Culture-oriented trip to Madrid - On the way to the hotel - The 19th of August 2016

Having spent three hours inside the Museum Thyssen-Bornemisza I didn't realise how hot it was until I walked out. I nevertheless decided to stroll around rather than take any transportation as I made my way towards Calle de los Esparteros, close to Plaza del Sol and Plaza Mayor.


Placards with reproductions of Hieronymus Bosch's paintings could be seen everywhere, once its 500th anniversary exhibition was one of the major events in Madrid. As I walked by the Prado Museum there were a lot of people queuing up to buy tickets, so I relaised then how fortunate I was to have purchased it beforehand. 

 

 

 

 

Just around Plaza del Sol heading towards Plaza Mayor stood the little hostal I had booked two nights at. The moment I sighted the bed I almost felt like throwing myself onto it and not go out for the rest of the day.

 

 

My feet were swollen and I realised I had a few blisters on them from having walked under such a burning sun, but I was decided not to let the extremely warm weather affect my three day long weekend, so after having had a quick mild cold shower walked out of the hostal again. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I headed towards the Church of Santo António de los Alemanes across from Callao, not without having briefly stopped at an outside Café with sprinkling adapted shower-like fountains to refresh the clients as I had a vegetarian focaccia with an orange juice.

 

 

 



The Church was undergoing restoration so I decided to head back to the hotel and call it off for the day but as the heat seemed  not to subside I walked into the Church of our Lady of Carmen instead just to relax for a while.

 

I tried to walk out several times but always made my way back in, as one wasn't able to breath outsied, such was the heat. I noticed the local Governament had had  fan-like blinds adapted  on the streets which vaguely reminded me of Sevilla and Cordoba streets in the peak of the Summer. 

 

 

 

 

Upon reaching the Corredores street I walked into another religious site, this time the Santa Cruz Church just overlooking the hostal.  

 

 



I vaguely remember having watched some Olympic competions being broadcasted in direct just beofre having gone to sleep. It had been a long yet very interesting day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Culture-oriented trip to Madrid - The Tyssen-Bornemisza Museum's collection - The first Floor galleries - The 19th of August 2016

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I walked down onto the first floor galleries where I came across several paintings by some of my favourite painters. I was unfortunately not able to photograph both Van Gogh's on display because of light problems, but I did manage to photograph those by Chagall, Pissarro, Picasso, Modigliani, Césanne, Gauguin and Lucien Freud amongst others.  

The Thyssen-Bornemisza contains one of the world's foremost and most distinguished private Art collections acquired by the Spanish State in 1993 to be installed in the Palacio de Villahermosa turned into this incredible Museum.

The park of "The Battery" by Reginald Marsh - 1926 (left). Quappi in pink jumper by Max Beckmann - 1932-34 (right).

The lady in mauve and Ships by Lyonel Feininger painted in 1922 and 1917 respectively.

Ukrainian peasant woman by Vladimir Burliuk - 1910-11 (left). Self-portrait by Gabrielle Muenter - 1908 (right).

Head of woman (detail) by Modigliani -1915 (left). Frugal meal by Picasso - 1904 (right).

Misia Godebska by Pierre Bonnard - 1908 (left). The Psyche mirror by Berthe Morisot (right).

Portrait of a farmer by Paul Césane - 1905-06

Streeet in Rouen by Paul Gauguin - 1884 (left). Saint-Honoré street in the afternoon by Camille Pissarro (right).

Marine tempete  by Claude Joseph Vernet - 1748 (left). Venice, the Grand Canal by Eugene Boudin -1895 (left).

Family group in landscape by Frans Hals - 1645-48 (left). Portrait of Millicent, Duchess of Suntherland by John Singer Sargent - 1904 (right).

Wedding scene by Jan Havicksz - 1653

Leisure objects by Willian Michael Harnett - 1879 (left). The opink tablecloth by Georges Braque - 1938 (right).

The 20th century by Sandor Bortnyk - 1927.

The house in grey by Marc Chagall - 1917.

The Madonna of the village by Marc Chagall - 1938-42

Portrait of Timothy Behrens by Michael Andrews - 1962 (left). Portrait of a woman by Alberto Giacometti - 1965 (right).

Portrait of Baron Thyssen H. H. Bornemisza by Lucien Freud - 1981-82

Reflexion, self-portrait (detail) on the left and large interior, Paddington (right) by Lucien Freud in 1965 and 1968 respectively.

My young friend by Andrew Wyeth in 1970 (left). Last portrait by Lucien Freud - 1976-77.