Anseth Family Adventures: April 2023

Saturday, April 1, 2023 was our last full day of our vacation adventure. After getting out of bed and enjoying breakfast in the rotunda surround by its beautiful light. We connected with Jóse, who was patiently waiting for us. We started our walking tour at 11, I couldn’t wait to see where the most interesting man in Madrid was going to take us.

At this church by our hotel there is a statue of Christ. You can kiss the feet of Christ on Fridays

This is a statue of Paco the dog. He started out as stray dog on the streets of Madrid. In the 1880s he became famous for frequenting cafes, theaters, bullfights and other events around Madrid. The dog met the mayor of Madrid in 1879 at Café de Fronos. Paco could go with the mayor or on his own to theaters and restaurants. Jóse says that the papers of Madrid would cover his nightly exploits and the restaurants he frequented. He was killed by a clumsy embarrassed bullfighter in 1882. The crowd at the stadium almost killed the bullfighter over this according to legend.

The oldest cinema in Madrid

This graffiti artist goes around town and changes the street signs.

More street art from Madrid

Buildings from Madrid

This building is in Old Madrid. The tall doors here were used to park horse drawn carriages. Now most are restaurants or hotels

These small plaques are placed on the walkways around Madrid to commemorate men and women who lost their lives to the Fascist during the Spainish civil war. I think you can still feel Madrid struggling with issue from the Spanish Civil War today. How should they feel about it? How should they remember it? How should they talk about it?

The oldest restaurant in the world. Guinness world record certificate bottom left corner in the right window.

Jose breaking it down.

Ashley and I enjoying cod. It was salted then rehydrated over several days and finally it gets fried. The fish was so delicate and delicious.

The bar in our first restaurant

Plaza Mayor in Madrid

The streets of Madrid are cool.

Jóse, Ashley and Kari at the Plaza Mayor

More shots from the street

This is a statue of Ratón Pérez he is the equivalent of our tooth fairy. He was created by writer Luis Coloma. He will take your teeth and leave a small gift. Jóse says that many families will paint a little mouse hole on the wall for their families so that Ratón Pérez can come and visit.

Beautiful Saturday in Madrid

Fabrica Maravillas is the only craft brewery in Madrid

Jóse, Scott and Estefania, who is the badass owner of this brewery. We sampled several beer and I had a delicious hoppy west coast IPA. I had looked at this before our trip and while small it is great place for a beer in Madrid.

Next we stopped for the peppers sautéed in olive oil and sprinkled with sea salt. Simple and delicious.

Great white wine. Jóse said this code could help you/us find similar wines where we live.

The mussels are huge. The prep is simple. Steamed in white wine, squeeze a lemon and eat fresh mussels.

On open church on our walk

Love the outside of this stop.

Anchovies in teriyaki olive oil. So good

Cheese, bread, cured meat. ❤️ ❤️🇪🇸❤️❤️

Look at this cheese. From top to bottom

1. Manchego cheese: La Mancha region of Spain.

Sheep Milk.

2. Cana de Cabra cheese: Goat milk. Full flavor mild and great with seasoned meats.? What isn’t great with seasoned meats.

3. Mahón cheese: Cow milk. From the island of Menorca. Sweet and fruity and slightly salty due to the sea salt content in the grass the cows eat. This stuff is the 💣

4. Idiszabal cheese: sheep milk. Can have a somewhat smoky flavor but I do not think one was very smoky at all

Inside the cafe

I was not blue eating cheese and cured meats but the cafe was.

Our final tapa stop

Look at me and Jóse drinking espresso. I am so European now.

At the end of the day the most interesting man in Spain had to go back to his family but not before he became part of selfie nation!!!

I was walking down the street and these girls were all doing influencer photos in the doorway so I thought I would get in on the mix. The one girl in the back never stops influencing. #legends.

Karin Benzema’s Ballon d’or trophy at Real Madrid store. I am fairly confident this is a replica. 😂

The Bank of Spain 🇪🇸. #The Vault.

I have arrived at the plaza on a beautiful late afternoon in Madrid

How is my afternoon so far??

Is there a toxic amount of cured meats and Iberian Jamon??

Ashley and I found this Hemingway bar. It is a speakeasy in Madrid. To enter you first walk through the bathroom and then pull back this panel. Super fun to find, great vibe. Quiet.

Old Fashioned. As good as it gets. Might even be better than a Mo Fashioned

Pisco Sour. Just me getting my Hemingway on.

Ashley enjoyed a Margarita.

After this it was an early bed night because tomorrow is going be a full travel day. Madrid to Atlanta and Atlanta to home. Wish us luck. Spain has been great but I cannot keep eating dinner at 8:30 or 9:30 at night.

Final shot from the Madrid airport we are on our way home.

Friday, March 31, 2023 was our first full day in Madrid. Our plan was a guided tour of the city and a visit to the Museo del Prado.

The view of Madrid in the morning after my workout. I did not get one in everyday. But I got a couple in.

The Rotunda Restaurant at the Plaza during World War II this area was used as a hospital because of the lighting. It is a beautiful place to sit and have orange juice and chocolate croissants.

After breakfast we met our guide Jóse. He was pleasant and mild mannered. Jóse seemed like the perfect guy to show us around Madrid. One of the best parts of our day was finding out more about the most interesting man in Madrid.

Our first stop was this bullfighting ring. Bullfighting is still legal in Madrid. Jóse discussed with us that local politicians don’t have a lot of interest in change because it is a fairly polarizing issue with voters in Madrid.

This was a bronze statue dedicated to a young bullfighter who died in the ring.

There is also a bust of Dr. Fleming near the ring because the development of penicillin was very important in saving bullfighters lives.

Ashley, Kari and I in front of the bullring

The schedule. On another billboard the fight on May 18 and 25th were already completely sold out.

From there we visited a market in Madrid.

A wall of different peas for your dining pleasure

This market is much less chaotic than Barcelona.

Cutting the fresh fish

Crabs, sea urchins and barnacles!!!! I didn’t even know they were worth eating. They are also expensive because harvesting them in between the waves is dangerous work.

Look at the fresh fruits

Kari and Ashley are in the market for some fun today.

Jóse says this is one of the best cheeses. You just cut the top off and you can eat it with chips.

The ornate buildings of Madrid

In one of the plazas exploring Madrid

The plaques are placed in front of businesses that have been open for 100 years.

More plazas and more statues

Another great statue

An Egyptian Temple in Madrid?!? Why? What?

The Temple of Debod dates back to the 2nd century BC. It was donated to Spain to save it from flooding following the construction of the Aswan Dam. Spain assisted Egypt on the building of this dam. It was transported stone by stone from Egypt to Madrid. Jóse says Madrid had some trouble assembling the temple because the block for block plans may have been lost or incomplete.

It was assembled on the top of Mount Príncípe Pio. This is the location where Napoleon’s trips shot rebels of the uprising of May 2 1808.

The Anseth’s and the Egyptian temple in Madrid

Views of Madrid from up by the Egyptian temple. The cathedral is in the distance.

More views if Madrid

Looks at us with the cathedral way in the back

Cathedral

This is a view of the Royal Place from the campo del Moro Gardens.

The Fountain of Shells near and the Triton Foutain just in front of the palace

Peacocks seen in the Campo del Moro gardens

Looking through the gates up to the palace

Arbutus unedo is the scientific name for this evergreen shrub. The fruit is called an arbutus berry. It flowers white and is hermaphroditic. The fruit is the thing, a red berry, which supposedly can ferment and get bears or Roman soldiers drunk. The name unedo may come from the term “unimportant tantum edo” meaning “I eat only one”

The afternoon Jóse took us to the Museo del Prado. This is the main Spainish national art museum. Many say it has the finest European art and the single best collection of Spainish art. The museum was founded in 1819. There is no photography in the museum so I have included some image from the internet to show you what we saw.

Jóse read our group well and suggested we start with an 1 1/2 hour tour of the most significant works in the building. If we still desired more we could continue. However, he could see the look in the girls eyes that we were going to be done after that.

Sculpture on the way into the Prado

The only picture I could take inside the Prado.

Jacob’s Dream. 1639

Jusepe de Ribera

Jacob’s dream as told in Genesis. He is sleeping on his left shoulder with the tree behind him. The amazing thing is the white cloud above Jacob’s head is filled angles and heavenly figures the combo of realism and ethereal is amazing. The image doesn’t to it justice. Standings in front of it is a must.

The Three Graces. 1630-1635.

Peter Paul Rubens

Supposedly the Grace on the left has the face/resemblance of his second wife, the one on the right has the face/resemblance of his first wife and the middle is a combo of their features. The position of the feet suggest movement

The Adoration of the Shepherds. 1612-1614.

El Greco

Night scene in a small irregular place. Mary holds the newborn son on her lap. The child is surrounded by reverent shepherds. Jóse pointed out that one of the amazing things about this painting was where the light was coming from, the child and the heavens. Long angular brush strokes.

It was at about this time, Jóse revealed to us that he writes books. He writes museum books to help guide people like us to art like this, amazing.

The Garden of Earthly Delights Triptych. 1450

Heironymus Bosch.

Some consider this Bosch’s most complex creation.

The left panel is creation of the world.

The center is earthly delights which depicts various sins in very specific details

The right pain is hell and the punishments that may await.

Jóse pointed out that this was painted in 1450 when there was not a lot of optimism in the world and no one really felt like their lives were good and going to get better. Amazing painting!!!

Las Meninas. 1656.

Diego Velázquez

It conveys a sense of life and reality while enclosing a dense meaning. The dwarfs on the left who were held in high regard within the royal court. Look at the mirror back left, just off center with the reflection which reflect the viewer position creating a sense of being within this scene.

The Crucified Christ. 1632

Diego Velázquez

The physical details in this are amazing and this piece is mesmerizing. I tend to focus more on the salvation part of Christ’s life than the suffering, but this paintings is beautiful and painful all at the same time. The skill required to depict a person in such detail is really a marvel to me.

The Clothed Maja 1800-1807

Francisco de Goya

Legend has it the portrait was the Duchess of Alba. It has a companion piece The Nude Maja. It is reported that pictures were on a pulley system when held privately so depending on the visitors the owner may present them with The Clothed Maja or The Nude Maja.

The 3rd of May 1808 in Madrid or “The Executions”

1814

Francisco de Goya

Depicts the execution of patriots from Madrid by a firing squad from Napoleon’s army. You can see the fallen on the ground to the left. Patriots facing the firing squad some with balled fist ready to continue fighting, some raising their arms asking for mercy. A very powerful piece of art in Spanish history.

Duel with Cudgels or Fight to the Death with Clubs

1820-1823

Fransico de Goya

One of Goya’s black paintings. He painted this directly on the walls of his house. The works were transferred to Canvas by The Baron Émile d Erlanger. This painting has been at the Prado since 1889.

Saturn. 1820-1823.

Francisco de Goya

Another black painting transferred from the walls of Goya’s house to canvas. Saturn is devouring his own son in this image. I find this image to be pure madness.

As you leave the Prado a sculpture of Goya looks down on you.

Jòse use a little microphone and we had ear pieces in to hear him better because his voice was fatigued from narrating a documentary for 2 plus hours yesterday. So current breakdown on Jóse, engineer who chose guiding people around Madrid over engineering, writer of museum guide books, narrator of documentaries and home chef to some degree. Jóse bid us farewell. The girls took a siesta and I went for a walk in the park.