, S did laundry, I caught up on writing this, and we set out for the modern art museum, which is in a huge old bldg. w/ a courtyard. We spent quite a while in a temp exhib w/ extremely pretentious text on placards – for example, a cubist looking nude with the hair of the Maja had explanations about the political ties between Spain & the US in the ‘50’s and how the watched became the watcher. Much more in this vein in every room. We watched a tape of a man in whiteface handling a huge white rectangle, and a nude lady (but not in the Maja pose) looked on.

We looked at a room w/ two huge, weathered slabs of iron, where the text told us how the artist was trying to eliminate his role as intermediary (but then wtf was the point of his existing?) Then, S motioned me into the hall, saying I’d need to reconsider my views on Ely. The (huge) hall was full of tires – maybe 60’ of tires piled 6’ high. No name, no explanation, just 60’ of tires 6’ high. I took a bunch of pictures.

For lunch, S insisted we go to a place that had a €9 plato del dia, but it really wasn’t that gd (S had ordered chicken, which was random bony chunks, and I ordered hake but it had shellfish on top, so S let me have his chicken) & I remonstrated at length that more expensive lunches should be permissible. In the afternoon, which is to say about 3 PM, we got to the more representational parts of the museum: Picasso, Miro. Nevertheless, I tired by around 5, & headed back to the hotel room to try out Jess’ “Stay fit anywhere” workout.

S got back maybe 7:30 & I persuaded him we should eat at the Finca de Suzana, which was nearby & supposed to be cheap, for good food. I liked my gazpacho & duck breast; S burned his hand because I forgot to translate the “quema” the waiter muttered.

So far the only books I’ve read this week were Mennonite in a little black dress (cute, but I still don’t understand the title), & Jane & the Madness of Lord Byron.

Tuesday, Oct 12th - Segovia

I felt much better in the AM (albeit hung over), but S complained he couldn’t eat enough of the €21 breakfast for it to be worthwhile. We took the subway to the northern train station & set off for Segovia (which has an incredible Roman aqueduct). Took many, many pictures of the incredible Roman aqueduct. Found one museum of local art open – it had v backhanded praise for one featured 18th century artist – about his longevity & relentless pursuit of detail.

The old Jewish quarter had a reconstructed church that had once been a synagogue, with an account at the back of how it had been seized around 1410 after some Jews bought a consecrated Host and tried to burn it, then confessed under torture to having tried to poison the king. They were dragged through the city & dismembered. The placard was at some pains to say that the accuracy of the accusations (or lack thereof) couldn’t be verified.

I got v. indignant & vented some in Spanish to a docent at the nearby “Center for Jewish Learning”, which had a video of a service at a synagogue & various ritual objects w/ explanations. She said one had to allow for how long Spain was closed to the rest of the world – divorce had only been allowed for 20 yrs.

The main drama of the day – the admissions lady at the cathedral glanced up at me & Steve and said “2 seniors”. I was DEVASTATED. S wanted me to explain in Spanish that we weren’t EU citizens. The cathedral was made of a golden local limestone – much less ornate than Toledo’s (a good thing), with a beautiful Gothic cloister.

Anyway, we ate lunch after seeing the cathedral, but were out of luck in that the Provincial Museum didn’t reopen after lunch (it being a holiday). The Alcazar was mostly a reconstruction after a 19th century fire – but v. impressive, with the deepest moat I’d ever seen. It does look v. Disney-ish, with its turrets & crenelated tower.

Came back to Madrid, took a different subway back to the hotel & stopped by a tapas place the hotel desk & Fodors had both recommended (the place had been jammed every other time we went by). I was uncertain at first how to order, but we were eventually settled at a table w/ a tuna salad, vg bread, a huge plate of canapés, with beer for S and wine for me. I was so happy and everything tasted so good.

Monday, Oct 10th - Toledo

Got up early to head to Toledo – ½ hour by fast train (the train station is ½ hr from us). Grey day, and Toledo is up on a hill of grey rock. Unfortunately, the Transito synagogue was closed, and also the Sephardic museum, because it was Monday. An older synagogue has been made into a church – Sta Maria La Blanca, and was full of an art exhibit by a group that foresaw a union between the Jews & the Catholic Church.

Many twisty, steep, narrow streets, and countless stores selling marzipan, a regional specialty. Cathedral had huge numbers of El Greco’s, but the Romanesque cloister was closed for renovation. Steve esp liked a tiny mosque at one end of town that had been a tiny Romanesque church (or was it vice versa), located over a Roman road & a Roman sewer.

There was a provincial museum with huge tapestries depicting Spanish conquests in Africa (and benches to sit on from which to admire them). Also, a huge exhibit of historic ceramics. But, of course, no modern reproductions to buy. What a pity, said I, here I’m all primed to spend $$ and nothing to spend it on. There were lots of ceramics for sale in the stores round about, but they all looked identical. I asked the admissions guy what a lovely collection and what a pity there are no reproductions (I’d wked out the Spanish beforehand). He suggested a store on the other side of town—we went over there, but it wasn’t the style I’d liked. (of course, could I remember the names of the styles I’d liked? No).

S wanted to head down to the river, to a couple of bridges, so we headed there last – down three escalators, part of garages built into the hillside like Assisi. I was quite tired & footsore by then; we’d been walking all day. Got to say, my Merrill clogs v. comfortable. Then we walked to the train station, where we bought tickets for Segovia, the next day. S wanted tickets for 11:15, but the man at the ticket counter said that train hadn’t existed for a year. S being v. emphatic, the man was getting offended, and I was trying to translate, and getting more and more cross at S. Afterward, I said he was possessed by the shades of Ely, an accusation I rarely trot out.

Then we walked from the Madrid train station back to the hotel. I was cross & tired and complaining that S walked too fast, etc. Our marriage was on the rocks.

However, we went to an excellent restaurant around the corner (La Ancha), and split a bottle of wine, and our marriage picked itself off the ground & shook itself off. S kept chuckling as my mood improved w/ the wine, and saying that after 28 years of marriage, he knew his little wife; she always perked up with wine.

Sunday, Oct 9th - El Prado

Sleeping till 8:30 was a problem because our tickets at the Prado were for 9 AM. However, the admission people didn’t object when we showed up ½ hour late. We started with Velasquez & Las Meninas (jammed w/ Asian tourists – I assumed they were Japanese but S said maybe Chinese & sure enough, when I listened to one guide, he did sound Chinese.) Velasquez also painted the dwarfs who were part of the court.

We worked through many, many Goyas – I’d never seen many of his paintings (because they’re mostly at the Prado?), the 2nd & 3rd of May, the Maja (I kept teasing S that he only liked her body). I esp liked the dowager duchess of Gorgenza (?), in the same room as the Majas, because her eyes showed character. Made me realize how hard it is to remember paintings.

There was a room of Hieronymous Bosch – because Felipe II liked Bosch, said S, but not that much of other Flemish artists. It took a while to realize the collection was mostly what the Spanish Royal Family had accumulated; it wasn’t supposed to be art of the world.

That said, there were some beautiful Romanesque frescoes that had been added to get closer to Art of Spain. We came out for a break around 2 PM (since our hotel is so close). V aware how old we were getting, with backs & feet that got sore. V. aware how glad we were to find benches.

El Greco & most of the Baroque don’t do that much for me – not sure why.

V. difficult to find things in the big (heavy) Prado guide – which was organized by painter, not room. For example, Goya was spread out among many rooms on 2 floors, with his latest paintings (the black paintings), including the ½ submerged dog (el perro semi-humido) on the first floor. Some rooms had the interpretive placards translated to English, some didn’t. So S and I were continually passing back and for the the guidebook, and hunting by places. Also, the guidebook was organized by: All Spanish painting, more or less chronological by artist, and then Italian, then French, etc.

Beautiful Fra Angelico annunciation.

Ate dinner at an expensive place heavy on marine creepy-crawlies, where the service was slow. S got v. cross.

Did I narrate the saga of the safe? S couldn’t enter the code. The maint guy said it was the batteries & another guy changed the code. I was going to the gym & tried entering a new code but got messed up by the lack of 0, and it wouldn’t open when I tried and said I was blocked. By then, the guy with the mastercode had left. HOWEVER, S correctly surmised that my code had never “taken” and that the original 1234 code would open the safe.

Swarthmore 10/8/2010 - Madrid 10/9/2010

Took Friday off. Finished my thankyou notes to the patrons of the soc act brunch, returned my library books, bought sound-cancelling earphones, a charger for my ipod & 3 mysteries & a paperback history of religious conflict in Spain, visited the 3 shelters to talk about the coop (but only one of the 3 directors was there), dropped the car off at the collision place to get its dent repaired, and off we went to the airport.

S had found a remote parking lot that charged $7/day and was jammed (Wally Park, where I’d parked when I last travelled, charged twice as much & had many empty spaces). Flight was on time. I read Mennonite in a Little Black Dress (v cute) and must have slept some. We arrived – Madrid’s airport had us go up hill and down dale to get to immigration, but we had little baggage. We got to the hotel by maybe 9 AM – pouring rain—went out for coffee @ a nearby Starbucks, went for a walk (and got soaked by passing taxis running through puddles), but fortunately by then a room was available so we settled in and napped till 2 PM.

Had lunch – a VERY leisurely lunch—at the hotel. Quite nice and the quoted price -- € 32—included everything: wine, coffee, the cute little appetizers and post-dessert sweets, so S not unduly annoyed. By the time we finished it was 4:30 but nevertheless we set out for Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza. I of course had plenty of time to go through the museum—Fodors quotes critics who say it has the minor works of major artists and the major works of minor artists. Steve, of course, found all sorts of paintings I’d missed – Hoppers & Bierstads and thought it might be the best collection of American painters in Europe.

We wanted something light for dinner – got 2 recommendations for tapas, but those places were jammed so we ate in a Cuban restaurant, came home & fell asleep till 8:30 AM (S slept through his alarm).