Art for Art’s sake

Whilst in Stockholm I visited the Vasa Museum up to four times to entertain friends and family. Even the doorman at one time asked why I was visiting so often because it was no more than, in his words, ‘just a big old ship’. The answer to his question was rather simple: the Vasa Museum is Stockholm’s Eiffel Tower, its Big Ben.

It’s been over four months now since I moved to Madrid and I have yet to find a Berlin wall, a leaning tower of Pisa, or a Vasa Museum for that matter. Not enough big ships around. There is no typical Madrid picture. And yet, with the visit of Sylvie and Asaf, it was all about pictures. Sylvie wanting to take them and Ace wanting to be on them. I have – on this website – selected but a few of the weekend’s modest results.

There is only one thing better than friends visiting and that is friends who already have a plan – and a good idea at that – of what they want to do during their stay. Sylvie had produced a list of no less than 20 museums and galleries she wished to visit and Ace, Ace just wanted a beer. Try juggling that! Looking back I am confident that they both got what they wanted.

On Friday, before the arrival of Ace we did a tour of the best galleries Madrid has to offer. Sylvie is into contemporary art and I would like to point out that there is a significant difference between modern and contemporary art. Although I don’t know any technical terms the main discrepancy between the two is that modern art is nice to look at while contemporary art just frustrates you. Frustration is of course also closely linked with Atlético Madrid. Actually Atléti was Ace’s primary reason for visiting. The crunch match was against our city rivals Real. Ace and I met with Eduardo to taste a bit of the atmosphere. Both of us were holding a home-made Empanada in our right hands. We met up just outside the stadium, the atmosphere was electrifying but whilst Edu had a prime spot inside the stadium we had to settle for front seats in Bar Obelisco. What we saw was injustice of the highest order. The referee stole a two goal lead and it eventually ended in frustration of a draw (1-1). The evening was however salvaged by a good night out and a mighty tasty chicken sandwich.

The highlight for all I guess was our Sunday stroll through El Parque del Buen Retiro. The park – which lies in the heart of Madrid – is the place to be on a Sunday. We were struck by nice weather and whilst Carmen and Sylvie rested a little of a fine bench Ace and I found the time to play with our new toy: a Frisbee-like plastic donut which – according to the instructions could be propelled for ‘up to half a kilometer’. Ace and I managed a good 20 meters before lobbing it into a medium-sized birch. After that the fun was all but over although Ace did manage to catapult the device out of our tree with a fair-sized stone.

So in the end, Sylvie enjoyed her art, Ace had his beer (or two) and Carmen and I enjoyed everything. Shame it was only a weekend.