January 3, Madrid

Today was a busy day. We were woken up at 8am and had breakfast. Then we went back to the streets of Madrid.  We walked to the Museo del Prado. At the Prado museum we split into two groups. Each of our directors wore a microphone and we wore headsets so when they talked about the paintings we were able to hear. The Museo Del Prado was huge and so were the paintings. The paintings covered whole walls. We specifically focused on the paintings of Goya and Velazquez.

            I really enjoyed the paintings by Goya because as he aged his paintings changed. His beginning paintings were all really cute and bright. They featured the daily life of citizens. He had pictures of people playing games and other paintings that showed the seasons. When he was a little older he did portraits of wealthy and noble people. The most interesting paintings were the ones from when Goya was old. He had gone a bit insane, so these paintings were very different from his beginning works. These paintings are called “Las Pinturas Negras” or “The Black Paintings.” All of these paintings were very dark and creepy. The faces of the people he painted were malformed. He painted things like demons and people worshipping demons. He also painted his wife in funeral clothes at his own funeral.

            Then we moved on and saw the paintings of Velazquez. He also painted many wealthy people. The best thing about Velazquez is that each face he paints is unique. My favorite series of paintings by Velazquez were “Dwarves and Buffoons”.  I’m not sure why he was so interested in paintings midgets. He also had a series of paintings that included religion and another that included mythology. The last painting we saw by him was interesting because it was a scene that had two whole armies of people in it. There were four people painted in the armies that were looking directly at you. The reason they were looking out was because they weren’t meant to be in the time period of the painting. The painting was of a battle that happened in the past and Velazquez painted the faces of himself and a few people from his family and friends in the picture.

            When we finished walking around the museum we headed to a restaurant nearby. We were served a three course meal. The most interesting thing they served was paella. Paella is a dish that has chicken, rice, and shrimp. The funny thing about the shrimp is that you are given the whole shrimp, eyes, legs, and all.

            After lunch we walked a very long way to the Plaza Mayor of Madrid. This was a big plaza full of shops. There were also people walking around in mascot costumes. We saw Mickey Mouse and Puss in Boots. I think they were there to get money from parents when they entertained kids.

            We kept walking for an even longer time until we arrived at the Royal Palace. Spain has a monarchy along with a republic. This palace is where the current King and Queen live.  One part of the castle was open for tours. Each room had huge chandeliers and big painted murals on the ceilings. They also had figures in the molding. Each room was unique. One room was called the yellow room because the wallpapering and rug was yellow. Another room was based on China. There were pictures of Chinese people, houses, and animals from China painted on the wall. Each room had artifacts like vases, pottery, and clocks. One room that I really liked had a huge table in it that went from one end of the room to the other. Around the table were at least 50 chairs. We also got to see the throne room. After the tour of the palace we went to the armory. It was filled with armor and swords from the past wars. They even had armor for horses and armor for children.

Tomorrow we head to Segovia.

-Steph