We made a start to the day by having a coffee and a pastry. We had a quick bite in a fairly large coffee shop in Puerto Del Sol.
Museo d'America
This museum is dedicated to the Americas. And has extensive exhibits about the colonization of the new world and artifacts from pre Columbian societies. The craftsmanship of the pieces from Peru really blew me away. My original plan was to actually go to South America at this time and see more of the continent besides just chilling out in Buenos Aires but I had opted to make a shorter trip to Spain and Portugal. These pieces made me feel curious to see them in the context of where they came from. It was the middle of the week and the museum was practically empty. At times, Christian and I were the only people in some of the rooms asides from people who worked there. Also, in the museum there sections dedicated to anthropology. It is definitely worth a visit when in Madrid if you have any interest in history and the 'New World'.
Christian and I got into a discussion of the reasons for the Europeans went to the new world and what their goals where. I said it was driven by a finding an alternate trade route to India and the pursuit of wealth. Obviously, the indigenous people got shit on by the colonizers as a result. Remember the film the Mission for example and the story it told : The Mission (summary at IMDB)
When I got back to the U.K., I read a bit more about the period and the term 'enlightenment' came up as another driving force for exploring the new world in the 18th century. There was a growing interest in the Western world to know more about the flora and fauna 'found' in the new world.
Bus Tour
We hopped on a bus and did a tour of Madrid. And I took a few photos.
Gallery Soledad
We made a stop to check out some art that I had read about in the magazine 'b-guided>'. I always pick up a copy when in Spain; for me, it such a perfect magazine to know what is going on with contemporary culture in Spain. The gallery was featuring the works of the American artist Jennifer Steinkamp. Her work is quite mesmerizing; it was all based around computer animation of plants forms; the animations were projected onto the walls; if I would chose one word to describe the works, it would be finesse. It never ceases to amaze me that other people think of the similar things to me. Years and I mean years ago, I had played around with doing animations of flowers and plants with my Amiga home computer. But look at what people have done now. It is still a subject that I am interested in.
There is a now a different exhibit at the gallery now but have a look: Galleria Soledad Lorenzo
And there is the artist's own web-site : Jennifer Steinkamp
Tapas Bar and Flamenco Bars
Later that night, the plan was to get a taste of some Flamenco. In the guide book, a place was mentioned. We got to the place around 10 and it was quite empty. So, we went for a bite to eat down the road.
We went to a restaurant on Calle de Orilla a few blocks down from the Flamenco bar. The menu had a selection of Galacian tapas on the menu. We orderd a few dishes; one dish was a new treat - Pimentos de Patron. It was a plate of little green peppers that were cooked and slightly blackened. I was not sure if they were fried in oil or sauteed. A fine dish to acompany beer drinking. I need to find a source for such peppers. We also ate, octpous with paprika and a few other dishes. The two women and man who ran the place were very accomodating and asked if the food was to our liking which it was. For me it really made the evening to go such place. I wish I could remember the name of the place. I did try to get some photos with my camera phone. If you can figure out the name from these blurry photos, do tell me.
When we went back to the Flamenco bar there was a few more people about; we hung about for an hour or so but it never really took off; I was hoping there might be some musicians showing up and a jam session would happen; I have been to such jams in London. In fact, the street to go to is Hanway street which is behind the Virgin megastore on Oxford Street. One curious thing was a man who just kept pacing up and down the floor of the bar; he did this endlessly. It seemed he was waiting for someone or something to happen and he he could not just stand still meanwhile. He was almost a floor show watching him pace up and down the centre of the bar.
We did proceed to another Flamenco bar and this place was a lot more happening. It was more like a night club than a bar and people were dancing. We had a drink here and took in the vibe for a bit. The crowd was an interesting one to observe; many of the young men had long hair and wearing suits; yes, there were mullets; their aim appeared to be looking the business. While in the other bar, people looked a lot more alternative rockers and university students.