After the meeting and the conference call I found myself with an hour and half free. Madrid is not a great city to get an early dinner. Our dinner reservation was at 9 PM (which is about the earliest you can get into a decent restaurant) so my colleague and I decided to get to Reina Sophia and spend just a few minutes looking at Guernica again.
Guernica is a great mural that Picasso did right at the beginning of the Spanish civil war right after the artist fled to Paris. It is an angry work that defies all description and as it is for me, I can spend hours staring at a work like that. The scale is impressive and the lighting is amazing. It was 8 PM and there were not many people at Raina Sophia. Unlike del Prado, Raina Sophia is never crazy crowded anyway. We didn't have a lot of time, so we skipped the usual route and then I happen to chance upon a work I had never seen before. Diego Rivera's La Chimenea. It was wonderfully subtle and nothing like his mural work from Ciudad de Mexico.
On my way out, I chanced upon one of Dali's famous Hitler works and another humorous one both prominently featuring Gala. Another blue-themed work clearly showed the influence of Georges Braque and Juan Gris. And lastly, a work on Juan Gris so captivated me that I had to walk literally right into it, it had a jovial tone that reminded me of Seurat without pointillism. Anyway, it was time well spent.
The dinner was OK, I blurted out something I should not have and now have to spend a lot of time cleaning up the mess. It has been raining in Madrid all afternoon and the bacharan didn't do me any favors. But I think what did me in was the wine, a syrah varietal from Toledo. Interesting with a medicinal bouquet. I didn't catch its name properly. The restaurant was also interesting because it was owned by a Catholic priest who owned other restaurants. And the menu featured Guardia Civil guys from civil war time. Wonder what he thinks of Franco. The resaurant is on Filippe V. I couldn't believe I found the old churro place on the corner. It is still there. Just a few steps from Plaza Del Sol. If I have time, I ought to find El Corte Ingles behind it.
One last thing, Barajas still amazes me. It is the best airport I have ever seen next to Kuala Lampur. Otra mundo en conjunto.
Time to sleep. Have to be at the meeting at 8:30. Buenos noches. Mastarde.
