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Valencia – Day 3

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Today Cynthia woke up in pretty bad shape. While the one eye is getting better, the other is starting to have trouble. She is very fatigued and in need of rest.

We had scheduled lunch with our friend Manel who we met during our first visit to Valencia. When he arrived at the hotel Cynthia simply didn’t have the energy to accompany us. This was unfortunate as Manel speaks little English and I speak little Spanish. Cynthia usually acts as the translator, but today we were on our own.

Manel and I had a good time using our iPhones to make the more difficult translations and it was a fun morning, if not slightly comical.

We made our way back to the hotel so I could check in on Cynthia and so that Manel could make his way to his other commitments. When I check with the desk clerk, Cynthia had left a note saying that she was feeling better and had walked over to the park to enjoy some sunshine and fresh air.

When she did make her way to the room she was looking to be in pretty good spirits, but confided that while sitting on a park bench and enjoying the various dogs and birds passing and flying overhead she apparently looked so sad and pathetic that a passing cyclist stopped and offered her food (which she politely declined).

Suffice to say, she was mortified. It took me some time to convince her that she did not look like a wretched, diseased homeless person with a bad eye.

Since Cynthia was feeling better we decided go for a walk and get some lunch. We enjoyed sitting outside the restaurant and soaking in the sunshine.

After lunch we went back to the room and had a siesta.

When we woke up we were both feeling a bit better. I wanted to go to the City of Arts and Sciences to take some photos and Cynthia was going to go see some things she wanted to see. I ended up making a short trip of it as the City of Arts and Sciences was having some kind of event and I couldn’t really get the shots I wanted. When I got back to the hotel I ran into Cynthia who was excited that she was able to photograph an unusual pigeon we had spotted a few days ago.

We suspect he has been painted by someone. The bird seems ok and flies around the plaza without a problem.

We took the rest of the afternoon and evening to do some more site seeing. We’re still not 100% but we’re not giving up.

Tomorrow and Monday are the days of the Ofrenda when the women of Valencia parade in to the Plaza Of The Virgin and offer to her their prayers and carnations. The carnations are used to make Mary’s gown. It’s quite a site.

Madrid – Day 5

We’ve expended a lot of energy over the last few days. And we still have Las Fallas in Valencia to look forward to. With that in mind we took it rather easy today. We decided to catch the subway to go see the monument to Miguel de Cervantes, writer of the world famous story of Don Quixote de la Mancha and his trusty squire, Sancho Panza.

http://baldheretic.tumblr.com/post/45180258084/tilting-at-windmills-at-plaza-de-españa

From there we made our way to the Naval Museum for a nice dose of Spanish naval history. The museum is very nice and well laid out. I was especially fascinated by the models and miniatures featured in the museum.

After visiting the Naval Museum we found our way to the Barrio de las letras (the literary district) to take a walking tour of the neighborhood which is filled with wonderful old bars, restaurants and shops decorated with ornate tile work.

While we were there we stopped for lunch at a restaurant called Miau where I discovered that I really like grilled pulpo (octopus).

We wandered the area at a leisurely pace and once we had our fill we headed back to the hotel and had a nice, long siesta.

When we awoke from our siesta we relaxed in the hotel room before heading out to find some dinner.

All in all, a very nice day and a chance to regain our strength as we get ready to wrap things up here in Madrid.

Madrid – Day 4

Today is March 11 and is the 9th anniversary of the terrorist bombing of the Atocha Train Station in Madrid. The explosions killed 191 people and wounded 1,800. The official investigation by the Spanish judiciary found that the attacks were directed by an al-Qaeda-inspired terrorist cell.

At the Atocha station there is a memorial dedicated to the victims of the explosion.

From Wikipedia:

The Atocha station memorial is a memorial monument located at Atocha station in Madrid, Spain, that commemorates the 191 victims of the 11 March 2004 Madrid train bombings and the special forces agent who died when seven suicide bombers blew themselves up on 3 April 2004.

The 11 m tall (36 ft) cylinder stands above Atocha station, the destination of the four trains that were attacked. Thousands of messages of condolence made in the days after the attacks are inscribed on the inside of the tower. The messages of grief can be seen from a chamber beneath the hollow monument.

It was a somber experience visiting this memorial on the anniversary. Something akin to visiting Ground Zero in New York, I would imagine.

From there we walked over to the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum to view some more art. Because when you are travelling in Europe, you can’t see enough art. Visiting the Thyssen completed our Madrid Museum trifecta.

After this we were fairly tired and headed back to the hotel to readjust and then get some lunch. After lunch it was back to the hotel for a nice siesta.

When we woke up we made our way west to watch the sunset and take some night shots of the Temple de Debod, an ancient Egyptian temple that was rebuilt in Madrid.

It was cold and windy and we were anxious to get back to town where it might be a little less breezy.

Having had a rather substantial lunch, we were not all the keen on a large dinner. So we opted for some Churros con Chocolate at the famous Chocolatería San Ginés which first opened its doors in 1894.

chocoalte2

It was delicious, in case you were wondering.

After that I wanted to stop by the La Torre del Oro which is a bar dedicated to bull fighting. Many bull heads on the walls and photos of fighters getting gored quite gruesomely. It’s an interesting experience to say the least.

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After that we we’re pretty much spent. Tomorrow is another day.

Madrid – Day 3

Today, to our surprise, the sun came out again. There was still enough cloud cover to indicate that rain was still a possibility, but we ventured out without our raincoats or an umbrella anyway.

We decided to go to the Reina Sofia to see Picasso’s “Guernica” painting. This was our second opportunity to see this painting and it always moves me. Sadly, no photos allowed.

From the Reina Sofia we made our way to The Prado to see even more masterpieces.

This museum contains the definitive Goya collection. It is also home to Las Meninas by Velázquez which is always worth seeing in person. Sadly, no photos allowed in this museum.

We walked down Paseo del Prado taking in the sites. We stopped and had some lunch and the went off in search of the Caixa Forum to see the living art wall which is an outdoor vertical garden green designed by French botanist Patrick Blanc. This wall of green has 15,000 plants of 250 species covering a 460 meter square wall.

While we were admiring the wall it started to rain a bit so we made our way to the subway to go back to the hotel and have a siesta. I have to say, the siesta is now my favorite Spanish tradition.

After sleeping for a few hours we made our way to the Metropolis for some night photography.

(thanks to Cynthia for this photo!)

It was cold, but we had a great time shooting the Metropolis and the Plaza de Cibeles

After the photo session Cynthia and I found our way to a lovely tapas restaurant and had a fantastic dinner and a bottle of wine. We sat down around 9:30 and left around 11:30. Dinner comes late in Madrid.

Madrid – Day 2

We woke up to rain this morning. We decided we would go to Atoche Station and get our train tickets to Valencia. As we made our way there the sun came out and blue skies were punctuated with moody clouds.

We walked around the train station and wanted to see the Atocha station memorial which is a monument that commemorates the 191 victims of the 11 March 2004 Madrid train bombings and the special forces agent who died when seven suicide bombers blew themselves up on 3 April 2004, but it was closed for maintenance. We hope to get back and see it. The 11 March 2004 bombing is the equivalent of the 9/11 attack in the U.s. and the anniversary is coming up on Monday so they are making ready for that.

Since the sun was out we headed over to Retiro Park to take in the sights. We visited the Fallen Angel Fountain, possibly the only monument to The Devil in the world.

After the fountain we visited the Crystal Palace which is a spectacular glass structure in Retiro Park.

We wandered over to the Monumento Alfonso XII after that.

After touring Retiro Park we took the subway to Puerto Del Sol and walked over to Plaza Mayor.

Right off the main square of Plaza Mayor is a restaurant called Casa Rua which serves the best squid sandwich you can imagine.

After Plaza Mayor we walked west to the Royal Palace, but by now we were getting pretty tired. We turned around and headed back to Puerto Del Sol and caught the subway back to the hotel where we enjoyed a 2 hour mid-afternoon siesta.

When we woke up we walked over to El Corte Ingles to pick up some soft drinks and toiletries.

For the evening we met up with some friends for a leisurely dinner and a few bottles of wine.

All in all, a very good and very productive day. But now we’re beat. It’s near midnight and we’re turning in. Tomorrow is open, but we may try to hit up the museums.

¡Buen viaje!

Off we go!

Beware The Internet

In December of 2008, as I was getting ready for a vacation trip to Brussels, I posted a self portrait of myself sporting my new winter coat to my Flickr account.

I didn’t think much of it after posting it and I’d pretty much forgotten about it over the years.

Today, as I was reading some discussions about people having their photos used to create fake online identities I decided to use Google Image Search to see if any of my self portraits could be found anywhere on the vast Internet.

Honestly, I was not expecting to find anything. It was more of an expression of idle curiosity that I thought would amount to a few minutes squandered before moving on to bigger and better wastes of time.

Imagine my surprise when I found this “interpretation” by a Flickr user called Leeber

I have no idea who Leeber is or why he chose my picture to transform. But unlike *that* previous experiences where I have had a photo I created used without permission, I’m not really offended nor am I seeking to have the photo removed. Mostly because I am amused.

A similar incident came up with this photo I took of my dentist

Years later I found this posted as a winner of a Photoshop contest at Worth1000.com

Again, I’m not so interested in asserting my copyright because I find the work creative and amusing and I don’t see that the person is profiteering off of my work.

I guess it just goes to show that you can never fully tell what people may be doing to the content you post to the Internet or how they might be using it.

Munich – Day 5

It has been snowing pretty steady now for the last few days and it is building up. The city is covered in white. I have not had any experience with this much snow and I have to say, it is a lot of fun. Of course I don’t have to deal with it in any practical sense, being as I am a tourist and will soon be returning to balmy Texas soon enough.

Today we decided to go to some art museums. We hit up the Munich Glyptothek as well as the Alte Pinakothek and the Pinakothek der Moderne.

The Glyptothek is a museum which was commissioned by the Bavarian King Ludwig I to house his collection of Greek and Roman sculptures. It makes for an interesting stroll. It’s not too big and it is well laid out.

From there we headed back in to the snow to walk to the Alte Pinakothek which is one of the oldest galleries in the world and houses one of the most famous collections of Old Master paintings on the planet. Suffice to say, we saw some really amazing paintings. Notable artists such as Leonardo Da Vinci, Anthony van Dyck, Peter Paul Rubens and El Greco to name but a few. Check out the link above to read more about the gallery and the works that are housed there.

After taking in all that the Alte Pinakothek had to offer we made our way to Pinakothek der Moderne which is a modern art museum.

Now frankly, I don’t get modern art. Most of it is not very compelling. But it was interesting to walk around this space and see the exhibits.

I will confess, I was rather amused at one display which was part of a modern design exhibit that featured 80’s era computers.

And I was mildly excited to get to see a few original Andy Warhol paintings. I suppose mostly because it was a name I recognized.

By the time we had finished touring these galleries it was rather late in the afternoon. We found our way back to the area near our hotel and found some food.

I will say this, walking around in the cold takes it out of you. Between the freezing temperatures and the wearing of pounds and pounds of winter clothing combined with moving in an out of the cold it wears me out.

We rested up for a few hours then went back out to just walk in the snow amongst the booths in the Christmas markets. It is still very idyllic with the snow on the ground and the warm lights glowing from the booths.