Today started off with a plan to do a short day trip to a nearby historic town, but I didn't do enough research beforehand... I never looked up where to find the bus to town and ended up missing it. Bummer! On the bright side, I was "stuck" having to find stuff to do all day in Madrid. Not too difficult to do. :)
I decided to spend the day doing the things I hadn't had time for in the previous two weeks. I started by going from the bus area to the Ermita de San Antonio de Florida, by one of the city's main train stations. The station now has an upscale mall attached, which I think is interesting from a teacher perspective... Check it out - this could be Kenwood or Newport on the Levee as far as I'm concerned! Very similar to our malls in the USA!
The Ermita is a small church that was built in the 1790s by the Manzanares River. The church houses is one of the last places to see Goya's works still in the space where they were designed to go. The walls, ceiling, and dome are all painted with his lifelike characters. The church also houses his grave. In the early twentieth century, the church was declared a national monument and was therefore no longer fit for the parish's regular masses, so... I love this... The parish built an IDENTICAL church right next to it to continue regular weekly masses. So there are two identical buildings right next door to each other. Funny, no?
My attempt to photograph the interior. Nice... You can Google it if you want to see the frescoes!
The nearby Río Manzanares, right across the street.
Then, on my walk to the the St. Francis Basilica I stumbled across the entrance to the Royal Botanical Gardens. What nice surprise! I just had to take a quick walk around :)
These trees grow all over Spain and are frequently used in landscaped areas like formal gardens and plazas. Looking at this picture, I think I can see what Antoni Gaudí was going for with his design of the pillars inside the Temple de la Sagrada Família in Barcelona, can't you? Check it out...
Arriving at the Basilica, I was really impressed by the outside... But nothing could prepare me for inside. The Basilica holds the fourth largest dome in Europe, behind St. Peter's in Rome, um... something in London, and ... another one somewhere. (YOU try to pay attention to a tour guide while in this church!! Everything distracts your attention!) The church contains an original Goya, commissioned for the church before he became famous (making that TWO Goya works in their original settings in just one day... quite the feat). The church also contains tons of other old paintings, a 16th century choir recovered from a monastery in Segovia, etc, etc, etc. It was a great tour and totally worth it to see that immense dome. Plus, they let you take pictures in here. Awesome!
The dome. Picture doesn't quite do it justice:
The Goya:
16th century choir taken from the Parral monastery in Segovia:
On my way home, I stopped by the Torre del Oro bar in the Plaza Mayor - the funky bull bar from an earlier entry - and got a vermouth draft (a great drink that we don't have anywhere in the USA) and a mug of gazpacho as a tapa! Great way to end the day!
Plaza Mayor:
Vermut y gazpacho:
