I wanted to get in a few more “must-sees” before I left, so I checked out Parc Guell. As with many other attractions, I attempted to hoof it. The sign off the Metro points you in the general direction and then it gets a bit dicey. I almost gave up trying to find the place as the signs for motorists that seemed to guide towards the park had me going in circles. Eventually I just broke out the map and figured it out myself. Again, I probably could have just asked somebody, but that would have made too much sense. Still, doing it on my own felt like a minor achievement.
The park seems quite popular with tourists and locals alike. Seems like a nice place to go jogging. The sandy plateau offers expansive views of the city below. Lots of interesting structures including a couple of unused homes Gaudi designed. I could have spent an entire afternoon just lounging at the park. The weather was absolutely perfect. I'm not one usually swayed by how temperate the climate is in a particular locale, but I could get used to this.
Also made my way for a tour of Casa Batlo. Not only did Barcelona produce the greatest artist in the history of Creation, but also its greatest architect (excluding of course the Divine Architect, which Gaudi himself would have been first to concede). It’s a nice house. But seriously, I wonder why the modern architecture of today is so boring. Where are the disciples of Gaudi? How come his stuff didn’t catch on? Too impractical? Costly?
Then it was back to catch the rail to Madrid for the final leg of my trip.
Back in Madrid I made my way to the Reina Sofia which meant I would end up seeing two of the trinity (the missing museum being the Thyssen-Bornemisza which contains a few works by Caravaggio and Dali). The Reina Sofia is most famous for housing Guernica, often considered Picasso’s greatest work. I have seen pictures of it before, but seeing it at actual scale is an entirely different experience. I couldn’t fill a Post-It with what I know about Guernica. In fact you could sum it up in one line: “Picasso’s Guernica has something to do with the Spanish Civil War…or something.” Now this might be accurate, but it also masks an even greater ignorance; namely, I know absolutely nothing about the Spanish Civil War. Wait, actually I could offer a bit of a tidbit: “Franco?” See, that’s not even affirmative. It’s a timid response and frankly all I’m capable of even somewhat committing to. Here’s a question that I can’t answer that kind of nags: If I’d not been told that Guernica was (arguably) the most important piece of artwork of the 20th century, what would I think of it? See, I can’t answer that and it annoys me. You can’t put your finger on the scale that way by declaring such things, because then I feel sort of forced into one opinion or another. It’s kind of like when a friend gives you music from his favorite group and then asks, “So these guys are the best ever right?” What do you say to that?
I will say that I circled back to Guernica maybe three or four times, each time scanning it for longer periods of time. But was I continually absorbing it because I wanted to feel I was giving the right amount of time its advertised greatness deserved or did I really think it was great? I'm leaning towards the latter.
The rest of the evening became a search for a reasonably priced dinner. I found a spot that was offering a three-course meal for 8.50 euros, so I took a chance. Wasn’t half-bad. Although the paella mixta had one scrawny prawn in it and a tiny mussel, plus something that resembled a neck bone or a tail bone of some indeterminate animal. The second course was serviceable and the dessert, a chocolate sponge cake was actually quite good. All-in-all, not bad for the price.
On my way back to the hotel, I stumbled across a small red light district. I kept seeing all these women dressed in mico-mini skirts, legs balanced atop five-inch stilettos and black leather jackets opened to reveal bustieres. I thought for a moment, "Wow, Spanish women are really fashion-forward..." then I realized what was going on. It was funny that this was just five minutes from the main tourist drag, Puerta del Sol, but I guess that makes sense.
I felt bad that Madrid had gotten somewhat short-shrift in my visit to the Iberian peninsula, but I still got to see quite a bit and in the morning I would round it out with a trip to the Royal Palace. Also, it's not as if it's going anywhere. I plan on returning, armed with a decent vocabulary...or a translator.
3 comments:
My theory is the word gaudy comes from Gaudi.
Crossed my mind once or twice.
Is architecture more celebrated in Europe? Outside of Daniel Libeskind, Maya Lin and of course Frank Gehry, I don't think I know of any other famous contemporary architects.
I don't know. It turns out my pet theory isn't uncommon -- I probably cribbed it from somewhere. And, yes, 'gaudy' has existed for a much longer time than 100-some years.
This guy, Hundertwasser -- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friedensreich_Hundertwasser -- is like the Austrian Gaudi in some ways. His stuff dots Vienna. I remember crossing the city on the elevated and passing this utterly bizzare, huge trash-burning facility in the distance.
Gaudi and Hundertwasser are fun. I'd love to go to Barcelona some day -- I especially like his nautical references, there are little fish and everything, right? seahorses? The American flaboyant type of architecture, IMO, the postmodern kind, tends to be very ugly to me. Michael Graves. Yech. I've soured on Gehry, too. There's a hideous Gehry or Gehry-inspired monstrosity near Cooper Union.
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