Madrid

Madrid is not our favorite European city. We have tried. Our first visit, 3 years ago, was marred by the weather and a miserable campground experience. This time the weather was much improving and the campground experience, at Camping Osuna, was just fine. A 10 minute walk and you're at the Metro and maybe 20 minutes more to the Plaza del Sol. But then you get there and after walking a bit realize there is little of real interest. For us, anyway. We did a 2 hour walk--Fodor's, and, I add, the worst walk description we have yet endured. It got interesting in the last block or so. See below. We go to Madrid for the Prado, which is marvelous, but that's the next post. Or not.

The interestingly signed entrance to Camping Osuna

We had a nice lunch at Finca de la Susana

And browsed a few pig stores, wondering whether the
color-coding was similar to that of the candles at Montserrat

And here we are, now on Fodor's walk, at the Plaza de la
Whatever; note the matador trying to stir up business;
there was also a grossly over-weight Spider Man; we
proceeded on

City Hall, the original city hall, or possibly some other
structure

Things got interesting only near the end of the walk, at the
music school, with its semi-Nabokovian assertion of "no
aesthetics without ethics" and "no ethics without
aesthetics"

And then really interesting with the Calle de Lepanto and
its remembrance of...

Cervantes' loss of (use of?) an arm in "the Naval"

And then, Velasquez' apartment across from

The Royal Palace (another Versailles imitation)

And its equestrian pose of Phil 4, from a
sketch by Velasquez

And then the Opera

We even tried the churros and chocolate sampler at Valor; I
am so done with churros and chocolate now

Montserrat: The Holy Bits

The abbey and church go way back and are still famous for their art, boys choir, and as a spiritual retreat.

More of the complex; someone could do a really great
Mount Rushmore here

Another of the larger gift shoppes in
Christendom

It's the abbey of St. Mary of Montserrat;
some really weird sculptures around...

Entry to the church

Benedictine Bracket

Inside the church

Aisles lined with these incendiary devices;
it's a Romanesque church and needs all the
light it can get; well, depends on your
contemplative vs. touristic needs

Graven image in glass case

Color-coded  candles

More weird sculpture

Better suits my iconographic tastes

Green candles, there

Vicki poses for scale with the Very Large, presumably Very
Important Candles

Montserrat: The Natural Bits

Son-in-law Will reminded us to visit Montserrat, a beautiful serrated mountain and abbey near Barcelona. We visited it the day we finally left Barcelona, tarried a bit, and then headed on to Madrid and the Prado. Traditionally, Montserrat was identified with its Benedictine abbey, and according to lore, including Wagner as I recall, the site of The Holy Grail. According to Python, it was elsewhere, but that's another story. In any case, in our times of leisure and recreation, Montserrat is as much a scenic and recreational destination, honey-combed with hiking trails. We didn't do any hiking this visit--Barcelona wore our legs out--but may well some other time.

It was enough of a hike from the parking lot to the abbey

View from where we parked; those are the snowy Pyrenees
in the distance

Setting of the abbey

Funicular Not Taken

The whole massif is a pinkish conglomerate,
the giant spires of which gave rise to lewd
comments by certain members of our party

From the square before the abbey church

Looking back to the valley below; the road up to the abbey
was quite good, easily wide enough for passing tour buses

More of the interesting formations

Ditto; we saw many hikers and many trail-heads; the whole
is a national park, indeed, Spain's first national park

Ditto, now driving on toward Madrid

Ditto again

And again

Fins Que Ens Trobem De Nou, Barcelona, 3

Still more. I'll explain any on request...each has a story or many stories.

Fins Que Ens Trobem De Nou, Barcelona, 2

More memories of Barcelona...