Madrid, Spain The target for our last day was the Reina Sofia, the national museum of 20th century art.
Among the Spanish artists of the early 20th century in the museum are many of the greats. Picasso, Gris, Miro, Dali, just to name a few, all grew up during a time of great political turmoil here, beginning with the Spanish Civil War, leading into World War II and then into the Franco regime.
Fascism was the ideological power of the day, dramatically promoted by the press and opposed by many artists.
This is the rightful home of Picasso’s Guernica, the most famous manifestation of the resistance and the centerpiece of the museum. It is truly breathtaking.
Whether or not these artists were lobbying for political change, they were evolving artistic expression in new directions.
The collection is stunning in its dramatization of a time and a place where turmoil and creativity merged together.
There was also a bit out turmoil outside the museum. Huge demonstrations regarding housing yesterday, and today the topic was support for Palestine. Very passionate crowds.
For a bit of calm, we went to lunch and then the nearby Botanical Gardens. Restful.
A brief afternoon respite, and then we’ll have a farewell dinner with our friends. We’ll have to return to Madrid in the near future to see more of this beautiful city. But for now, we need to pack up and get ready for our travel day to Egypt tomorrow. Next stop, Cairo.
Don’s Food Corner
With the protest march limiting access to many restaurant choices, we lucked out finding a quasi-French place off the main street. But in an isn’t-it-a-small-world encounter, a couple overhearing us mentioning Ohio as our place of origin jumped in and wanted to know WHERE in Ohio, since they too were from Ohio. Not only had they lived in Cleveland (where I grew up) and Cincinnati (where Jo spent her formative years), they also graduated from the same university we went to (Miami University in Oxford, Ohio). We simply cannot escape this. They seemed like acceptable people but we didn’t linger to find out.
The meal itself was acceptable as well. June, Alan and I all ordered Nicose salad. Not exactly as they make it in the south of France. But it featured fresh tuna (not canned). I was actually surprised that the Spanish didn’t try to sneak in some of their ham to make it more local.
Jo had a bowl of pumpkin soup, which she thought hit the spot. It was followed by a serving of chicken salad, which included raisins, nuts and bound together in a curry mayonaise and served with banana bread. The waiter warned that it was “sweet.” It was a cross between a Waldorf salad and Coronation chicken salad.
To our surprise, one Brit at the table claimed to have never heard of Coronation chicken. For their edification, and perhaps yours, Coronation chicken was invented to be part of the banquet buffet for the coronation of Elizabeth II. It is often found on menus throughout the U.K. and is usually a feature of one of the little sandwiches on trays for formal afternoon teas (at “better” establishments). Our Brit friends could be excused familiarity with this quintessential Britsh dish because they are not royalists. But it was like encountering an American who never heard of Sloppy Joes.
