Good Friday
Woke up at eight.
Had a quick breakfast in the kitchen and washed up and I was out of the hostel twenty minutes later.
I walk to the Centro de Arte Reina Sofia (a modern art museum) which is in the south of Madrid.
The city was still sleeping, which was not surprising given the time they go to sleep.
This photograph was taken near Reina Sofia, in one of the busy streets at around 9 'oclock.
I took this photograph because the silence of the street reminded me of
the two photographs (3&4) by Henri Cartier-Bresson.
Perhaps, the photograph will have been better if the man was not looking at me.
I often feel that you have to have big guts to become a good photographer - I thought this baker will come and kill me.
Since the hostel's breakfast was not enough, I had some croissant and an espresso at a cafe along Paseo del Prado, a broad street infront of Meseo del Prado.
I arrived at half past nine, thirty mintues before the opening.
Since there was still some time, I went to Estacion de Atocha, one of the main train stations in Madrid, located just opposite of Reina Sofia.
When I entered, I suddenly felt the temperature has risen by few degrees; apprarently, they've made an indoor palm garden inside the station.
There was a pond as well, I wondered if there was any fish inside.
Anyway, I went back to Reina Sofia at it was neary 10.
This modern art gallery was massive, they said it used to be a hospital until the late 20th century.
and have just finished renovating it in the late 1980s.
The two elevator glass towers were very stylish.
I saw Guernica, painted by Picasso in 1937.
Picasso painted this painting to protest against the Spanish Civil War and his inspiration came from the German bombings of Basque town in 1936.
It is a very large painting, three and a half meters in height and almost eight meters wide.
I was listening to the audio guide and it pointed out the two symbols of hope, the flower and the light of lamp to which I was amazed.
I thought about the Hiroshima Atomic bomb when I first saw this painting.
I think it really has the power to appeal to all human beings against the astrocitiy of war.
I got out of the gallery at around 3.
I knew that Prado was closed today, but went just to have a look at the building, since it's only 10 minutes walk from Reina Sofia.
There was a statue of Velazquez infront of the west entrance.
I went passed Prado, walked along Paseo del Prado and went to the Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, which was only 5 minutes away from Prado.
This was surprisingly a large museum; on the second floor they had old 14-16th century paintings, Renaissance paintings, Titian, Caravaggio, El Greco etc.
And on the first floor, it had loads of impressionist paintings and modern arts (Miro, Kandinsky, Picasso, Dali)
I was very impressed by this museum's vast collection, you can spend a whole day here.
When I got out from Thyssen at around 6, the streets were packed with people who's trying to see the Easter procession.
I couldn't even move an inch and after being trapped for half an hour, I finally managed to detour into a narrow street and escaped into a pub.
Althought it was still a bit early, I ordered a sandwich and had an early dinner.
With the procession going on, most of the streets were restricted and half empty, which must have looked queer to an
ordinary Spanish people who live here and knows how busy it is usually.
This photograph was taken in Puerta del sol.
I quite like the composition of this photograph, where there are two couples in each side with one more 'couple' on the sign in the background.
This photograph was taken in a street just near Puerta del Sol.
The street performer on the right adds a quirky atmosphere in this picture.
And the blurred figures on the left describes well the business of this city.
A Spanish priest and an English translator, preaching in Puerta del Sol.
When I got back in the hostel, there were three new people in the room.
Andrew and Andrea, both from Romania, were currently studying in Ecole Politechnique in France.
And Chetsu who has just finished with MBA in France.
Andrea kind of had passion about the Japanese culture, learning Judo herself; we talked until well past midnight.
So that was my day.
Yesterday Tomorrow
1 year ago