Fine company, great art..and a National Emergency
Fine company, great art..and a National Emergency
Fine company, great art..and a National Emergency
Fine company, great art..and a National Emergency
The Friends have now returned from an eventful study tour to Toledo and Madrid, with a visit to El Escorial. This article is somewhat longer than normal for reasons which will become obvious.
Led by the ever-resourceful Nirvana Romell, ably assisted on this occasion by her Spanish-speaking daughter, Ella, we experienced many highlights - and a few frustrations - during our 6 night visit.
Despite a one hour delay on the flight from Manchester to Madrid, we arrived in Toledo in time for dinner at the splendid Hotel Pintor El Greco, having been able to stop at an amazing viewpoint in order to appreciate the splendour of the city of Toledo across the river.
Our first full day was spent exploring the city, with an emphasis on the art of El Greco, first in the Museo del Greco and then at the St. Tomé church where we saw his ‘The Burial of the Count of Orgaz’ - one of the many highlights of the tour. The local guide for our afternoon exploration of Toledo’s multicultural historic centre had to be replaced at the last minute because of illness but a substitute was arranged and we were able to appreciate the wonderful architecture of the city and see the extraordinary Cathedral, which divided opinion amongst our group.
On the following morning, a Saturday, we were to leave promptly after breakfast for the one hour coach journey to El Escorial, a historical residence of the king of Spain. Arrangements for the journey had been made by our guide, Nirvana, but, frustratingly, the bus company didn’t follow the agreed timings and we were later than expected at El Escorial. However, we still had time for coffee in the adjoining town of San Lorenzo del Escorial before a guided tour of the architecture and history of the palace.
El Escorial is the site for many weddings and, during our tour, we were able to see the guests arriving and departing for two such events. Apparently, it costs 1,500 Euros for a wedding to take place at El Escorial and the waiting list is over a year!
After lunch, a second guided tour focussed on the many artistic and cultural collections of El Escorial. The tour included a visit to the tombs where many of the kings of Spain were buried over the centuries and the Basilica San Lorenzo.
We then travelled to Madrid, checked into our hotel, and were able to explore the area and choose suitable places to eat.
Our exploration of the wonderful art and architecture of Madrid began the following morning with a guided tour of the old town. Our guide, Andrea, hailed from the US originally but had lived in Spain for many years. You might expect Sunday morning to be a quieter time, but no. This was the day of the Madrid Marathon, so the streets were particularly colourful and noisy. I can report that none of our number took part in the event, although we did criss-cross the route several times!
In the afternoon, Nirvana guided us around some of the art in the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum. This museum is smaller than the Prado or Reina Sofia but its more intimate atmosphere is a real positive. The cafe is particularly good!
The following day, Monday 28th April, is one that very few of us will ever forget. The morning was uneventful, although this isn’t really the right word to use in describing a guided visit to the Centro de Arte de Reina Sofia, which culminated in admiring Picasso’s great work, ‘Guernica’.
A power outage affecting the whole of Spain and Portugal began at midday. Those indoors would notice the loss of power quickly as lights went out but, for those people who were outside, realisation of a major problem came more slowly. The Reina Sofia and other art galleries and public buildings began to evacuate people. Cafes continued to serve customers but not with hot food or drinks. There were no coffee cups seen on tables, for instance! Traffic jams built up as traffic lights failed. Trains stopped between stations and people inside needed to be rescued, often after several hours. News started to be broadcast about a major problem but it became difficult to use the internet to make contact with other people.
Theories about the cause and extent of the power outages were rife, ranging from the accidental turning off of a switch to this being the start of a cyber attack and World War 3!
Most of the Friends had left the Reina Sofia and others were forced to evacuate. The plan had been to meet at the Madrid Cathedral later that afternoon for a tour of the Royal Art Collection but, in the event, this didn’t happen. Some made it to the meeting place - and sat on the steps of cathedral with many others whose plans had been disrupted - others went back to the hotel.
During the afternoon, most restaurants and shops closed. Trains stopped running. Those shops that remained open only took cash and for many people this was a problem. Some people had FM radios and could listen to the news, but this was all in Spanish. A National Emergency was declared by the Spanish government. There was a high level of police presence on the streets.
The Friends had booked a group meal for that evening but this was cancelled as the restaurant remained closed. However, shortly after 8pm, the power in the city began to come back, district by district, to the sound of cheers from relieved residents and visitors. In our hotel, the power returned by 9pm but restaurants were staying closed. Fortunately, across the road from the hotel, a small establishment selling just soup and sandwiches re-opened and Nirvana arranged for us to order food from there and bring it back to the hotel. We had an excellent group meal - but not the one that had been initially planned!
All in all it was a strange day. I think that the uncertainty was a major problem. Had we known that power would be restored at 9pm then people would not have worried so much. There was fear that our rooms would be completely in the dark if the power wasn’t restored before night fall.
In future, I think that my travel bag will contain a torch, an FM radio and some cash!
As it was, things were pretty much back to normal the following day apart from a few train delays. We were able to visit the Prado Museum, again with Andrea, and see many of their fabulous works. Las Meninas by Velazquez was an obvious highlight but works by Goya, El Greco and Caravaggio also stood out.
In the evening, some of the group had planned to go to a concert featuring the renowned Chinese pianist, Lang Lang, and they thoroughly enjoyed it. The rest of us dined at the restaurant where we should have had our meal the previous night. Thank you to Nirvana for arranging it.
The main group left early the following morning with, thankfully, no delays.
So ended one of the most memorable of our Friends’ tours. Despite the power problems, or perhaps because of them, we became a pretty close group. The art was as wonderful as we had hoped and it left us wanting more. Who could ask for anything else?
Mike Tierney
The Friends have now returned from an eventful study tour to Toledo and Madrid, with a visit to El Escorial. This article is somewhat longer than normal for reasons which will become obvious.
Led by the ever-resourceful Nirvana Romell, ably assisted on this occasion by her Spanish-speaking daughter, Ella, we experienced many highlights - and a few frustrations - during our 6 night visit.
Despite a one hour delay on the flight from Manchester to Madrid, we arrived in Toledo in time for dinner at the splendid Hotel Pintor El Greco, having been able to stop at an amazing viewpoint in order to appreciate the splendour of the city of Toledo across the river.
Our first full day was spent exploring the city, with an emphasis on the art of El Greco, first in the Museo del Greco and then at the St. Tomé church where we saw his ‘The Burial of the Count of Orgaz’ - one of the many highlights of the tour. The local guide for our afternoon exploration of Toledo’s multicultural historic centre had to be replaced at the last minute because of illness but a substitute was arranged and we were able to appreciate the wonderful architecture of the city and see the extraordinary Cathedral, which divided opinion amongst our group.
On the following morning, a Saturday, we were to leave promptly after breakfast for the one hour coach journey to El Escorial, a historical residence of the king of Spain. Arrangements for the journey had been made by our guide, Nirvana, but, frustratingly, the bus company didn’t follow the agreed timings and we were later than expected at El Escorial. However, we still had time for coffee in the adjoining town of San Lorenzo del Escorial before a guided tour of the architecture and history of the palace.
El Escorial is the site for many weddings and, during our tour, we were able to see the guests arriving and departing for two such events. Apparently, it costs 1,500 Euros for a wedding to take place at El Escorial and the waiting list is over a year!
After lunch, a second guided tour focussed on the many artistic and cultural collections of El Escorial. The tour included a visit to the tombs where many of the kings of Spain were buried over the centuries and the Basilica San Lorenzo.
We then travelled to Madrid, checked into our hotel, and were able to explore the area and choose suitable places to eat.
Our exploration of the wonderful art and architecture of Madrid began the following morning with a guided tour of the old town. Our guide, Andrea, hailed from the US originally but had lived in Spain for many years. You might expect Sunday morning to be a quieter time, but no. This was the day of the Madrid Marathon, so the streets were particularly colourful and noisy. I can report that none of our number took part in the event, although we did criss-cross the route several times!
In the afternoon, Nirvana guided us around some of the art in the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum. This museum is smaller than the Prado or Reina Sofia but its more intimate atmosphere is a real positive. The cafe is particularly good!
The following day, Monday 28th April, is one that very few of us will ever forget. The morning was uneventful, although this isn’t really the right word to use in describing a guided visit to the Centro de Arte de Reina Sofia, which culminated in admiring Picasso’s great work, ‘Guernica’.
A power outage affecting the whole of Spain and Portugal began at midday. Those indoors would notice the loss of power quickly as lights went out but, for those people who were outside, realisation of a major problem came more slowly. The Reina Sofia and other art galleries and public buildings began to evacuate people. Cafes continued to serve customers but not with hot food or drinks. There were no coffee cups seen on tables, for instance! Traffic jams built up as traffic lights failed. Trains stopped between stations and people inside needed to be rescued, often after several hours. News started to be broadcast about a major problem but it became difficult to use the internet to make contact with other people.
Theories about the cause and extent of the power outages were rife, ranging from the accidental turning off of a switch to this being the start of a cyber attack and World War 3!
Most of the Friends had left the Reina Sofia and others were forced to evacuate. The plan had been to meet at the Madrid Cathedral later that afternoon for a tour of the Royal Art Collection but, in the event, this didn’t happen. Some made it to the meeting place - and sat on the steps of cathedral with many others whose plans had been disrupted - others went back to the hotel.
During the afternoon, most restaurants and shops closed. Trains stopped running. Those shops that remained open only took cash and for many people this was a problem. Some people had FM radios and could listen to the news, but this was all in Spanish. A National Emergency was declared by the Spanish government. There was a high level of police presence on the streets.
The Friends had booked a group meal for that evening but this was cancelled as the restaurant remained closed. However, shortly after 8pm, the power in the city began to come back, district by district, to the sound of cheers from relieved residents and visitors. In our hotel, the power returned by 9pm but restaurants were staying closed. Fortunately, across the road from the hotel, a small establishment selling just soup and sandwiches re-opened and Nirvana arranged for us to order food from there and bring it back to the hotel. We had an excellent group meal - but not the one that had been initially planned!
All in all it was a strange day. I think that the uncertainty was a major problem. Had we known that power would be restored at 9pm then people would not have worried so much. There was fear that our rooms would be completely in the dark if the power wasn’t restored before night fall.
In future, I think that my travel bag will contain a torch, an FM radio and some cash!
As it was, things were pretty much back to normal the following day apart from a few train delays. We were able to visit the Prado Museum, again with Andrea, and see many of their fabulous works. Las Meninas by Velazquez was an obvious highlight but works by Goya, El Greco and Caravaggio also stood out.
In the evening, some of the group had planned to go to a concert featuring the renowned Chinese pianist, Lang Lang, and they thoroughly enjoyed it. The rest of us dined at the restaurant where we should have had our meal the previous night. Thank you to Nirvana for arranging it.
The main group left early the following morning with, thankfully, no delays.
So ended one of the most memorable of our Friends’ tours. Despite the power problems, or perhaps because of them, we became a pretty close group. The art was as wonderful as we had hoped and it left us wanting more. Who could ask for anything else?
Mike Tierney
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