A recap of February 11, 2012 (written on February 12, 2012...hotel bar...Sony laptop, glass(es) of sangria, and a nice plate of nuts and crackers).
So I woke up at 2PM...oh well. I guess I missed breakfast. But in California it was 5AM so as far as I'm concerned, I woke up early.
I walked the six blocks in the cold to the Metro and started the adventure to downtown. As soon as I got off the Metro I somehow landed in the world of Corte Ingles. If you don't know what Corte Ingles is, think Macy's or Harrod's on steroids. So the metro drops me off into the land of happy salesmen peddling all their shiny things. No...I don't want it, need it...blah, blah, blah.
I find a travel agency in this materialistic world...and within minutes have train tickets for Monday. Cartagena, here I come.
I quickly find an exit from the department store and find myself directly in front of Puerta del Sol. It's been six years since I've been to this city, and I have forgotten where everything is, but I refused to get a map. If I got lost, I'd talk to people. So much better than opening up maps in the middle of the street. Let the adventure begin.
First thing I found (besides the amazing architecture, street performers, and all the well dressed citizens of Madrid) was a Starbucks. And, yes, sorry, I had to go in. Nonfat latte with cinnamon in a to go cup. No sitting for hours enjoying my coffee....nope, not for me. I've got places to go, things to see.
Somehow I wandered in front of the Prado (no, I didn't go in) and then the Reina Sofia (the museum of modern art). WINNER!! I go into the museum where it was the museums monthly "free" day. SCORE!!
What can I say about modern art in Spain. It's weird, thought provoking, inspiring, bizarre...and most of the time I just wonder what kind of drug inspired someone to create something so out of the ordinary.
The museum houses various forms of artistic expression...literary, cinematic, photographic, sculptural, painted, drawn, and even a few engineering marvels. In this place my love of comic books, or KISS, of costuming and color, and my core comes alive. Wandering the different exhibits...seeing different artists representations of life (real and fantasy) inspired all sorts of wondrous feelings.
My favorite exhibit for the day...and one I will never forget...was the room of applause. You walk into a room surrounded by screens. On the screens you are watching people applaud. All around you is applause. The angle in which you are seeing the people is as if you are on a stage. A simple concept...but it made me think about how great it would be do do something actually worthy of such applause. And at that moment...all I wanted to do is figure out something I can do for society or others that would matter.
I left the museum and wandered thru the city...taking in the building, the people, the sounds, the aromas. Everywhere there were symbols of Cervantes and Don Quixote. How I love that story...a crazy man doing crazy honorable things. It makes me want to fight a windmill.
I took the metro back to the hotel and found myself in a bar / restaurant that I frequented on my last journey to Madrid. And would you believe they remembered me. Sangria, chorizo iberico (think salami only SO much better), and cheesecake...along with penning a few postcards. All in all...a great day so far.
I make it back to the hotel...and create my blog on the iPad (first major mistake of the day). I tried to fix my blog and made my second mistake (although I think I like this entry better)...and then tried to sleep. And tried. And tried. And somewhere in the middle of the night Whitney Houston died. And CNN wouldn't stop talking about it. About 6:00AM I fell asleep (although I guess in CA it would have been 9PM so I should be happy my body and mind is somewhat adjusting to the new time zone) and awoke at 1PM on the 12th. Since that is really 4AM in CA...hey, I'm really getting a hang of this time change :-)
Onto the next blog...
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