In my new life as retiree my blog is my biggest entertainement and before anything else, I like to thank everyone of my readers and followers to stay with me over the years since November 26 2010 !!! Thank you !!! Especially my first likes from former travel forum friend Jeannette I decided to trim some of my older posts in my series Some news from Spain and condense them as not to lose the most important parts, me think, of them, Therefore, this is my new work, the condense news of my dear Spain, Hope you enjoy it as I.
Some news from Spain XLVIIII August 4, 2017
Parque Nacional de la Sierra de Guadarrama just north of Madrid. A mountain range running east to west in the peninsula (Spain) There are many roads to get there like the Calzada Borbónica in Fuenfría or the Macizo de Peñalara; also, in bicycle like the La Horizontal, Calderuelas, Pinares de Canencia, Las Zetas de La Pedriza, Pinares de La Barranca , and the Valle de La Fuenfría. You can do escalade or climbing on the La Pedriza de Manzanares. You can top if off by visits to La Granja de San Ildefonso or the Monasterio de El Paular. You can stop by for lunch of gambas a la plancha, pork chops and grill meats at Sala, Ctra de los Molinos, 2 Guadarrama or Casa Ochoa calle Virgen de las Nieves 70). For more info visit the Centro de Visitantes Valle de la Fuenfria, ctra de las Dehesas, km 2, Cercedilla
Teide(Tenerife) ,my family from both side of grandparents are from here. These have an incredible view with a geological monument , volcanic cones, and sides of mountain in lava creating a multitude of colors. Parque Nacional del Teide is the most visited in Spain , and it has four roads to reach it. To climb to the highest point Pico Teide (3718 meters) you need a permit beforehand. The famous and wonderful canyons of Teide,its great plains where the eroded lava is held in high altitudes and sides that you can walk on them is wonderful. The peak or Pico del Teide you can see free with guides and prior reservation. Do not miss the lookout or Mirador de los Roques de Garcia. You can have lunch at Tasca Tierras del Sur, calle pedro gonzalez gomez 20 Granadilla de Abona. More info at the Centro de Visitantes de El Portillo, ctra TF 21 de la Orotava a Las Canadas, Portillo de la Villa.
We arrive to my specific area of DNA ! the valley or valle de Güímar , where my grandparents comes from on all four sides !!! This is an area with huge arqueological interest like the necropolis of the kings or menceyes Guanches with hundreds of mommies, and the pyramids of Güímar (and yes you are not in Egypt!). You see the interesting volcanic formation of the Malpaís de Güímar. You should stop by the Church of San Pedro, that has many sculptures of local folklore. The city Candelaria (my paternal grandparents were born here) was an important Guanche inhabited area and grew from the 1526 around the sanctuary of the Patron Saint of the Canary Islands (first of Tenerife) , the Basilica of the Virgen de la Candelaria. Here you can walk on the square or plaza de la Basílica, with bronze statues of our ancestors kings and the Casa Consistorial,with tenerifian architecture The DO on these lands are from the grape white Listán especially. The coop or Cooperativa de Abona ,and in Güimar, the Bodegas of Juan Tacoronte Cejas , and Tomás Guzmán Mesa are very good indeed.
Some news from Spain XLX September 16, 2017
The town or old town of Belchite (Zaragoza) devastated by the Spanish Civil War and where one of the fiercest battles were held with over 5K dead in only 14 days. There were people that stay here afterward until 1964. There , many films were done such as “EL Laberinto del Fauno” of Guillermo del Toro in 2005, a videogame started by Arnold Schwarzenegger and a photo shot session by Monica Naranjo. Only 19 km from Belchite you find Fuentedetodos (Zaragoza) here you find the birth home of famous painter Francisco de Goya born here in 1746. The house is kept in three levels and was identify in 1913 by painter Ignacio Zuloaga and a group of artists. The great admiration of Zuloaga for Goya . There you see the Sala Zuloaga design to host temporary exhibitions and on which walls you can see great painters such as Picasso, Miro, Chillida, amongst others. You can visit the Museo del Grabado, graphic arts in homage to Goya that currently has two of the originals by Goya, the La Tauromania and Los Disparates.. You can see as well the Ornitologic reserve of El Planeron or the reserva ornitológica de El Planeron, a wonderful place to know the natural scenery of the region with 700 hectares of wild birds such as Royal Eagle or the Mochuelo; by the Hoz Mayor de Fuendetodos. You see the fallen off a a ceiling of an old cave and in addition you can see foxes, wild pigs, bears and mountain goats. From Madrid by car you take the highway direction Barcelona and go out on the exit or salida 271 once reach Almunia de Doña Godina, you take the road A 220 until Belchite,
This year there is celebration of the Centenary of the first boutique of fashion designer Cristóbal Balenciaga opened in San Sebastián. It was exactly at Calle Bergara, 2 and he called it Eiza,in memory of his mother, Martina Eizaguirre. In the neighborhood of the Ensanche that began to be built by the end of the 19C after the wall that surrounded the town was destroyed; there is a plaque to remember this on the buildings now available for rent. There is a museum in his native Guetaria where the exposition “Rachel L. Mellon Collection” under the direction of Hubert de Givenchy, brings together the legacy of this American socialite that was one of his favorite clients . You can see the exposition until January 28 2018
You can stop by the old railroad station of Delicias and where some of the scenes from the movie Doctor Zhivago (1965) was done, and today houses the Museo del Ferrocarril or Railroad museum. Several expositions and of course trains. You find design furniture, arts, gourmet products, leather shoes, hats, toys, original items as well as vintage clothing, records, photo cameras etc. They held here on October 7/8, and November 11 to 22, from 11h to 22h a great flea market call the Mercado de Motores; free admission. Paseo de las Delicias 61
Then, we come to celebrate something dear to me, the Casa de America , a place to share, learn , and understand the fabric of Spain and Spanish America since 1992 the year of the 500 years anniversary of the discovery of new lands by Europeans. For the 25th anniversary of the opening of the Casa de América there are many activities, my favorite is on until Sept 23rd 2017. Plaza Cibeles, 2 Mondays to Fridays from 11h to 19h30 Saturdays from 11h to 15h and Sundays and Holidays closed. Free admission more here on the Casa de America 25th Anniversary
The management of the Museo de Prehistoria de Cantabria, have announced the discoveries of four small caves with new rustique paintings of 20-30K years old so older than those at the famous Cueva de Altamira that are between 12-15K years old . They have found paintings at the caves of El Rejo, in the municipality of Val de San Vicente; also, in Los Murciélagos, Entrambasaguas; Las Graciosas I and II, Medio Cudeyo; and Solviejo(Voto). The paintings are in red color with isolated points or threads that in some case figures are form of animals
Some news from Spain LI October 18, 2017
Recently the baroness has commissioned the Thyssen 25 yrs a photographic chronicle a free exposition on the 25 years of the Museum or Museo Thyssen. You saw 26 photos personally selected by the baroness coming from her archives, the museum, EFE news agency, and the ABC newspaper from the best moment of the history of the pinotheque. In 2016, there were 1M persons that visited the museum or a 10% increase from 2015. And as part of it’s year long 25th anniversary you will see wonders. ou have an expo on the genius Picasso-Toulouse-Lautrec. Recently arrived in Paris he is able to expo in 1901 in the gallery of Ambroise Vollard and some of these paintings are shown in the halls of the Thyssen. See it and believe the genious at “Picasso/Lautrec” Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, Paseo del Prado, 8 Tuesdays to Sundays from 10h to 19h Saturdays 10-21H from now to January 21 2018
In the middle of the Sierra Norte you come to Manzanares el Real. One of the best preserved castles in Madrid and one of the oldest. When there was no castles in the Cave of Los Aljibes rupestres paintings were seen here and now the Museum or Museo Etnológico y Arqueológico keeps a good collection of them. The castle is the vast area of the Mendoza family that gives the name to the castle in the middle ages. In the interior it was signed the statutues of the autonomous region of the community of Madrid in 1983 ,San Martín de Valdeiglesias, near Ávila on the river Alberche. The castle or Castillo de la Coracera, built in the 15C many times restored had the honor of hosting the Queen Isabel (I) la Católica, that lived here when she was named heir to the crown of Castilla. Also, Álvaro de Luna, strongman of her father king Juan (John) II,of Castilla. Batres, limits with Toledo. It was the La Gran Watria, as it was called house an important Roman villa, destroyed and restored by the Christian near the river Guadarrama . In time the castle or Castillo de Batres was famous by one of its inhabitants the poet Garcilaso de la Vega. Reopen in December 2017 Chinchón is a must if not for its bullring in the middle of the town with gorgeous houses around it. The Plaza Mayor, of medieval origins does it and more since the 15C. The castle or Castillo de los Condes, built by a count and residence for many centuries as well as resisting the war of succession to the Spanish throne. So much damaged was left that later become a liquors factory. Villarejo de Salvanés, one of my nicest memories visiting the region for the last several years. The castle or Castillo de Villarejo de Salvanés is unique. Not only its origins is very much documented or its role in the wars but for the Homage tower or Torre del homenaje, that today is all that is left of the castle. Look at the particulars of this castle that the peaks in the crown of the tower are cylindrical when they are usually on the sides of the tower are in the center here 3 on each side.
The creation of Alphonse Mucha, considered as the father of Art Nouveau, the Czech artist went beyond such as been sculptur, painter, photographer, illustrator, and designer, The American press had call him the best decorative artist in the world in the early 20C and now the protagonist of an exposition that Arthemisia has brought to the Palacio de Gaviria with collaboration of the Fundación Mucha. It contains 200 works that traces the trajectory of the artist from his beginning in Paris to being famous for the poster on actrice Sarah Bernhardt in the opera Gismonda. The divine Sarah was so impressed that offered him a contract for 6 years. In the Epopeya eslava, 20 historical portraits that tells of the Eslovaquian unity with last work by the artist such as the triptice The age of Reason, knowledge and love that he could not finished due to the resurgance of Nazism. One of the first citizens arrested by the Gestapo for his condition of Mason , a men that dedicated his last years on spread peace
And continuing we have the exposition entitled Zuloaga en el París de la Belle Époque. 1889-1914,or Zuloaga in the Paris of the Belle Epoque 1889-1914 in the room of the Fundación Mapfre at Recoletos.The exposition brings together about 90 works of Ignacio Zuloaga, and other artists like Picasso, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Giovanni Boldini, Jacques-Émile Blanche, Auguste Rodin ,and Émile Bernard. See it all until January 7 2018 at the Fundación Mapfre ,Paseo de Recoletos, 23. Celebrating the 25th anniversary of the creation of the ceramic center or Centro Cerámico de Talavera de la Reina,the museum or Museo Cerralbo presents Evolución-Revolución. 25 años de cerámica, a show of a tradition with today’s creations . The expo combine pieces taken from the centuries past including vases, azulejos (decorated tiles), and decoration elements of architecture as well as collection pieces from a number of makers such as Guille García-Hoz, Aitor Saraiba, Rubenimichi , and Luis Sánchez Parejo. The foundation or Fundación Siglo de Oro writes a page on the history of classical theater in Spain. The showing of «El Rufiàn dichoso” OF Cervantes. It is one of the most valued works and the only saintly comedy, written between 1605 and 1615 belonging to his last times with several hot subjects for the times, laughts, and aleogoric persons.. The work reaches its high point at the Teatro de Bellas Artes of Madrid. Showing until November 5 2017
It has been already two decades Bilbao is synonymous with the museum Guggenheim. From its opening in October 18 1997 at the banks of the Nervión river, next to the bridge or puente de La Salve; the museum of modern art has been the principal pull to the city by tourists with more than 1Million visitors per year. The museum is celebrating its 20th year with a complete program of expositions and other activities like music, cinema, theater, dance, and gastronomy In addition, the titanic walls of the pinotheque will be projected with the film Reflections, a light and sound show running for a bit over quart of hour on the 20 years story of the emblematic building. There will be 7 showing each day and the access to the garden will be free (already past) . The best place to see the show will be from the streets of Paseo de las Universidades, between the Puente de la Salve ,and Pasarela Pedro Arrupe. However, there are other worthy museums and monuments to see in Bilbao or Bilbo Museo de Bellas Artes or fine arts museum located only about 5 minutes on foot from the Guggenheim. the Basque arqueological ethnographic and historical museum or Museo Arqueologico, Etnogràfico e Historico Vasco at Plaza de Miguel de Unamuno, with a collection that includes the Biscayan arqueology and etnography of the Basque country from prehistory to the 18C. the old convent of the Incarnation or Antiguo Convento de la Encarnación, founded in 1513, Today house the museum of sacred arts or Museo Diocesano de Arte Sacro at the Plaza de la Encarnación, 9, with more than 2.000 works from sculptures and paintings related to religion , some dating to the 3C. Another stop a must is the marine museum or Museo Maritimo Ria de Bilbao where it was the shipbuildings of Astilleros Euskalduna, next to the palace by the same name.
Some news from Spain LII October 20, 2017
Museo Lázaro Galdiano (Calle Serrano, 122) from November 17 onwards there is an exposition for the first time showing the collection of primitive Flanders put together by a private collector José Lázaro Galdiano. We travel from the 15C to the 16C in wonderful art pieces from the schools of Hertogenbosch ( Bosco), Brussels (Lucas Gassel), Bruges (Gerard David and Adriaen Isenbrandt), and Anvers ( Quentin Metsys , and Jan van Dornicke). A total of 73 works of arts some inedit and some after a process of restoration. Museo Reina Sofía (Calle Santa Isabel, 52) Until November 27th and then from December 20 to March 18 2018. Soledad Lorenzo gave her collection to the Museo Reina Sofía in 2014. A selection of the works there , about 392 from 89 artists are shown now for the first time in two consecutive expositions. The first expo shows the work of Spanish artists of 3 Generations that the gallery Soledad Lorenzo was active. Here next to known artists like Pablo Palazuelo and Antoni Tàpies, you see works by Soledad Sevilla, Txomin Badiola, Ana Laura Aláez, Guillermo Pérez Villalta ,and Juan Uslé. Then, the expo personal questions or Cuestiones personales, opens on Dec 20th dedicated to the recuperation of the figurative language and the transformation of the representation of the work in the last part of the last century . Here is shown works by Gordillo, Broto, Barceló, Schnabel, Juan Ugalde, and George Condo to name a few Staying in the Museo Reina Sofia we have the expo of William Kentridge From November 1 2017. The South African artists William Kentridge (1955, Johannesburg) prize Princesa de Asturias in 2017 showing the exposition Basta y sobra (Enough and more than enough). Kentridge is famous for export to other media like animation, theater, opera a new etiquette way of drawing from his beginnings learned to draw as an spectacle and he filmed it. At the Fundación Canal de Isabel II (calle Mateo Inurria, 2) until January 5 2018. Magnum contact pages or Hojas de Contacto. There were not conceived to be shown and many photographers are reluctant to show them even today . However, the secrets of some of the most famous of Robert Capa, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Marc Riboud, Steve McCurry, Cristina García Rodero , and others of the agency Magnum will be shown. From the landings of Normandy, to the revolts in Paris in May 1968, the protests in Tiananmen square or the act against the twin towers will be some of the events shown in photos
A bit of Malaga, at the Museo Carmen Thyssen calle Compañia 10 will be the exposition of Juan Gris, María Blanchard y los cubismos (1916-1927) until February 25 2018. Pablo Picasso and George Braque redefine the world of arts in the 20C as fathers of Cubism and this expo shows how Juan Gris and María Blanchard helped this movement to move on with a different look at arts in the world Moving over to Valencia , you can see the constellations or Las constelaciones de Julio Gonzáez at the IVAM , calle Guillem de Castro, 118 until January 14 2018. Since 1985 , the IVAM owns 10% of the work in sculpture of Julio González. This year they are showing 42 of his work together with other 11 artists work to show another vision of the one considered the father of steel sculpture. You can also see the German documentary that shows the importance of this creator in the 20C
Some news from Spain LIII October 24, 2017
Another anecdote and of course we all have used it one time or another , I know I had even this past August in Cuenca. There are 21 968 pharmacies in Spain. The country of the OCDE with the most pharmacies per 100K inhabitants with 47.3 while the median is 25,1 according to the General council of official colleges of pharmacies or in Spanish : Consejo General de Colegios Oficiales de Farmacéuticos. In these pharmacies you have working 49 429 pharmacists and if count the technical staffs as well giving direct employment of 80 000 persons; this from the enterprise federation of Spanish Pharmacists or Federación Empresarial de Farmacéuticos Españoles (Fefe). There is a pharmacy for each 2.119 inhabitants while in Denmark it is for each 15.000 ,Sweden one for each 7.500. Today, pharmacies cover about 98% of all municipalities in Spain. You are well covered!
There is a new play call weddings of blood or Bodas de Sangre from a work of Federico Garcia Lorca showing at the Teatro Maria Guerrero until December 10 2017. It speaks of the relation between the fiction and reality. You get to the theater by metro Colón, Banco de España or Chueca. there is a spectacle that will presented by the Compañía Nacional de Teatro Clásico (National company of classical theater) in the room or Sala Tirso de Molina; until October 29th he spectacle is divided in three parts ; the first one is from writers from the 16C and 17C such as Lope de Vega, Cervantes, Quevedo ,and Góngora. The second part is centered around the world of Cafés such as the Fonda de San Sebastián , and the talks or tertulias del Parnasillo such as in the Espronceda, Larra, and Mesonero Romanos as well as the black cat or Gato Negro in Benavente, and Valle Inclán). The third is from the action in the 19C with writers like Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer, Espronceda, the composer Eusebio Blasco , Galdós, Benavente, Echegaray, and Elena Fortún
Some news from Spain LIIII October 31, 2017
The naval museum or Museo Naval de Madrid has open an exposition entitled the victory of Pernambuco or «La victoria de Pernambuco». For the first time since the 18C that these paintings will be shown together. The naval battle pictures were separated in 1734, due to a fire in the Alcàzar de Madrid where they were exposed for the king; the fire took away other valuable paintings by Tiziano, Velàzquez, Rubens, Durero, and Tintoretto. Someone, put these paintings canvas in roll and threw them from a window!!! The painting were saved but the guides telling about them did not. The naval museum is ,also, showing the standard flag that was carried in the battle on the battleship Santiago. The flag is 4 meters of silk and oleo, having on one side a Christ in crucifiction, the Saint Mary and St John, and below them St James (Santiago Matamoros).
Another valuable showing will be the treasures in the La Caja de las Letras del Instituto Cervantes! . This safebox is always open in the lower floor of the building. It was created in the year the Instituto Cervantes moved to the new location in the Calle Alcalá 49, where it was before the Central Bank. The story started with the writer Francisco Ayala, who was the first one to occupied one of the 1800 boxes in 2007; he left a handwritten letter and a personal wish that will be made public in 2057. He was followed by many such as the poets Antonio Gamoneda and Carlos Edmundo de Ory, and the artist Antoni Tàpies. IT continues to grow with the first investigative of the Scientist Margarita Salas in 2008 while working with Severo Ochoa in New York. The Mexican Elena Poniatowska, left a wrist band that was used by her father while fought in WWII and had the first edition of the night of Tlatelolco. Nicanor Parra left a typewriting machine and Fernando del Paso kept a shirt from the poet José Carlos Becerra. The dnacer and choreographer Víctor Ullate left the vest on which he played the «El Madrid de Chueca» with the Ballet Nacional in 1982, as well as a watch from his grandfather and a ring from his father. A watch purchased in 1946 was the gift of John Elliott, the latest member of the Caja and the first Hispanic American in doing so, leaving his gift in box no 1492, next to the one by Gabriel García Márquez, that has dirt from his native Aracataca, as well as a plaque with the first paragraph of his novel «Cien años de soledad». The next gift will be on the 75th anniversary of the passing of Miguel Hernández. Juan Goytisolo left a camera to be developed in 2031. The wealth of Spain is not in the bank of Spain but in the museums such as the Thyssen, Prado, and Reina Sofía, and others, archives and libraries as well as the architecture heritage. Really ,these are our banks, and it is there where we keep what we are and what we have been
Telefónica, the great telephone company of Spain is the sponsor and partner of the museum or Museo Reina Sofía. It has thru their consulting firm Synertic Partners ,done the first Big Data survey of the museum. The technology allowes to process high data volumes with the aim of given information on the public choices while attending the museum. It is the most exhaustive study done until now and it was done between April 5 to September 4 2017 while the exposition entitled «Piedad y terror en Picasso. El camino a Guernica», was held on the 80th anniversary of the famous portrait. The expo drew 680K persons coming from 189 countries with a median of 4 800 persons per day. More than 60% were foreign visitors with 10 countries representing 80% . The most visitors came from Italy 17,4%, then France, Germany, USA, Japan, Argentina, Portugal and the Netherland. Of all tourists in Madrid in those months 11,5% visited the museum Reina Sofía. 50% came from Italy and France with each country having a special day for visiting!! The Americans prefer the Mondays, the British, Sunday, Japanese come in groups, the Italians prefers the free periods . There were 111.000 mentions in Twitter, the most platform used with 97% positive comments! The study took a volume of information of 157 gb , or 30K more than the complete works of Shakespeare
The etnographic museum or Museo Etnográfico de Castilla y León (Mecyl) will show in their next exposition the photographic collection obtained from negatives of Roberto Kallmeyer from a series of engraving by painter Francisco de Goya on the subject of the tauromaquia (toro art). The exposition entitled «Del trazo a la luz. La tauromaquia de Goya en las fotografías de Kallmeyer», opened this past Friday and will be on until January 14 2018 in the Mecyl of Zamora ; it can be visited free in the temporary exposition room of the Etnográfico de Castilla y León,; it includes 42 photos part of the serie that Roberto Kallmeyer (Madrid 1915-Madrid 2004) did from the engraving of Goya for the first edition of the La Tauromaquia that Rafael Casariego published in 1960
Let’s imagine that Bartolomé Esteban Murillo is the host and decides to walk the streets of Sevilla, take them in with is eyes, discovered them like him saw them, and painted on his work. This would be the year of Murillo or the Año Murillo,and make this anniversary like him the presence in the city to have a dialogue between the past and the present. To see his paintings in the Churches as they were originally done, and travel in the city of which he was inspired, imagine how the personages lived in his paintings and listen to the music that plays in the paintings he did. All this in 6 expositions until January 2019 will displayed him with 600 of his work. The main collection will be at the museum of fine arts or Museo de Bellas Artes, Two centuries later the work that was at the retable of the convent of Capucins returns on loan from the museum of Cologne (Koln) Germany until April 2018. The size of it allows for some reason to escape the French troops and went to private hands in 1814; later by different owners until 1876 became part of the collection of the Wallraf-Richartz Museum, where it is housed until now. IT is part of the 24 works of Murillo that will go a renovation by the team of the fine arts museum of Sevilla
There you go folks, a big task but a work of love to keep the best, me think of these wonderful older posts over the years, These are what I think worth keeping of my older Some news from Spain series, and I thank you, Again, hope you enjoy this post as I
And remember, happy travels, good health, and many cheers to all !!!
Paris1972-Versailles2003 