Plaza Mayor has a busy day ahead. There's a quota to achieve and you have to leave time for tidying up this evening. Crowds are pouring in for the full program of Inquisition activities... get a good seat and you see the whole process... from haranguing the suspect to torture to death to quartering... all without having to leave your seat. Just around the corner is the Cathedral and the Palace... so the big wigs could conveniently pop-in just to make sure the quotas are being met.
Today, when we turned up at 9:00am we were ahead of the crowds. This sunny day in early spring was as cold as charity. The sun was shining but still we were bombarded with miniature hail... the size of pin-heads... coming from a clear sunny sky. Plaza Mayor out-did Antarctica for cutting cold. This was just the weather to shake off jetlag. We had little problem imagining Plaza Mayor packed with 50,000 people all settling in for a day of blood sports. Subsequently, when Madrid was trying to present a civilised face to their European neighbours, they changed their entertainment to bullfighting in Plaza Mayor... to celebrate a royal wedding or royal birth... with the Royals watching from the balconies above the Plaza. This place is soaked with history... and you feel how alive its presence remains walking around the rough-hewn cobblestones.
We popped around the corner and 'did' the Cathedral. It would seem that the 'Cat-holics' church (as our guide in Peurto Varas translated for us) have lightened up the atmospherics a little. Sure, there was a bit of gold gilding on show... and a few statues of Christ dripping with blood dragging his cross across the isle. But the atmosphere of today doesn't match that of Plaza Mayor (or the cathedrals in Peru for that matter). The decor of today does not portray an organisation who would garrott and quarter anyone who had the slightest trace of Moorish blood. In fact, the Cathedral had some ultra modern features. Instead of buying a candle to the burn at the feet of your favourite saint, the church offered the facility to put your coins into a slot machine that would light up an electric bulb for a specified period. You don't burn yourself lighting the candle... and think of the CO2 you have saved the planet.
Our last jetlag defying activity for the morning was touring the Royal Palace. This place offers as much opulence as Buckingham Palace... in a different way. Buckingham Palace gleams with spit and polish. Everything looks brand new. Madrid Palace looks more like a museum but clearly shows the opulence and exquisite taste of the many powerful rulers of Spain. To our disappointment, we were not permitted to take photos... so you will have to take my word on that point.
Another dimension of 'cat-holic' strategy was displayed this afternoon when we visited what some call Madrid's grandest old church, the Basilica del San Francisco el Grand. It is a place of worship of art. Instead of projecting its immense military and civilian power through its art, this church projects extremely high standards of artistic skill. The building has a circular nave that is surrounded by chapels each packed with frescoes on walls and ceilings. Each one seems to challenge the Sistine Chapel in Rome. You could imagine Martin Luther looking at the building budget and raising an eyebrow. Also, you could imagine peasants queueing up to spend time in an exquisite building showing the world's best art - for free... and saving your soul as well.
Today, when we turned up at 9:00am we were ahead of the crowds. This sunny day in early spring was as cold as charity. The sun was shining but still we were bombarded with miniature hail... the size of pin-heads... coming from a clear sunny sky. Plaza Mayor out-did Antarctica for cutting cold. This was just the weather to shake off jetlag. We had little problem imagining Plaza Mayor packed with 50,000 people all settling in for a day of blood sports. Subsequently, when Madrid was trying to present a civilised face to their European neighbours, they changed their entertainment to bullfighting in Plaza Mayor... to celebrate a royal wedding or royal birth... with the Royals watching from the balconies above the Plaza. This place is soaked with history... and you feel how alive its presence remains walking around the rough-hewn cobblestones.
We popped around the corner and 'did' the Cathedral. It would seem that the 'Cat-holics' church (as our guide in Peurto Varas translated for us) have lightened up the atmospherics a little. Sure, there was a bit of gold gilding on show... and a few statues of Christ dripping with blood dragging his cross across the isle. But the atmosphere of today doesn't match that of Plaza Mayor (or the cathedrals in Peru for that matter). The decor of today does not portray an organisation who would garrott and quarter anyone who had the slightest trace of Moorish blood. In fact, the Cathedral had some ultra modern features. Instead of buying a candle to the burn at the feet of your favourite saint, the church offered the facility to put your coins into a slot machine that would light up an electric bulb for a specified period. You don't burn yourself lighting the candle... and think of the CO2 you have saved the planet.
Our last jetlag defying activity for the morning was touring the Royal Palace. This place offers as much opulence as Buckingham Palace... in a different way. Buckingham Palace gleams with spit and polish. Everything looks brand new. Madrid Palace looks more like a museum but clearly shows the opulence and exquisite taste of the many powerful rulers of Spain. To our disappointment, we were not permitted to take photos... so you will have to take my word on that point.
Another dimension of 'cat-holic' strategy was displayed this afternoon when we visited what some call Madrid's grandest old church, the Basilica del San Francisco el Grand. It is a place of worship of art. Instead of projecting its immense military and civilian power through its art, this church projects extremely high standards of artistic skill. The building has a circular nave that is surrounded by chapels each packed with frescoes on walls and ceilings. Each one seems to challenge the Sistine Chapel in Rome. You could imagine Martin Luther looking at the building budget and raising an eyebrow. Also, you could imagine peasants queueing up to spend time in an exquisite building showing the world's best art - for free... and saving your soul as well.
No comments:
Post a Comment