Today was the day for a local guide to take us around the city and through the Prado Museum. She was extremely knowledgeable and pointed out a number of subtle things in certain paintings that I never would have seen on my own. For instance in one painting she was able to point out perspective; when you stood near the painting it looked flat, but as you backed away, the image seemed to take on depth. I don't know how the artist did it, but it was really cool.
Well, once again Google is not cooperating with my photo uploads, so I am unable to post any of the pics I took today. I finally got a group picture of all of us (the local guide snapped it for us), courtesy of Mildred, who suggested we use a stairway for the photo op. It turned out quite nicely...too bad I can't show it.
We were on our own for dinner tonight, and about 2/3 of our group ended up at a market not far from the hotel. It's a collection of tapas bars all under one roof and the variety is incredible. One vendor had olives stuffed with everything imaginable (they were delicious!), others specialized in seafood, another was strictly ham (a Spanish specialty--a Spaniard without ham is like a fish without water), and many that had a variety of foods. After chickening out a few nights ago, I got brave tonight and tried the baby eel; it was actually pretty good. It had a mild fishy flavor and was in a garlic sauce and piled on a piece of Spanish artisan bread. Once again a couple glasses of wine rounded things out nicely.
We are doing a day trip tomorrow to see Roman aquaducts in Segovia. the bus ride is supposed to be about 90 mins. each way, so not too far. I'm looking forward to seeing a structure so old still standing, especially considering it was built without mortar! Adios, friends.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment