It's March

Today is the first of March, and I am writing this at Houston airport while I wait for my flight home to Cleveland. 

As you may recall, each year I create a calendar which features photographs that I have taken on my travels.  The theme for 2022's calendar is "Parks and Gardens".

Here is the photo for March, a picture that I took some years ago on a trip to Spain.  The "Parque del Buen Retiro" is one of the largest parks in Madrid.  It was originally a royal retreat, but became a public park in the late 19th century.

I have spent seven weeks in Mexico, and hopefully I have missed most of Ohio's winter.  The temperature when I land in Cleveland at 6:00 P.M. is forecast to be a relatively mild 43 F, and by Sunday the high temperature is supposed to go up 66 F.  But I know very well that winter is not over, and the chances are very good that I will see snow, even after spring officially arrives.  However, each day above freezing is another day closer to spring weather.

Wintry Europe

 After two heavy snowstorms in December, here in Ohio, January so far has been dry and snowless, in spite of all the clouds.  

It's a different story in Europe however.  You may have read about the freak blizzard in Spain which dumped 20 inches in Madrid, a place that rarely sees much snow.  

This weekend I talked with my Swiss cousin Brigitta who lives near Zurich.  You associate Switzerland with snow and skiing, and that is true up in the Alps.  But I did a bit of research on the climate in Zurich, and their average high temperature in January (37F) is higher than here in Cleveland.  They get less than one half the amount of snow that we get on the west side of Cleveland (and much, much less than in the "snow belt" on the east side of my city).  However, Brigitta told me that they have had a stretch of colder than normal weather, that there is a bit of snow, and that there are a couple inches of ice in the pond in her garden.  

I also talked with another one of my Swiss cousins, Hans Peter, who lives in Bergen, Norway.  Now you would really expect extreme winter weather that far north.  But in spite of the fact that it is nearly as far north as Fairbanks, Alaska, its location along the Atlantic coast moderates the temperature.  The average high temperature in January is 39F.   Hans Peter told me that February is usually their snowiest month, but they started the year with a fairly heavy snowfall.  All of this discussion is simply an excuse to show you this picture which Hans Peter sent me of his daughter Angelina enjoying the snow in Norway.

Quiz Time - Museums of the World

Here's another quiz for my readers.
Can you identify these great museums of the world?


Number One...

 

 

 

 Number Two...

 

 

 

 

Number Three...

 

 

 

 

 Number Four...

 

 

 

 

Number Five...

 

 

 

 

 

 Number Six...

Good luck!

Update:  My friend Gayle correctly identified three of the six museums.  This is her first time participating in one of my quizzes.  Congratulations, Gayle!

Number Two is the Louvre in Paris, the largest and most famous art museum in the world.  This one is the only one of the pictured museums that I have not visited.  Since I was in Paris for only three short days, I figured that I did not have the time to do justice to this vast museum.

Number Three is the British Museum in London, one of the greatest archaeological museums of the world.  For years there has been controversy over how the museum's huge collection was amassed during the heyday of the British Empire.  Some countries demand that their treasures be returned.   Their point of view is understandable.  But on the other hand, in today's world where religious fanatics are blowing up archaeological sites, perhaps the collection is much safer right where it is.

Number Four is the Cleveland Museum of Art in Cleveland, Ohio.  While it is not as famous as the others, my hometown museum is highly regarded internationally for the breadth and quality of its collection.


Three museums remain to be identified.  Don't be shy!  I am sure that some of my readers out there know the answers!


Update:  Number Six has been correctly identified.  Meredith, a former student of mine correctly answered that it is the D'Orsay Museum in Paris.  Meredith is a frequent commenter on my blog, but I believe that this is the first time that she has participated in one of my quizzes.  Congratulations, Meredith!

Although I did not visit the Louvre during my short visit to Paris, I did go to the D'Orsay Museum.  It is much more manageable in size.  I didn't see everything there, but I did see its excellent collection of Impressionist paintings. 

Numbers One and Five remain to be identified.  I know that some of my readers recognize them!

Update:  I was holding off on closing the quiz because I knew that some of my readers could identify the last two remaining museums.  My friend and fellow blogger Kim ("El Gringo Suelto") correctly identified Numbers One and Five.  Although Kim is a very frequent commenter, this is the first time that he has participated in one of the quizzes.  Congratulations, Kim!

Number One is "El Prado" in Madrid, Spain.  Nowhere else in the world will you see such an extensive collection of Spanish masters such as Velázquez and Goya.  It also houses a large collection of Italian and Flemish paintings.

I have written frequently on this blog about museum Number Five, so I was surprised that it was not the first one to be identified.  It is the National Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City, one of the world's great archaeology museums, and the greatest collection of Pre-Hispanic artifacts anywhere.

Congratulations again to winners Gayle, Meredith and Kim!   

Final Post from Madrid

I have written some negative comments about dining experiences on this trip, but I am happy to report that my final meal in Spain was very good.

I went to a little restaurant just a stone's throw from my cousin's place called "Casa Perico".  Yes, the menu includes many things I don't care for (shellfish, tripe), but there were also a lot of tempting items on the menu.

I started with one of my favorite Spanish dishes, "pisto", which is a Spanish version of ratatouille.  This restaurant added a fried egg on top as a special touch.  Very tasty!

For my main course I had "albóndigos a la andaluza".  The English menu at the entrance described it as "smashed meatballs in a Andalucian sauce".  The sauce was made from peppers, saffron and almonds.  It was very good also.  (Yes, I know that meatball is spelled "albóndiga" with an "a", but for some reason this was spelled with an "o".)
 

For dessert I had "natillas" which is similar to creme brulee.  Yummy!

An excellent meal, and a restaurant to visit again on my next trip to Madrid!

My flight back to the United States leaves tomorrow morning at 11:35.
Now it is time to say...

 ¡Adiós, España!

¡Adiós, Madrid!

 

Last Day of Sightseeing

This morning after a breakfast of "tortilla", "churros" and "café con leche" at my favorite place, I set out to do a bit more sightseeing on my last day in Madrid.

I walked to the Salamanca neighborhood, one of the most exclusive districts in central Madrid.  In the 1800s the historic center of Madrid was bursting at the seams.  The government authorized that the city's old defensive walls be torn down and that city be expanded.  Salamanca, named after the Marquis of Salamanca who was involved in its development, became the favored area for the elite of Madrid.  With its straight, tree-lined streets and Parisian-style architecture it was the antithesis of the crowded labyrinth of the old town.

The neighborhood begins near the Gate of Alcalá, a ceremonial entry built by the 18th century King Carlos III.

Running north from the Gate of Alcalá is Serrano Street, the city's poshest shopping street.  It is lined with expensive designer shops.

The reason for my trip to Salamanca was obviously not to shop at Cartier or Giorgio Armani.  I continued walking down Serrano Street to a museum which I had not visited before. .. the Lázaro Galdiano Museum.

Lázaro Galdiano was a wealthy financier and publisher.  He was also a passionate art collector.  In the early 20th century he built an elegant mansion on Serrano Street.  When he died in 1947, he bequeathed the residence and his art collection to the State.  The four story house is filled with paintings, sculptures and decorative arts.

 

The collection is quite impressive, although of course it cannot begin to compare with Madrid's top museum, the Prado.  There are works by some of the Spanish masters.

There are a couple paintings by El Greco.

 
 
Although Zurbarán was a 17th century painter, this portrait of a saint looks starkly modern.

There are a couple paintings by Goya on display.

Goya was Galdiano's favorite, and the ceiling of one of the mansion's rooms is painted as an homage to the artist.

The collection also includes works by Flemish, German and French painters.  Because of the historic enmity between Spain and the Netherlands, Dutch painters are usually shunned, but Galdiano acquired a number of works by Dutch painters for his collection.  There is even a painting by the American Gilbert Stuart (whom we all know for his portrait of George Washington.)

After leaving the museum, I walked back along the Paseo de la Castellana, the broad, tree lined boulevard that is the main north-south thoroughfare in Madrid.  It is comparable to the Paseo de la Reforma in Mexico City.

Like the Reforma, the Paseo de la Castellana is studded with monuments...

 

... the most prominent of which is the monument to Christopher Columbus.

 

Family Time

Regular readers may recall that I have a cousin from the Swiss side of my family who lives in Madrid.  When I arrived in Madrid two weeks ago, cousin Werner and his husband Manuel were in Switzerland.  Luckily, they were both at home yesterday, and I was able to spend the day with them.  I say luckily because lately Werner has been out of town a great deal.  He is the owner of a small translation business, and he frequently has assignments in various cities throughout Europe.  He is also renting out the old family home in Switzerland as a vacation rental, so he goes back often to prepare the house for tenants.  On Saturday, he returned from a trip to Barcelona, and tomorrow he will fly to Switzerland and then on to Munich. 

Their apartment is a five minute walk from my hotel.  I went over there around noon, and I just hung out at  their place all day.   We talked and talked at times in Spanish (especially in Manuel's presence) and at times in English (Werner is fluent in four languages).  In the evening Werner fixed a tasty supper for us.  It was 11:00 PM before we finally said good night, and I walked back to my hotel.

I was great to see Werner and Manuel again, and nice to have a relaxing day just sitting around at their place.

Today is my last full day in Madrid.  Tomorrow I fly home.  It seems that my two weeks in Spain have flown by!

The Museum of Ham

This afternoon I left Valladolid and traveled by train back to Madrid for the last few days of my trip.

After settling into my hotel, I went out to buy some last minute gifts.  I headed toward the Puerta del Sol, the plaza that is the heart of the city.  But the Puerta del Sol was impassable because they were having a huge rally against cruelty to bulls.  The issue of outlawing bullfighting is a very controversial topic in Spain.  I can see both sides of the argument, but I tend to be more on the anti-bullfighting side.  However the speaker at the rally was screeching at the top of her lungs.  She was so annoying that it almost made me want to tell her to "shut up". 

I detoured around the plaza and by six o'clock I had finished my shopping.  I had not eaten since breakfast so I hungry.  But it was way too early for supper. In Spain most restaurants don't even reopen until 8:30 or 9:00 PM.  And then right in front of me there it was... "El Museo del Jamón" (The Museum of Ham).  "El Museo del Jamón" is a chain of shops in Madrid that sells (what else?) ham, but it is also a restaurant.  You are not going to get a gourmet meal here, but if you're in the mood for ham, it's a great place for a light meal.  

I mentioned in a previous post the "jamón ibérico de bellota"... made from free-range pigs that have a diet of acorns.  It's very expensive.  As you can see from the sign, it costs 30 euros per kilo... or about 15 dollars per pound.  It always amazes Americans when they see the hams hanging from the ceiling unrefrigerated.  Notice also the cones attached at the bottoms to catch any drippings.

Much less expensive, but still tastier than the ham in the United States is "jamón serrano".

The stand-up bar (where you eat more cheaply) was jammed with people, both locals and tourists.  I went upstairs to the dining room which was fairly crowded also.  I have not eaten many vegetables on the trip so I ordered the Iberian salad.

  
The salad featured a couple rounds of Spanish cheese (I don't know what kind of cheese it was, but it was tasty) and several slices of "jamón ibérico."

I was thinking about ordering dessert, but then I remembered... my favorite pastry shop was just down the street!

"La Mallorquina" has been selling sweet treats on the Puerta del Sol since 1894.  Fortunately the rally on the plaza was over... but it seemed as if everyone went to the pastry shop afterwards!  It was even more jammed than "El Museo del Jamón"!  But I made my way through the crowd and ordered a chocolate "Napolitana".  Yum!!!!

 

Work Before Play

Last night I had a good night's sleep, and I woke up ready for my first full day in Madrid.  But I had to start the day by taking care of some business.

Tomorrow I take the train from Madrid to Burgos.  I had purchased all of my train tickets from a travel agency ahead of time.  Yesterday I received an urgent e-mail from the travel agency informing me that my train tomorrow morning has been cancelled due to a strike.  So, after breakfast at my favorite place around the corner, my first priority was to go to Chamartin Station to see what the situation was, and to buy a ticket for a later train.  (This apparently is one of those strikes where only certain trains are being affected.)  

Getting to the Chamartin was very easy.  From the metro (subway) station one block from my hotel it was a straight shot to the train station.  Even though it was rush hour, the metro was busy but not packed like sardines.

I first went to the information desk, and the gentleman told that my train was not going to run, and directed me to where I could buy a new ticket.  For purchasing advance tickets, you take a number from a machine, and then when your number comes up you are called to a ticket window.  However, a fellow standing by the machine told me in Spanish that it doesn't start giving numbers until 9:30.  (At that point it was around 9:15.)  Several other foreign tourists came up to use the machine.  The same fellow told them that they had wait until 9:30, but  they did not speak Spanish.  So I went over and explained it to them.  (RENFE should compensate me for my services as an interpreter.  Ha ha!)

When I was called up to the ticket window, the man made a phone call and came back and told me that the train is going to run, and that my ticket is valid.  So we shall see what happens tomorrow.  The train is supposed to leave at 8 AM.  I will get up early and get to the station by 7 AM.  

I took the metro back to my hotel.  It was only a little after 10:00, so I still had plenty of time to do the sightseeing I had planned on doing.  I got on a different metro line and went to Moncloa, a section of the city where the campus of the University of Madrid is located.

When you ascend from the subway station you see the Arch of Victory, a monument commemorating the triumph of dictator Francisco Franco in the Spanish Civil War.

 
Nearby is the Museum of the Americas which displays artefacts from Spain's former colonies in the Americas... from both the pre-Hispanic era and the colonial era.

Given the fact that Madrid has several world-class museums, not many foreign tourists visit this museum.  I wouldn't put it on a list of "must see" sights for a first time visitor to Madrid, but it is rather nice museum.  (However, monolinguals will find it less interesting since all of the descriptions are in Spanish.)

The most outstanding exhibit in the museum is a collection of gold objects from the Quimbaya culture of pre-Hispanic Colombia.  These items come from two Quimbaya tombs, and were presented by Colombia as a gift to Spain.  It is one of the largest and most important indigenous treasure troves to be found anywhere in the world.

Next door to the museum is "el Faro de Moncloa" (The Lighthouse of Moncloa).  This 360 foot tall tower provides a 360 degree panorama of Madrid.

In the distance you see the modern skyscrapers of the city's financial district.  The third building from the left is the Foster Tower, the tallest building in Spain.

Looking down at the Arch of Victory and the Gran Via beyond.  The spire in the distance to the left is the Telephone Building which is a block from my hotel.

The University of Madrid campus and barely visible in the distance the Guadarrama Mountains.

 

Greetings from Madrid

I arrived in Madrid at 10 AM this morning.  I took a taxi from the airport to my hotel.  The fare from the airport to anywhere in central Madrid is 30 euros.  There are cheaper ways of transport... such as the subway... but after a long flight I opted for easiest way of getting to the hotel.  Besides, compared to some major cities, 30 euros is not exorbitant.

I arrived at the hotel at 11:00 AM, but check-in is not until 1:00 PM, so I had a couple hours to kill.  I left my bags at the hotel and went around the corner to a little "hole-in-the-wall" restaurant called "La Austriaca".  It is my favorite place for breakfast in Madrid.  The food is nothing fancy... just good ordinary Spanish food... but it is also a slice of non-touristy life in Madrid.  I had my usual "café con leche" (coffee with steamed milk), and "tortilla española" (an omelet with potatoes and onions).  Unfortunately by that hour they were out of "churros" (Spain's answer to the doughnut... long, fluted tubes of fried dough.)

The lady who waited on me at the counter (I think she is the owner) recognized me from previous visits.  She said, "As soon as you ordered "tortilla", I remembered you."

After my late breakfast, I still had another hour before check-in, so I wandered around the neighborhood.  Here are some pictures of the architecture...

I am now settled into my hotel room.  The place is called "Hotel Siete Islas".  It is a modern, comfortable, moderately priced hotel.  Its location, just a block from downtown Madrid's main avenue, the Gran Vía, is superb.  

Stay  tuned for more adventures from Spain...