Monday, September 22

This morning we went to the Real Fábrica de Tapices (Royal Tapestry Factory). The guide book didn’t mention that the only tour was in Spanish, and apparently we weren’t the only ones who didn’t know. Of the dozen people on the tour, two spoke some Spanish (me and another young man) and later a Spanish couple joined us. There was also a couple from Israel, a Italian man married to a French woman, a couple from Canada, and another from Romania. I was “elected” as common translator, or rather appointed by the guide. I think I should have gotten in free for doing them such a service. Hmph. It was really interesting, though, seeing them making rugs and tapestries. All of the carpets/tapestries there are made by order. The clients pay about 900 euros per square meter for the Turkish style carpets and 1200 euros per square meter for Spanish style carpets. The styles differ by how many vertical threads they use per knot. The designs they choose from are mainly traditional and tapestries are generally copied off famous paintings, often from Goya. To make the tapestries, which they knot from the back, they use mirrors so that they can see the design and their work. Cool!

For lunch we went to a Museo de Jamón *(Museum of Ham). So, we ate ham, which was the best ham we’ve had here. Then, we had hot chocolate and churros, which is like chocolate melted in a cup with fried dough. Very yummy, very bad for you, but very yummy.





After lunch Amy braved the scary city alone!!! I went home to do errands and relax and she went to the Reina Sofia museum, across the street from Atocha, the main train station, so neither of us were worried. Guernica by Picasso is probably the most important painting there. It’s about the civil war in Spain, when Franco bombed a Basque village that had no military importance…basically a massacre. There were sensors to keep people about 5 feet away from the painting. Amy didn’t like that, since she likes to put her nose just far enough away to not smell the paint. Miró had several works there. She liked his sculptures, but not his paintings, that she said a kindergartner could have done. They had an interesting film (in English with Spanish subtitles) about rock ‘n’ roll as art and religion in America. Also of interest was an exhibit that combined light and sound to cause movement in 3D works. She wants everyone to know that she had no problems getting back to the apartment all by her self. It was a good test for both of us.