GARGANTUAN steps
Wednesday, May 09, 2018
fui sobre agua edificada, mis muros de fuego son
fui sobre agua edificada, mis muros de fuego son
on water I was built, my walls are made of fire
- motto of Madrid
Spain's a place that I have been to previously, but I had never visited the capital before. In fact, it has been nearly eleven years since I first visited Barcelona, but even then, the La Sagrada Familia, its most famous icon (besides the Nou Camp), remains unfinished, after more than a century since construction first began. They say that it will be completed by 2026, and maybe that'll be the next time I head back to Spain. Madrid, though, is a city entirely different from Barcelona altogether. For all the gregarious and playful nature that Barcelona is, Madrid is more pompous and regal in comparison. But maybe I'm biased because I'm more supportive of Barcelona (Football Club) than Real Madrid, at least back in the old days when their first team was made up more of homegrown academy players rather than players paid with exorbitant amounts of cash.
Madrid didn't use to be the heart of Spain (and even now, many of the Catalans would balk at that statement). That title used to belong to Cordoba. Back when the Muslims still occupied southern Spain, Madrid was first founded by the Arab emir Muhammad I, when he commissioned the construction a fortress in the village of Mayrit (or Magerit), way back in the year 865 A.D., to defend against the Christian forces trying to reclaim the peninsula from the north. Mayrit comes from the Arabic word majira, which means water channel. The fortress walls were made of flint, and any arrows that struck the wall would create a spark, and together with a city built above the multitude of underground streams - this was how Madrid's ancient motto first arose. Out of nowhere, Madrid was made the capital of Spain in the year 1561 by Felipe II (perhaps for political reasons), back when it was shaded in obscurity compared to its larger cities of Toledo or Seville, and since then, it has slowly grown in strength and prestige. They are now a proud bunch - the capital city of the nation, residence of the royal family, the political centre of the country, and most importantly, home to the most successful football club in the world.
But I wasn't here for a holiday (at least not entirely), and it was my first time attending a major Infectious Diseases/Microbiology conference - the European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ECCMID). Held at the IFEMA Madrid, their version of Singapore's EXPO convention centre, it was a massive four-day conference with tonnes of talks and lectures, with definitely too much to take in, and too little time to do so. But I decided that since I had flown all the way there, it was too good an opportunity to miss exploring the sights that Madrid had to offer (which wasn't a lot besides it museums). But now on to the rest of my travels for now!
Day 1 - 28th ECCMID and the Reina Sofia Museum
After an overnight flight out from Singapore, I landed on the morning of the conference and promptly headed there, with my luggage in tow. The conference was even larger than I had imagined, with fourteen different lecture halls running talks concurrently, and just thousands of participants thronging convention centre. Even with the fatigue of the 16-hour flight time, and jet lag, it was exciting just being there. Perhaps a little overwhelming with so many talks I wanted to attend, it almost felt I needed a few of myself there to attend this conference. So much so, I almost felt like going straight to the hotel instead and catch a breather.
28th European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases
Hall A - The most massive of the conference halls
I lasted till the late afternoon before I decided to call it a day and catch a breather. And after dropping my luggage off at the hotel, it was off to the first attraction in Madrid, the Reina Sofia museum, which actually means Queen Sofia! Madrid has a museum Golden Triangle of Art, consisting of the Reina Sofia museum, the Thyssen-Bornemisza museum, and the jewel of its crown, the Prado museum. Broadly, the Reina Sofia covers more modernist works, whilst the Prado covers more primitive works, and the Thyssen covers what's left. Perhaps they could have all housed it in one museum, though that would reduce the amount of fees collected! The Prado museum is Madrid's most world renown museum, but in my humble opinion, I much preferred the Reina Sofia museum. Maybe because they didn't let me take photos in the Prado. Each museum have their own little 'must-see' paintings, and in the Reina Sofia museum, it houses Spain's apparent most famous artwork, the Guernica by Pablo Picasso, Spain's most favourite artistic son.
Me at my first attraction of the trip - the Reina Sofia Museum
Main with a Pipe
Joan Miro
Guernica
Pablo Picasso
They did not allow me to take photos of the painting so I had to do it stealthily. I guess even Picasso would have appreciated how warped my photo-taking skills are
Since this is Spain's most famous piece of art, I shall dedicate a little write-up to explain its significance! Measuring 3.5 m by 7.8 m, this icon was painted in 1937 by Pablo Picasso to express his outrage against the Spanish civil war (and towards war in general), which took place between the government and the fascist forces led by General Franco. The painting is based on the events of April 27, 1937, when Hitler's air force, the Legion Condor, acting in support of Franco, bombed the civilian village of Guernika in northern Spain. At least 200 citizens were massacred in the attack, and it left much of the town in ruins after. The painting subsequently resided in the USA, and only returned in 1981 in accordance with Picasso's wishes, when democracy was restored.
Girl at the Window
Salvador Dali
One of my favourite paintings of the trip
Tyrannosaurus Rex
Niki de Saint Phalle
After my tour of my first museum in Madrid, it was off to try some of the local cuisine. Some tapas and paella ensued. In my opinion, paella is the Spanish version of Chinese fried rice, and don't we all love a little fried rice from time to time?
Me and my paella mixta
Day 2 - The Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum and mass at the Parroquia de San Ildefonso
My second day in Madrid was somewhat similar to the first (and you could say the same for my third and fourth day as well). This time, once I was saturated from the conference talks, it was time for the Thyssen-Bornemisza museum, named after the German entrepreneur of said name, who once had his own private collection of art.
El Oso y el Madroño
Symbol of Madrid - The Bear and the Strawberry Tree
The bear and strawberry tree have been on Madrid's coat of arms since 1212, though there are neither bears nor strawberry trees here anymore. A few theories reign - one is that there was a large population of bears in the adjacent forests in the Middle Ages, and the city was previously called Ursaria (land of bears in Latin) by the Romans, and similarly, there was a significant number of strawberry trees (madrono) in the vicinity as well, hence the symbol. The second theory is that, in the early 13th century, there was dispute between the church and the city council, with both laying claim to the surrounding forests and fields. King Alfonso VIII decided that the trees and land would belong to the city, and the animals would belong to the church, and therefore both groups would be responsible for looking after the area. No one really knows the real truth though, as most city symbols have proven to be. You just have to look at Singapore's very own.
The Annunciation
El Greco
The Supper of Emaus
Matthias Stom
Dream Caused by the Flight of a Bumble Bee around a Pomegranate a Second before Waking Up
Salvador Dali
Mass at Parroquia de San Ildefonso
After another few hours spent at the museum, and subsequently still heading back to attend a few more talks at the conference, I was off for Sunday mass, in Spanish, at a parish near my hotel. 'Parroquia de San Ildefonso' means Parish of Saint Idelfonsus, though in my readings, there is no such person as Saint Idelfonsus, and Idelfonsus is just a variant for Alfonso.
Day 3 - Real Madrid and the Estadio Santigao Bernabeu and the Mercado de San Miguel
My third day, once away from another heavy day at the conference, was spent being a football fan and exploring the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu, the stadium belonging to the most successful football club in the world - Real Madrid. Contrary to belief, there actually isn't a Fake Madrid, but 'Real just means 'Royal' in Spanish. It's rival and poorer neighbour across town is' Atletico Madrid, though they did win the La Liga (Spanish Premier League) most recently in the 2013-2014 season. In comparison, Real Madrid have won the La Liga a stonking 33 times, and their next rivals and eternal enemies, Barcelona, have won it only 25 times. Similarly, Real Madrid have won the Champion's League an incredible 12 times, and are now up against Liverpool (the team I support), in this year's finals. Things do not look too good at them moment for the Reds I must say. Also, in their possession is the most marketable man in football, Cristiano Ronaldo, the Portuguese peacock as he is known in some quarters, and in his own opinion, the best player on the planet, though I firmly believe that title belongs to Lionel Messi, from Barcelona. Of course, if you get to buy the best players on the planet, as what Real Madrid regularly does, then they definitely ought to be winning titles regularly - no bitterness at all.
Estadio Santiago Bernabeu
Inside the stadium
Real Madrid's Champion's League trophy haul
A dime a dozen
Me in the stadium
After a self-directed tour of the stadium, and with ticket prices more expensive than entry into any of the museums, I headed off to explore some other sights in Madrid, mainly the Plaza Mayor and the nearby market. Plaza Mayor is the historical and monumental heart of the city, and it has presided over many things, including bullfights, and more notoriously, the autos-da-fe (act of faith) - the ritual condemnations of heretics during the Spanish Inquisition, followed by public executions. These include - burnings at the stake, deaths by garrotte, and hangings. Its current purpose is now a place for hanging out, to watch the world go by in a nice afternoon siesta, which many people were doing so. In Spain, the people have this habit of taking an afternoon siesta, and some shops are literally closed for an hour or two in the afternoons during this period of time! But they make up for it by opening till much later (many of the museums close at 8 p.m.), and more significantly, dinner only begins at 8 p.m., which in many instances was too late for my liking.
Plaza Mayor
Mercado de San Miguel
The Mercado de San Miguel is one of Madrid's oldest markets, originally built in 1916. What probably was catered more for the locals is now a brimming tourist magnet, an air-conditioned market selling a variety of Spanish food. More interestingly, they have attempted to be more cosmopolitan - they even have a small Japanese store selling sushi and tempura! The food was definitely not too bad, but the prices were definitely catered for tourists.
Tapas
Crab Burger
Day 4 - The Prado Museum and the Parque del Buen Retiro
After a final morning at the conference, it was on to my last museum pit-stop in Madrid, and its most internationally renown one - the Museo del Prado. Its best-known work is the Las Meninas by Velázquez, though I was not able to get a picture of it (and I'm not a huge fan of it). However, you should still have a look at it on Google images - it really is a peculiar piece of art.
Museo del Prado
Agnus Dei
Zurbaran
My favourite piece of art in Madrid - the Lamb of God
Saturn
Goya
I first misread the title of the painting - I was wondering why was Satan eating his son, and more intriguingly, since when did Satan have a son? But this is Saturn, the Roman God of Sowing. According to Roman and Greek mythology, Saturn was haunted by a prophecy that he would be overthrown by one of his sons, and ate each of them the moment they were born. His wife hid his sixth son, Jupiter, from him, and it was indeed Jupiter who subsequently overthrew his father. Interestingly, how did such myths ever cross the mind of someone?
Isabel II, Veiled
Torreggiani
One of the most beautiful sculptures I've ever come across - the artist was actually able to carve out, from marble, a thin piece of veil cover her facial features. Truly impressive. This is akin to the Veiled Christ statue by Sanmartino I saw in Naples.
Parque del Buen Retiro
A walk in the park
Dinner with friends
From left to right - Shehara, Ker Xin, Ka Lip
The evening was subsequently spent exploring the Parque del Buen Retiro, or the Park of the Pleasant Retreat, another place for the madrilenos to hang out and watch the world go by. The day then ended with dinner with some friends who too came for the conference, and a holiday!
Day 5 - Cordoba, the Alcazar and the Mezquita
It was an early start for the penultimate day of the trip, and it was a day trip out of Madrid to Cordoba. Cordoba used to be of a higher profile and status than Madrid was in its heyday. It was once the capital of Islamic Spain, and was Western Europe's biggest and most cultured city. Previously a Roman colony, it began its rise to prominence in the year 756 A.D. when Abd ar-Rahman I set himself here as the emir of Al-Andalus, founding the Umayyad dynasty. He too was famed for founding Cordoba's most famous building, the Mezquita, in 785. Under Abd ar-Rahman III, the Cordoba caliphate era was ushered in (the caliph being the title of the Muslim successors of Mohammed), and Cordoba subsequently became the biggest city in Western Europe, with a population of nearly 250,000 citizens. Famed for being the city of three cultures - this was a place where Muslims, Jews and Christians could live harmoniously. Things started to decline when the caliphate descended into anarchy and the Umayyad rule subsequently came to an end in 1031. Since then, Cordoba has never reached its heights again, and has remained in the shadow of Seville.
Arriving rather early in Cordoba, the first pit stop of the day was the Alcazar de los Reyes Cristianos, or the Fortress of the Christian Monarchs. The construction was ordered by the Catholic King Alfonso XI in 1328, and was built amongst the ruins of a Moorish fort. Its use by future monarchs was more ghastly though, where it was the headquarters of the Inquisition led by Isabella I and her husband Ferdinand. It was also here where they spoke to Christopher Columbus before he headed off on his discovery of the Americas. The fort itself has now turned into a whirlwind tour of past glories, and beside it, a peaceable set of gardens with fountains to walk amidst, almost reminiscent of the Alhambra in Granada where it was probably modelled after.
Orange tree
Alcazar de los Reyes Cristianos
Me at the Puente Romano spanning the Guadalquivir river
Its name comes from the Arabic word 'al-wadi al-kabir', meaning “great river”, and it is the second longest river in Spain
Next up was a tour of the Jewish Quarters of Cordoba through its claustrophobic narrow streets made even more clotted with the throngs of tourists that had started to build up as the day went by. Saying that though, it is worthwhile joining these walking tours in any city, just to understand more of the historical background of the city, and to learn about the life of the locals in the past and in the present. Of course, the downside of it is that you have to follow a crowd of people, some of whom may not be asking the most pertinent of questions. I had one tourist asking the guide whether the Torah was kept at the Mihrab in the Mezquita. Thankfully she saw the funny side of it.
Starting the tour
Statue of Maimonides in the Jewish Quarter
Maimonides, an eminent figure and citizen of Cordoba, was one of the foremost Jewish thinker and philosopher in his time. We were told that we would feel a gush of his wisdom should you rub his foot - needless to say, a whole horde from the group rushed to do so.
Next up was the highlight of Cordoba, and possibly the highlight of the trip, the Mezquita. The Mezquita is actually short for Mezquita-Catedral de Cordoba, or the Mosque-Cathedral of Cordoba, or the Great Mosque of Cordoba. Some claim that it is the most beautiful building in the world, and I first came about it when reading 'The History of the World' by J. M. Roberts many years back. Since then, this has been a place that I have been wanting to visit ever since. Now having been here, I still think that title still belongs to the Taj Mahal.
The Mezquita used to just be a mosque when it was first inaugurated. Construction of the mosque began in 785, during the time of Abd al Rahman I, and over the ensuing centuries, and three further expansions, it quintupled its size. Sadly, following the Christian conquest of Cordoba in 1236, the Mezquita was used as a cathedral, and in the 16th century, the centre of the mosque was ripped out to construct a cathedral within. According to our guide, the then King Carlos I was so horrified at this act, that he exclaimed that they had destroyed something unique only to replace it with something so common. I guess it has now become truly unique, a cathedral within a mosque - a true sign of the harmony existing previously in Cordoba (though missing a synagogue).
The Patio de los Naranjos and the Torre del Alminar
Interior of the Mezquita
These terracotta-and-white arches are the defining characteristics of the mosque. You would have thought that the mosque would have been packed to the brim with the tens of people passing through the entrance ever few minutes but it never felt crowded at all inside. In the Middle Ages, this was the second largest mosque in the world, second only to the Great Mosque in Mecca.
The Mihrab
Beautiful and intricately decorated by gold mosaic
The altar of the Cathedral
The Mezquita
The view from the bell-tower - as you can see, the cathedral sticks up like a sore thumb out of the mosque
Following our climb of the bell tower, it was time to head back to Madrid for the final day of the trip.
Day 6 - The Royal Palace, the cathedrals, and the world's oldest restaurant - Sobrino de Botin
The final day of my trip was spent exploring the Royal Palace of Madrid, where the royal family rarely reside in. An ostentatious show of wealth and power (as most palaces are), nothing stood out too prominently. There are apparently 2800 rooms in the 'small' confines of this palace, but thankfully, we were only led to the major ones. Directly opposing the palace is the Catedral de la Almudena, and the seat of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Madrid. Also not a particularly memorable church compared to some of its opulent counterparts in other parts of Europe. Further down the road was the San Francisco el Grande, and it has the third largest dome in Christendom churches, measuring at 32 metres in diameter. This church was slightly more interesting, with the church shaped in a circle and small chapels linings its peripheries.
Me at the Palacio Real
Catedral de la Almudena
Interior of the San Francisco el Grande
Lunch at the oldest restaurant in the world
Sobrino de Botin
The final stop of my trip was to the world's oldest restaurant - the Sobrino de Botin, which has been continuously serving customers since 1725! First founded by the Frenchman Jean Botin, it was taken over by his nephew ('sobrino' being the Spanish word for 'nephew'). More interestingly the flames of the oven have never been extinguished - though I wonder who is doing any cooking in the middle of the night for any one? It was an interesting dining experience, and one actually gets to dine in the basement of the restaurant! It is much larger than its exterior portrays it to be. I had the roast lamb dish (apparently one of its famous dishes), though it was so tender and succulent, that I mistook it to be chicken and told them that they had served me the wrong dish! I was duly embarrassed to learn of my mistake, but I did enjoy my last meal in Madrid very much! It was nice end to the trip before finally heading home. All in all, it was a relatively enjoyable trip back to Europe, though I'm not too keen on going for any more of these large conferences! Till the next time...
Labels: Art, Church, Conference, Europe, Food, Football, Friends, Madrid, Mosque, Museum, Palace, Spain, UNESCO
