Feliz Navidad
Spain
If someone wasn’t already madly in love with Spain after a short time in Barcelona they soon would be after the train ride that we took. This ride from Barcelona to Madrid must have taken us through the most beautiful portions of Spain. All we could do is stare out the window. The pictures I took don’t even begin to do justice, but the Spanish country side is one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen, and I have been a lot of places.
The museums continue to make us drop our jaws and we are becoming even bigger art geeks. As soon as we got to Madrid we raced to the Renia Sophia where Picasso’s “Guernica” is along with the preliminary sketches and photos of “Guernica at different stages as Picasso was painting it!!! I always imagined Picasso like Van Gogh, a bit off his rocker and artsie farties ish. The pictures of him painting though show this cute old man (remember though that I am biased) in a collared shirt and tie painting. He was pretty much your average guy except for his ability to create works of art that could fascinate Sarah Hope for a day and me for a week (I am a snail when it comes to looking at art). They don’t let you get to close though, no sitting to stare, three people making sure you stay behind the guard rail that is 10 feet away from the painting, and everybody seems to be walking on ice. In other words I didn’t get to see the brush strokes that I am so fascinated with and Mrs. Walker would be kicked out of the museum in a heart beat. The thing is huge though, it wouldn’t fit in most living rooms. We also saw Dali, Muro, and Kandinsky (a few personal favorites) and a whole floor dedicated to some awesome modern art.
After doing some laundry and eating a delicious free breakfast compliments of the hostel we headed out for the Prado. Sarah could hardly contain herself because her favorite painter is Francesco de Goya. Half of the museum was filled with his paintings. We were both glad that we weren’t able to get a night train because seeing Spain’s beautiful landscapes has really helped us to understand the work that we saw at the Prado. The rolling hills in the background, the tan churches on the highest hills, the beautiful skies in these paintings are mirror images of our path from Barcelona to Madrid. Though these master pieces were created hundreds of years ago meeting the people here and interacting with their culture gives us a new set of glasses to see the works with more understanding.
Today is Christmas and my heart has excitement of a young child. There isn’t snow outside and the tree isn’t levitating inches off the ground because of the mass amounts of presents, but I can’t help but smile and it took all of my self control to not wake the Buddhist and Chinese man by jumping on their bed and rejoicing “It’s Christmas!!!” Of course it isn’t the same not having your whole family, a fire, and a morning in pajamas and laughing and opening presents, but it is still Christmas regardless of where you are! We are going to Catholic mass, going to call our families, exchange the small presents we got for one another, and then we are headed on of Madrid’s most beautiful parks.
Enjoy this beautiful celebration of our dear Savior’s birth!
Feliz Navidad
If someone wasn’t already madly in love with Spain after a short time in Barcelona they soon would be after the train ride that we took. This ride from Barcelona to Madrid must have taken us through the most beautiful portions of Spain. All we could do is stare out the window. The pictures I took don’t even begin to do justice, but the Spanish country side is one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen, and I have been a lot of places.
The museums continue to make us drop our jaws and we are becoming even bigger art geeks. As soon as we got to Madrid we raced to the Renia Sophia where Picasso’s “Guernica” is along with the preliminary sketches and photos of “Guernica at different stages as Picasso was painting it!!! I always imagined Picasso like Van Gogh, a bit off his rocker and artsie farties ish. The pictures of him painting though show this cute old man (remember though that I am biased) in a collared shirt and tie painting. He was pretty much your average guy except for his ability to create works of art that could fascinate Sarah Hope for a day and me for a week (I am a snail when it comes to looking at art). They don’t let you get to close though, no sitting to stare, three people making sure you stay behind the guard rail that is 10 feet away from the painting, and everybody seems to be walking on ice. In other words I didn’t get to see the brush strokes that I am so fascinated with and Mrs. Walker would be kicked out of the museum in a heart beat. The thing is huge though, it wouldn’t fit in most living rooms. We also saw Dali, Muro, and Kandinsky (a few personal favorites) and a whole floor dedicated to some awesome modern art.
After doing some laundry and eating a delicious free breakfast compliments of the hostel we headed out for the Prado. Sarah could hardly contain herself because her favorite painter is Francesco de Goya. Half of the museum was filled with his paintings. We were both glad that we weren’t able to get a night train because seeing Spain’s beautiful landscapes has really helped us to understand the work that we saw at the Prado. The rolling hills in the background, the tan churches on the highest hills, the beautiful skies in these paintings are mirror images of our path from Barcelona to Madrid. Though these master pieces were created hundreds of years ago meeting the people here and interacting with their culture gives us a new set of glasses to see the works with more understanding.
Today is Christmas and my heart has excitement of a young child. There isn’t snow outside and the tree isn’t levitating inches off the ground because of the mass amounts of presents, but I can’t help but smile and it took all of my self control to not wake the Buddhist and Chinese man by jumping on their bed and rejoicing “It’s Christmas!!!” Of course it isn’t the same not having your whole family, a fire, and a morning in pajamas and laughing and opening presents, but it is still Christmas regardless of where you are! We are going to Catholic mass, going to call our families, exchange the small presents we got for one another, and then we are headed on of Madrid’s most beautiful parks.
Enjoy this beautiful celebration of our dear Savior’s birth!
Feliz Navidad
posted by Sarah Hope at 4:27 AM
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