A glass harp being played in central Madrid.
Archive for the ‘Madrid 2011’ Category
Royal Convent of La Encarnación
Thursday, March 8th, 2012Located near the Royal Palace of Madrid, this convent is still inhabited by nuns of the Augustines order.
Native Spanish name: Convento de la Encarnación
Photo by me.
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Posted in Madrid 2011 |
The Temple of Debod
Wednesday, March 7th, 2012When you first see the Temple of Debod, the very first question you ask yourself is how the hell did this Egyptian temple end up in downtown Madrid?!
Well, this temple was donated to Spain in 1968 by the Egyptian government as a gesture of gratitude for the help provided by Spanish archaeologists in the UNESCO team that saved the temple from the rising waters of Lake Nasser.
In other words, the Egyptian state robs Peter to pay Paul!
Some photos taken by myself:
Interior
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Posted in Madrid 2011 |
Spanish pride: Tapas and Flamenco
Sunday, December 18th, 2011
From my experience in Madrid, I realised that Spaniards take pride in two aspects of their tradition: Tapas in Spanish cuisine and Flamenco music and dance. In order to get a sense of both, I went with a couple of my colleagues to the Villa Rosa restaurant in Madrid where we could watch the Flamenco dance and eat tapas.
The following clip was recorded at the same restaurant by someone else:
Street Flamenco in Madrid (recorded by someone else):
To understand more about Flamenco visit the following two links from the BBC’s Learning Zone Broadband website:
- Understanding flamenco
- Scales and modes in flamenco music (Here El Ingles talks about Flamenco’s ‘Arabic’ flavour)
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Posted in Madrid 2011 |
Nightlife in Madrid
Saturday, December 17th, 2011Many Madrid nightclubs are open until 6 am in the morning, and some people also go to ‘after party’ clubs until 8 am or so. In English cities however, nightclubs are usually open until 3 am.
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Posted in Madrid 2011, Spain vs Britain |
Prado Museum and Bearded Woman
Tuesday, December 13th, 2011Museo Nacional del Prado was the only major museum in Madrid that I managed to visit. The museum is internationally recognised for its excellent collection of paintings and sculptures. I visited the museum when the entry was free and managed to see almost all the paintings.
Photo by me
At the risk of oversimplifying the picture, I would say that most paintings reflected three main themes: war, Christian values, and social or political repressions. Nevertheless, a remarkable painting there caught my eye: La Mujer Barbuda (The Bearded Woman) by Jusepe de Ribera:
This work is in the public domain in those countries with a copyright term of life of the author plus 100 years or fewer. From: Wiki
This painting is a very good piece of work that ideally represents the transgender/transsexual debate.
Read more about this painting on the Artble website: The Bearded Woman
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Posted in LGBT, Madrid 2011 |
Spanish meal times
Monday, December 12th, 2011They eat their lunch late in the afternoon around 3 pm. Therefore, they eat their dinner very late. In central Madrid, one may often spot people sitting outdoors and eating their dinner at around midnight –at least it was the case in July 2011.
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Posted in Madrid 2011 |
Atocha railway station
Sunday, December 11th, 2011Atocha railway station in one of the major train stations in Madrid. It is very exciting to see the lovely tropical garden inside the station. However, the station has a tragic past, as it was one of the main sites of the 2004 Madrid bombings. As a result, security check at the station is now very strict and similar to the airport security check. For example X-ray machines are used to scan all pieces of luggage.
* All photos by me –click to enlarge.
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Posted in Madrid 2011 |
