We all know about Doménikos Theotokópoulos, right? El Greco to you. Born in Crete, studied in Venice under Titian, and then primarily lived and worked in Toledo. This is one of his masterpieces, The Burial of the Count of Orgaz, in the Church of Santo Tomé, Obviously, it is very complex. You can find a discussion at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Burial_of_the_Count_of_Orgaz .
One day last week we took a trip to the historic city of Toledo, about an hour south of Madrid. It's hilly, and was tough on a couple of 70-somethings. There was lots to see. The main buildings seen here on the horizon are the cathedral on the left and the Alcazar, an old military facility, on the right.
You might find this in many cities. There are street bicycle races around here a few times a year, always good for color and action. These people are impressive athletes who take risks - I've seen a couple of wrecks. Not for me though. The last time I rode a bike I had to get a steroid shot in my knee.
Witness City Daily pedal power from around the world at https://citydailyphoto.org/category/theme-days/ .
When North Americans arrive in Spain, they learn quickly that local dining hours are much different than ours. For sit-down restaurants, lunch is served from 1 to 4 PM and can be the main meal of the day. They don't open for dinner until 8 or 8:30 PM. At that hour the customers are mostly Americans, Brits and Germans. The locals start rolling in about 9:30 or 10. This picture was taken after we had finished our dinner (8 PM booking, of course) a few blocks away and we went for a walk. The place was plenty busy.
I apologize that this hasn't been much of a St. Louis photo blog lately. I might pick up some images on Saturday but then Sunday it's off to New York for a five day street photography workshop, Packing it in while I still can.
The
royal palace in Madrid is a thing to behold. It's bigger than the
Chateau de Versailles, albeit without the latter's vast gardens. After
the horrors of the Spanish civil war almost 90 years ago, the country is
now a constitutional monarchy with a functioning democracy (although
the Catalonians and Basques might differ). It maintains a degree of
grandeur of which the British would approve.
Mercado de San Miguel, just off Plaza Mayor in Madrid. It's not exactly where you would buy provisions for home, but more like the most high-end and energetic food court (in the American sense) I've ever seen. And at 5 o'clock on Friday it was packed with Spaniards snarfing down tapas, raciones, bocadillas, and swilling cerveza, vino, vermut and, most important of all, aperitivos.
This made us think of our old friend and former City Daily Photo colleague, Jilly Bennett, in Gorbio, France, outside of Menton. One late afternoon we were sitting with her in her town's tiny square when she recommended that we order an Aperol Spritz, a blend of Aperol, prosecco, ice and an orange slice. Heaven. It's on our table every weekend. Thanks, Jilly,
Richard Serra's room at the Museo Reina Sofia in Madrid. Some people hate his stuff, some like it. We love it.
