Palacio Real and Templo De Debod

Posted on October 21, 2015 by Trudy

Wednesday, October 14

The Palacio Real is the official residence of Spanish Royalty and the building we tried to visit Monday that was closed for a State Function.Bob read somewhere that there are over 2000 rooms in the Palace but we are quite content to visit the twenty or so that were open to the public. This is half of the grand staircase at the entrance, there is also a set of stairs on either side of this one that continues to the second level. The red crest at the top of the stairs is the personal crest of King Felipe IV, who we almost saw on Monday!This is the view up above the staircase. It was very ornate but only a taste of what we saw inside the Palace rooms.i did take one picture of the Royal Chamber of Carlos (Charles) III also known as the Gasparini Room. We spent about an hour and a half touring these lavish rooms, each more ornate and incredible than the last. We even visit the Throne room and the Crown Room where the Royal Crown and Sceptre are kept along with other State treasures. There are the ordinary sort of Museum ‘guards’ but there doesn’t appear to be a lot of security inside the Palace. Mind you, there are lots of police everywhere outside the palace.Do I look royal walking down the Palace stairs? Just picture me in a beautiful ball gown, all decked out in jewels!We visit the Armoury through these old doors. Turns out it is one of the most important collections of parade and tournament armour in the world! Everything is beautifully displayed on two floors and there is even armour for children and ponies. No photos allowed, but here is a photo of a photo from a little calendar we bought.

After a tea break in the Palace Cafeteria I do go back and sketch this interesting old helmet from the 1400’s. It was one of the first exhibits we saw when we entered the armoury, and of course I love dragons. It was also small enough to sketch in a short time.

We walk through the Palace Gardens on our way to the Parque del Oeste which is on a hill high above the Palace.

There we visit the Egyptian Temple de Debod. The neat thing about seeing this temple is that we actually visited its original location, where the Aswan Dam flooded many temples, several years ago. Now here we are in Madrid, seeing this temple that was saved and given to the Spanish people in thanks for their help in saving the temples at Abu Simbel.

Two of the original entrance arches to the temple.A view of the back of this 2000 year old temple and some of Madrid’s newer buildings. I thought this dome was different all in coloured tiles. A view of the Palace. We can see for miles from the top of the park behind the Temple of Debod.On the way home we stop for tapas at the Mercado de San Miguel that we visited the other day. This is basically a glorified food court in a neat old iron and glass building. We find some tapas for Bob, and one for me. Bob has two delicious pastries and I have to be content with taking pictures of desserts. It is hard to find any for me when I don’t eat gluten, eggs or dairy. I do get a fruit cup…This picture is for L & M, yummy little hedgehogs and Marzipan fruit and veggies with faces.

Santillana Del Mar, Burgos Cathedral and Segovia

Posted on October 12, 2015 by Trudy

I am going to try to catch up on my blog a bit, but it will be a long post because I have such a hard time only picking a few pictures.

Saturday, Oct. 3

We visited the village of Santillana Del Mar, which is said to be one of the prettiest villages in Spain. The town grew around a monastery, La Colegiata, which we visit, after a walk through the streets and some more tapas at one of the local bars. Bob also tried a glass of local cider which the bartender poured, holding the bottle about three feet above the glass. Very impressive!

La Colegiatas
Several beautiful big old books, but I am only able to view these from a distance…
This church has beautiful capitals in its cloister that are amazingly well preserved.Sunday is a quiet day, figuring out the next part of our trip, packing and tidying our apartment.

Monday, October 5th we are on the road early and head south to Burgos. The drive takes us through some very interesting, constantly changing countryside. It is very windy and cloudy but no rain to speak of. We find parking easily in Burgos, which is a surprise, and head off to the Cathedral. 7€ each to visit and that includes an audioguide, which is very helpful. It is one of the biggest Cathedrals we have visited yet, and incredibly ornate, with lots of paintings, sculptures, vestments and furniture. There is way too much to absorb, every where we looked there was something else that was absolutely incredible. This is without doubt the most ornate ceiling in the cathedral!On the lower level there is a scale model of the cathedral with reflections on the case from the stained glass windows of the cloister. The windows into the cloister.We must always remember to look up when in cathedrals.

We arrive at our next Airbnb after a long day of driving and settle in for the next four days in a very comfortable apartment about 45 minutes outside Madrid.

Tuesday, October 6

Segovia is our destination today. It is about an hour from our apartment, but the drive goes quickly as the scenery is constantly changing. We want to see Segovia’s cathedral, which is the last great Gothic cathedral to be built, dating from 1525. Take note of the cathedral tower, because we climb it!

This cathedral has beautiful stained glass windows… which cast their colours onto the interior when the sun was shining.

We climb the 185 steps, which are 25 cm high on a 70cm wide staircase to reach the bells in the tower. The views are amazing.

After the climb up there is the climb down. I have to admit my legs were feeling a bit tired by the time we reached the bottom. The other main attraction is Segovia is the Aquaduct that was built in the first century AD by the Romans and was still in use until the late 19th Century. It is stunning, and we spend a fair bit of time admiring this amazing feat of engineering. It was made without mortar, just rocks piled on top of each other over 2000 years ago! It is hard to describe just how incredible the Aquaduct is, so I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves.

The sun is setting as we head off for home.

Castillo de Loarre and San Juan de la Pena

Posted on October 3, 2015 by Trudy

On Tuesday we visited Castillo de Loarre, a beautifully preserved Romanesque church and fortress that was started in 1071, over 900 years ago! A film called Kingdom to Heaven was filmed there, I think in 2005. This is our first view of the castle.

These are the ornate windows in the Queen’s tower. We had to watch our footing in this Medieval castle.We were surprised by this para glider overhead, then we saw many more of them as there was a jumping off spot on the mountain just behind castle.

There was an amazing panoramic view of the valley below us… and this was our view while we had a picnic lunch!After lunch we headed to the San Juan de la Pena Monastery. On the way we pass Aguero, a little village nestled at the base of dramatic eroded stone cliffs. We would have loved to stop and explore, but there just isn’t time. I thought three months would be so much time but there is so much to see everywhere that we have to pick and choose.

The new monastery has an interpretive center built over the old ruins. It is the modern building to the right in the photo below. It is a huge long building with a glass floor to view the excavated ruins below. I find it rather unnerving walking on a clear glass floor!

Then we go below and walk through part of the excavations. There is also another enormous building with more ruins and figures to walk through.

We catch a bus to the old Monastery which is sheltered under a bulging rock. It was founded in 920 and the Holy Grail is said to have been kept here to protect it from the Muslim invaders. There is a replica in the chapel.

The cloister has beautifully carved capitals with scenes from the Bible.We have a bit of time before the bus comes back to pick us up (there is no where to park near the Monastery) so I start a sketch.

On the way home we drive through several long tunnels that cut right through the mountains. This one was over a kilometer long!

Figueres and Salvador Dali

Posted on September 28, 2015 by Trudy

On Saturday we headed to Figueres to visit the Salvador Dali Museum. We were also interested in visiting his home and studio but we discovered that we should have booked tickets online for that and they were all sold out for today. The Teatre-Museu Dali is located in Figueres’s old Theatre and it is the second most visited museum in Spain after the Prado. It is a pretty fantastical building.

Dali built this museum on the site of the burned out Figueres Theatre. He started working on it in 1960 and didn’t finish until 1974. It is Dali’s largest work of art. He designed the building and it contains many of his artworks. In the central courtyard Dali’s black Cadillac is located under a fountain, although no water was flowing when we were there.

I’ve often seen this painting, Soft Self Portrait with Grilled Bacon, in art books.There is no doubt his work is very different, and sometimes hard for me to appreciate. This painting is called ‘The Happy Horse’ although it certainly doesn’t look very happy.The Stage has a huge glass dome that throws its shadows over everything below.The museum is packed with people and there are 22 rooms to visit. The rooms trace Dali’s artistic progress from the earliest to the last years of his life. Honestly, it is a bit overwhelming and after visiting this museum we go to another Dali museum next door that contains jewels designed by Dali. By this time we are ready for a change so we head to L’Escala which is a small resort on the Mediterranean a part of Spain’s Costa Brava, a 200 km coastline of beaches and resorts.
We walk along the coast for a while, but the water is quite cold and we are not tempted to get wet.
The Empuries are Greco-Roman ruins called that were built between the 7th and 3rd Century B.C. They are right behind the beach area at L’Escala. They looked interesting but the site closed in half an hour and we didn’t think it would be time to see it all and visit the Museum, so we were content to walk along its fence and see what we could see as we made our way back to our car.

Crazy Bicyclist, Break Dancing and Eiffel Tower

Posted on September 21, 2014 by Trudy

On the street outside my window is what I have come to think of as the drinking bench. Everyday there is a group of men who sit and visit and drink wine. Although drinking on the street and in parks is not allowed everyone seems to do it. Yesterday in front of Sacre Coeur there were even people selling bottles of beer to the tourists!

I went to a life drawing session at an artist’s atelier near the Eiffel Tower todayAnd the male model was excellent. He held some very difficult poses. I have been playing with watercolour gestures, not always successfully, but I think it has promise so I will persevere. It is always difficult to try new things, it feels awkward and clumsy at first. Even if it isn’t something I decide to continue doing, it still adds to my knowledge and understanding. It is very easy to keep doing what I know works, instead of stepping into new territory, but I know I need to push myself in order to keep learning and improving.

These are five minute poses, not many models would even attempt the one above.

Here is a photo of the studio. Nothing too fancy, but Claire provided tea which was much appreciated. She was instructing a class, and I was allowed to come and do my own thing. The students were quite interested in what I was doing and gave me some nice compliments.I decided to walk over to the Eiffel Tower, about a six block walk, and soon I could see it towering above the near by buildings.

It is difficult to comprehend just how big this structure is. Soon I am right underneath, looking up.

It is a special weekend, les Journées du Patrimoine, with lots of buildings open to the public and events taking place all over the city. It is very busy here today, the line ups for the elevators stretch right across the plaza beneath the Eiffel Tower. There is an electronic sign flashing that says that the platforms are at maximum capacity and there is up to a 45 minute wait, and that is after waiting in that big line to get tickets! Good thing I had no intention of going up today.

When we were here several years ago we were surprised to see military guards, somehow not so surprising today. I have actually seen armed guards in several places, including the Gare de l’Est.

Interestingly, neither the police nor the military seem to do much to deter street vendors, who can be quite insistent, I discovered that a quick shake of the head and not making eye contact seems to do the trick. This bunch is waiting for the elevator to come down from the Eiffel Tower, they then follow the people who get off, trying to convince them to buy an Eiffel tower of their very own.

I watched this guy operate for a few minutes, and saw a man lose a hundred Euro bill! He was so sure he knew where the little ball was, and was quite shocked that he didn’t double his money, like the woman before him, who managed to pick the right cup several times. I am pretty sure she was working with the fellow manning the cups. I am surprised that people still fall for this.

I head across the river towards the Metro, and stop to watch some pretty amazing break dancers.

One of them invites a pretty young girl up on to the stage and is quite surprised when she pretty much matches him move for move! Turns out she is with the Astana Ballet, which is a ballet company from Kasakhstan. What a treat that was. I ended up sitting there for more than an hour, it was all so entertaining. One of the break dancers spoke to the audience in at least a dozen languages, including Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Spanish, German, Russian and more that I can’t remember. He seemed to know at least several sentences in each language and even answered in the different languages when the audience members responded!

I also saw the craziest bicyclist ever. He came flying, down a pedestrian street standing up on his bike, which was scary enough, but he then continued onto the main road which was part of an intersection of six roads !

And he did this repeatedly! I stood in utter amazement and watched him perform this insane stunt at least a half dozen times. No idea what he is thinking. I am thinking he is lucky to still be alive!

Time to get home. One last look back at the Eiffel tower in the setting sun and I head off to the Trocadéro Metro stop .

The metro trains were very busy tonight, but a young lady and later a man get up to give me their seat. I guess having grey hair has some perks! It was almost 9:00 by the time I got home, the latest yet. I am getting braver.

Buses and The Champs -Élysées

Posted on September 17, 2014 by Trudy

I decided to try taking the bus today instead of the metro so I could see more of the streets of Paris. The bus map is a little intimidating, and rather confusing, but I am starting to figure it out. Wednesday’s life drawing class is in the evening, and although I am feeling quite comfortable walking about by myself in the daytime I don’t really want to be out at night, so no drawing class today.

I took the bus from my place to the Pont Neuf right beside the Louvre, popped inside for a quick visit to la toilette, (more on toilettes later…) and then walked towards the Tuileries.

Looking towards one wing of the Louvre.

These are the beautiful gardens just west of the Louvre. They even have an off leash area for dogs at the end closest to the Louvre. I can’t believe how many dogs, and all the big dogs that people have in this city.

I stopped for lunch at a cafe in the park, and then continued on to the far end of the Tuileries which is Place Concord. This is a huge square with an Egyptian obelisk in the centre, flanked by two identical ornate fountains.

There is so much to see here that it is hard to know where to look. Sometimes I just stand in one spot and slowly rotate, every direction I look brings some new amazing sight into view.

The end of the Tuileries and the entrance to Place Concorde, with the Eiffel Tower thrown in, as though there isn’t enough to look at here.

Soon I am walking along the Champs-Élysées and realize that Autumn is almost here, the leaves are beginning to change colour. It has been sunny and warm every day since I arrived, temperatures have been between 21 and 25 every day, so it feels very much like summer. I couldn’t ask for better weather.

The parks here are so very well maintained, and the flowers everywhere are magnificent.

There is an art exhibit along the street.

Many of the photos moved me to tears. War seems so very senseless.

This is the Grand Palais National Gallery, I check it out but it is a 30€ entrance fee! I don’t know what the exhibits are, I’ll have to see if it sounds worth such an expensive entrance fee.

One of the things I love about Paris are the incredible details, if one remembers to look. It is so easy to be overwhelmed by the grandeur of all these buildings, but when one looks closer there is almost always more to see..

And then even more to see. I think this beautiful mosaic frieze is probably not even noticed by many tourists.

Across the street is the Petit Palais, and it is free! It is a beautiful building full of beautiful art.

Checking out at a Rembrandt painting,

Taking a photo of the floor in the Petit Palais, it is all beautiful mosaics.

I decide I will come back here another day but want to continue my walk. I do stop for a much needed pot of tea in the museum cafe. It is a bargain at only 3€ and they are happy to supply more hot water to refill my pot. I do a few quick sketches of people while sitting in the cafe, and then head back out towards the Arc de Triomphe, along the very busy Champs-Elysées.

Yes, I was standing in the middle of the street to take this picture….but on a cross walk. The tree lined paths soon give way to very expensive shops. I walk into one of the shopping Galleries to have a look around.

Again, remembering to look for details..

And then there are the shop windows…

Notice the price for the tin of macaroons, 52€! I think there were 25 little macaroons in the tin.

There is a McDonalds on this very fancy street of shops! Bob and I stopped there for tea when we were in Paris several years ago, so I decided to stop and go sit upstairs overlooking the street just as we did before.

I finally make it to the Arc de Trimphe. It is in the middle of a very busy traffic circle so there is an underground tunnel to get to it. I was going to go to the top for a fee of 9.50€, but it was getting late and a bit hazy so I decide to save doing this for another time.

There was a remembrance ceremony happening so I stayed to watch for a while. It seemed as though family members were placing flowers in remembrance, not sure though. There were a lot of dignitaries and important looking people there too. This picture gives a good idea just how big this monument is.

Something must have been going on nearby because there were lots of sirens and seven or eight big Gendarmes paddy wagons type of vehicles came flying by, all in a row, along with several other police vehicles. I wonder what it was all about?

I find my way to the street with my bus stop and take a bus back to the Gare de L’Est, and then walk home. I am pretty tired, but had an interesting day.

I took so many more pictures, but I have to stop somewhere…..

trudymason.com

Travel, Art, Drawing, PaperArts

Category Archives: Monuments

Palacio Real and Templo De Debod

Santillana Del Mar, Burgos Cathedral and Segovia

Castillo de Loarre and San Juan de la Pena

Figueres and Salvador Dali

Crazy Bicyclist, Break Dancing and Eiffel Tower

Buses and The Champs -Élysées

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