When the sun rose on the third day, the glittering, storm soaked pavements from the night before were all but myth (watching the Madrid residents try to drive in the rain made me chuckle somewhat). Alas another sunny and crazy-hot day was upon us. We packed up our belongings (boo) and took them down to reception for them to store away.
Today was the day that I was going to get cultured, learn to love modern art and get some enthusiasm for all things Picasso. Today was the day that Jai and I were going to visit the very famous (?) Reina Sofia Art Gallery and I would apparently learn not to be a philistine.
So off we went. Since the queue for the Salvador Dali exhibit was around about 8 miles long, we took the decision to skip that and just have a nosy around the rest. After paying for us both (since I was, by this point, penniless, all thanks to petty crime) Jai led me into the gallery. I was, at this point, still feeling fairly skeptical.
OK, so a lot of the gallery was VERY STRANGE INDEED. Here are some of things that stood out to me as being particularly pointless/ hilarious:
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| 'nuff said, |
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| Plain red canvas anyone? |
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| Pretty sure that this looks like some kind of kinky swing gone wrong... |
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| Oh My Word. This painted ceramic man scared the bejesus out of me! |
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| Bit of a nimble way to transport your bike!... not gonna lie - I kinda like this one! |
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| Casual blue mustache pubes and scary pointy boobies! |
Saying all of this, however, it was quite exciting to see some very famous Picasso paintings, including the 'Guernica' and there were a couple of things I actually genuinely liked. I'm not saying that I fully understood the artistic intent or whatever, but these were just quite nice to look at.
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| British Gas advert anyone? |
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| Under The Sea - although sadly lacking Ariel and Sebastian |
Once we had trekked around all 4 floors of the gallery, we decided to get lunch and then head to Buen Retiro Park, one of the largest parks in the city. Aside from the horrific prices for drinks and ice creams (€3 for a bottle of water! Man alive) it was really rather beautiful, with its fountains and boating lake and statues!
It also contained (much to Jai's enjoyment) a couple of buildings housing some more art - this time temporary installations. I have to say, I did enjoy and understand these slightly more.
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| I think maybe I liked this one because I got to pretend I was Rose off of Titanic |
Some, however, I did not.
After this, virtually penniless, we headed to Madrid Airport on the Metro. Quick bit of advice - if you decide to get this mode of transport to the airport, be aware that there is an extra (quite pricey) premium for using the Metro to the airport on top of your usual fair. We did not know this, and being rather poor between us, we had a minor panic. Don't worry, loverly reader, it was fine - we made it!
It was when we went to check in our bags after standing in the mahoosive queue that the real problem occurred. Somehow, my suitcase ended up being sent into the depths of Madrid airport (which, by the way, is MASSIVE) without a luggage label on it. Really. This sort of crap only ever happens to me, I swear.
After about half an hour of mixed messages and misunderstandings, the orange and rather ditsy check in lady eventually admitted what she had accidentally done and my suitcase was apparently found and labeled. Thank god my suitcase it so bright and gaudy! When I got my suitcase back at the other end it was genuinely like Christmas day, I'm not even kidding you. I got some very strange looks for the strangled whooping sounds and the dancing - not sure why...
When
we eventually got to the gate with very little time to spare, it was very
apparent how poor we really were between us. Jai had to swap a Euro for a pound
off of a very bemused lady and when we got on the plane, between us
we could afford the sum total of 1 drink and 2 packets of Pringles. Nutritious.
She used her card in the end but still. I'm pretty sure, cash-wise; we were
the skintest on the plane
Anyway, after all of this drama, I had time to reflect upon the fact that, apart from the odd (large) drama, my time in Spain had been fab. For the most part, great company, great food and great weather are all you really need on a relaxing summer holiday and I had these things in abundance.
Adiós España, see you soon babes.
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