Spain

Modern art at the Reina Sofia

/ Greg / 2 Comments

My wife and I have been taking a decidedly “less is more” approach to museum visits on our last few trips.  When our plans for Madrid started to come together, it was pretty clear there were two can’t miss museums for us – the Museo del Prado (no photography allowed inside, so I won’t write here about it other than to say it was a remarkable experience to roam through it on a rainy fall day) and the museum of 20th century art, the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía.

I generally favour more modern art, so the Reina Sofía was actually higher on my list than the Prado.  There were a number of pieces I was very excited to see inside the museum, but on entry, I was surprised (really, it was only a lack of advance reading/research) to find some great modern pieces in an outside courtyard by some of my favourite artists.  First, “Carmen” by Alexander Calder caught my attention and brought me back to a childhood experience of seeing a Calder piece in Montreal as well as seeing some of his other installations in Seattle, Chicago, Philadelphia, and outside Copenhagen.

"Carmen" by Alexander Calder

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The Bernabéu

/ Greg / 2 Comments

I’ve been to Yankee Stadium and Fenway Park.  To Soldier Field.  To the Air Canada Centre in Toronto – the homes of some of the most storied North American sports teams.   Although the league schedule for Spain’s top soccer league didn’t line up for me getting to see Real Madrid play, I did make sure to visit their historic ground, the Estadio Santiago Bernabéu.

Real Madrid offers a truly remarkable tour of their stadium.  You buy a ticket, walk inside, then get to guide yourself through the tour with no one shuffling you along quicker than you want.   Stop one on the tour is way up in the cheap seats for a panoramic view, or as I would call it, the view that my limited funds would likely procure if I bought a ticket.  Wow.

View of Santiago Bernabéu

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Moments in Spain

/ Greg / 3 Comments
I have found that, for me at least, the perfect travel moments are elusive and quiet, yet end up being the memories that I cherish most when I return home. Those moments will almost never occur if I try to plan or architect them, but usually just sneak up on me, most times when I least expect them.

This trip to Spain had some remarkable moments, the majority of which had nothing to do with the litany of beautiful sights in Seville, Madrid and Cordoba. I got chills standing with 32,000 Real Betis football fans while they sang to their team before a late Saturday night kickoff.  I was drawn to an open window of our apartment in Seville by the sound of three girls practicing their flamenco steps in the cobblestone street two stories below. I’ll always smile recalling the joy on my wife’s face when she could order liberally from a gluten-free tapas menu of a little place in Madrid that had some of the best food of our entire trip.  I was riveted by the scene of a man watching over his grandson as he fed pigeons in Plaza Mayor, and to him turning a blind eye when the boy would eat his bread from the ground before the birds could get to it.  Simple things.

Plaza Mayor, Madrid

Spain got its tentacles into me, slowing me down and making me savour so many simple pleasures: an afternoon glass of cava on the roof of our Seville apartment, sleeping in until well past noon to the sounds of Spanish conversations from the streets below, or the taste of a perfect slice of Iberico ham melting away on my tongue.  Yes, there were a lot of ham moments.  And olives.  Oh those olives!

This was a trip I had dreamt about for years, and after two spectacular weeks in Spain, I left compelled to come back to explore so much more of this beautiful, unique country.  I’ll write much, much more in the weeks and months ahead…

Spain, soon

/ Greg / 1 Comment

I have been dreaming about visiting Spain for as long as I have had the travel bug. When the time came to commit to a “big trip” this year, after years of just missing the cut, Spain won out (sorry Ireland, maybe next year). Other trips over the past few years had materialized to push Spain one more year further out, but not this time. We finally found a reasonable airfare, something that had eluded us, and with Madrid as our arrival and departure location, we have planned a visit to the capital as well as south into Andalucía.

This trip will be at a slower pace than the last few European adventures my wife and I have been on. I’m in need of a couple of weeks lived like the Spanish – rise late and warm up to your day’s activities, take frequent breaks; set aside time for an afternoon nap; base your day around eating and drinking that will stretch late into the night.  That’s the kind of pace I’m looking for.  We have secured charming apartments in Madrid and Seville, the latter having a wonderful rooftop terrace for us to look out over the city while sharing a bottle (or two) of wine. The itinerary is just coming together now and I’m excited to take in a Real Betis football match alongside some of the most passionate fans in all of Europe, to do some food exploring in the historic markets of Madrid, to tour the Mezquita in Córdoba, to settle into cozy flamenco bars in the wee hours and to liberally and enthusiastically throw myself head first into Spanish tapas culture.

Here’s to two weeks in Spain.  I’ll be using all my willpower to not wish away the time until our flight.