Liberty, Sancho, is one of the most precious gifts which Heaven has bestowed on man. The treasures of the earth or sea are not to be compared to it. For liberty, as for honor, man must be prepared to die.
Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra- Don Quixote de la Mancha
In Spain, they remember Cervantes every 23rd of April. Cervantes and Shakespeare died on the same day. It is celebrated as Day of Book and/or St. Jordi. On this day ladies receive a red rose and gentlemen receive a book. So, I receive red roses from my honeybee on this day. It is celebrated as international festival of children in Turkey. 23rd of April seems like a busy day all around.
During our visit to Templo de Debod we couldn't see the antique pieces from Egypt. In stead, Cervantes welcomed us with his most famous characters of his masterpiece Don Quixote. And the sunset was very beautiful.
Next day we had a "literal walk" on Calle de las Huertas.
-He's now blind with rage.
-I shall kill you, believe me,
on that rack, villagers.
-Who killed the Commander?
Lope de Vega
-Fuenteovejuna did, Sir.
Lope de Vega
Just a reminder of the story. The town of Fuenteovejuna has a Commander sent by the king, he behaves badly, and the villagers kill him. When someone is sent to investigate (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fuenteovejuna says that the king himself went), the villagers resist to point to anyone in particular, claiming that Fuenteovejuna (that's, all the town) did it. They say it's based on a true story. For once, the people raised up against the nobles!
Museo Nacional del Prado (http://www.museodelprado.es/en) hosts distinguished pieces of Velázquez, Goya, El Greco and many other artisits. Las Meninas is the center of attraction of the exhibition. We had the chance to see Richard Hamilton's tribute to Picasso. Hamilton depicted Las Meninas by using Picasso's style of different periods for each figure on the painting. Of course by replacing Velázquez by Picasso...
I rediscovered Goya. He has two faces. One illustrates the usual icons of the time some nobles, some compositions in nature etc. The other is dark. Reflects starving, death, fear. My favorite of the exhibition was Aquelarre or The Witches' Sabbath. The painting was originally bigger but it is cutted. Nevertheless the woman figure on the right hand side-which was in the middle before- still atracts the attention on herself. It is still a mystery who she is, http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:El_Aquelarre.jpg .
A culinary nirvana can be experienced at Los Gatos. Delicious tapas served with drinks for reasonable prices. I would recommend the salad with olives and sardines. This traditional tapas bar is at 15-20 minutes walking distance from Museu del Prado. Death certificate of a bull fighter, an original drawing from Picasso, very old local costumes and many interesting antique pieces are exhibited in this bar.
A hot summer night at Madrid center is never exhausting as long as you have enough water sources with you. Cheerful voices all around the streets can be heard not only in Spanish but in many languages. Bear is not the symbol of Berlin only but also the symbol of Madrid.
Museo Nacional del Prado (http://www.museodelprado.es/en) hosts distinguished pieces of Velázquez, Goya, El Greco and many other artisits. Las Meninas is the center of attraction of the exhibition. We had the chance to see Richard Hamilton's tribute to Picasso. Hamilton depicted Las Meninas by using Picasso's style of different periods for each figure on the painting. Of course by replacing Velázquez by Picasso...
I rediscovered Goya. He has two faces. One illustrates the usual icons of the time some nobles, some compositions in nature etc. The other is dark. Reflects starving, death, fear. My favorite of the exhibition was Aquelarre or The Witches' Sabbath. The painting was originally bigger but it is cutted. Nevertheless the woman figure on the right hand side-which was in the middle before- still atracts the attention on herself. It is still a mystery who she is, http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:El_Aquelarre.jpg .
A culinary nirvana can be experienced at Los Gatos. Delicious tapas served with drinks for reasonable prices. I would recommend the salad with olives and sardines. This traditional tapas bar is at 15-20 minutes walking distance from Museu del Prado. Death certificate of a bull fighter, an original drawing from Picasso, very old local costumes and many interesting antique pieces are exhibited in this bar.
A hot summer night at Madrid center is never exhausting as long as you have enough water sources with you. Cheerful voices all around the streets can be heard not only in Spanish but in many languages. Bear is not the symbol of Berlin only but also the symbol of Madrid.
Horchateria Alboraya
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