Madrid; Museo Nacional de Artes Decorativa, Communications Center, Alabaster Restaurant

We were pretty run down after walking about 8 miles a day for 2 days, so we hit two smaller museums in the afternoon.  First was the Museo Nacional de Artes Decorativa, which was mostly a museum of historic household items, like furniture, plates, silverware, and other odds and ends.  I took one photo of a really cool piece of china because I thought my friend Fred Daniels would appreciate it.  It’s from a producer called Herend.

We also hit the Spanish Naval Museum, but unfortunately the bulk of the museum was closed for refurbishment, one of the downsides of visiting in the off-season.  We had extra time to kill since dinner wasn’t until the restaurant first opened….at 8:30 (I have no idea how this tradition started in Spain)

Since we had some extra time we took a walk around and this building, the former Communications Center for Madrid, was open, so we said “let’s check it out”.  There was some interesting history on the first floor, and then we went upstairs.  This is where it appears LSD made it’s second appearance of the day.

If you make it through the first 3 sentences you beat me.

I think this might be a place you take your significant other to break up?

So deep!  So provocative!

Then there is a video screen, and trashy looking bean bag chairs and burlap sacks filled with god knows what to sit on….on the floor….in front of these screens.  It looked like a homeless encampment.  I presume the video they were showing was meant to ensure nobody stayed seated on these pieces of trash for very long.  Here is a snippet.  Keep in mind the item speaking is a large pink piece of plastic water pipe.  What that has to do with anything I don’t know.

Wow….that’s more confusing than Westworld!

Dan had to go pick his laundry, which he had to do in Madrid since they were about to embark on a cruise where it cost $3 just to wash a pair of socks.  Kim, Kathy and I decided to check out this little bar they have on top of the building, and here is a nice shot of the city at night.

The bar area.  Pretty nice spot….if it wasn’t for all of the damn smokers!

We had lunch at a really good restaurant called Alabaster, right across the street from the Artes Decorativa.  It was SOO good that we booked a reservation for dinner.  They ended up putting us in a private room, and the dinner was just as good as the lunch.  A really excellent restaurant, just a little on the pricey side, but it was Thanksgiving!  Here is a shot as we were leaving.  What is the deal with all of these men in suits having dinner together….with no women…..at 9:30 at night…and they just sat down!

There is a group of women at the table in the back, but that was only women. It was like a middle school dance in the 1970’s!

Madrid; Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum

Back to the land of the 7 euro breakfast, and we were off an running to yet another museum!  Today it was the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum.  This turned out to be my favorite in Madrid.  For one thing, you can take photos of pretty much anything you want!  I am posting my favorite works of art.  The first is by some French dude named Renoir.

Then there is Van Gogh.  He’s not too shabby.

I’ve never heard of this guy before (Theo van Rysselberghe), but I love the colors and the Maritime theme.

This was so stunning in person.  The photo doesn’t do it justice.  Another guy I’ve never heard of before (Maximilien Luce).

Now we have my 2 favorite pieces in the gallery, by somebody who is also new to me, John Atkinson Grimshaw.  The use of light and intricate detail is amazing!  You can’t see any brushstrokes….I don’t know how he did it.  I would love to have these in my house!

Another Renoir.  Looks like a field in Livermore!

This is Sundown at Yosemite by Albert Bierstadt.  This guy was a mountaineer AND  a painter.  There is a 14,000+ foot peak in Colorado named after him that I hiked with Fletcher when he was 6 years old.  This is the first time I’ve seen his art.  I love this gallery!

Time for the bizzare.  This is Salvador Dali, and the piece is called Dream Caused by the Flight of a Bee around a Pomegranate a Second before Waking up.  Just to be clear, the hallucinogenic properties of LSD were discovered in 1943, and this was painted in 1944.  Coincidence?

I loved the broken window and the glass shards showing the view from before it was broken.  Very cool painting!  Thanks Rene Magritte!