Category Archives: length: half-day

8th August 2024: The Museums in Moncloa (Madrid, Spain)

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It’s quite hot out there, but I decided to hit a couple of museums in Madrid. A few months back, I got a card for the national museums, thinking I was getting a better deal than I did. Though it is true that you can get enter (most of) the national museums for free, you have to ID yourself, so you still have to queue, which is what I was expecting to avoid. However, it has at least pushed me to try and see a couple of museums I would not really visit (or even be aware of!) otherwise.

There are two museums in the district of Moncloa-Aravaca, an area I’m not usually around. One, I was curious about. The other is one I would not have even considered without the card: the Costume or Fashion Museum and Ethnographic Heritage Research Centre Museo del traje. Centro de Investigación del Patrimonio Etnológico (CIPE). It is a collection of pieces of clothing, textiles and accessories from the 17th century onwards, and I’m sure it is amazing if you know anything about fashion… which I don’t. The museum is organised chronologically, with a few pieces from the Middle Ages, then fabrics, costumes and complements since they became a thing.

There is also a collection of traditional outfits from different regions throughout Spain. The visit finishes with some of the big names in fashion, including Coco Chanel, Balenciaga, or Christian Dior. There was also an area for visually-impaired visitors, which allowed them to touch mannequins and fabrics from different style periods in history.

Costume and Fashion Museum Madrid

They were running a temporary exhibition called Vistiendo un jardín (Wearing a garden). It deals with the nature and flowers in fabric and costumes from the Baroque period onwards. They were in the middle of a guided visit so there was a big group, and I could only have a quick walk.

Wearing a garden Temporary exhibition

I walked over to the museum of the Americas Museo de América. The institution exhibits archaeological and ethnographical artefacts from the Americas, alongside art from the Palaeolithic period to the present, with a strong presence of Colonial art.

The origin of the collection was the Royal Cabinet of Natural history that Charles III had established in 1771. The collection increased with objects brought from discovery expeditions and Spanish colonies in America, especially those unearthed during archaeological excavations. In 1815, the science artefacts from the cabinet were integrated into what became the National Museum of Natural Sciences, and in 1868 the antiquities, ethnography, and art were transferred to the Museum of Archaeology. In 1941, the American artefacts were transferred to the newly formed museum. A more recent source has been that of donation and legacies.

Nowadays, the collection comprises around 25,000 artefacts and about 2,500 of them are exhibited – though the most important ones are copies due to “conservation issues”. The archaeological artefacts include Mayan, Inca, Aztec, Nazca, Amazonian, and even from North American native cultures who lived in what we now call the Great Plains or Alaska. The Colonial art pieces mostly include religious art and what is called pintura de castas, which tries to represent the appearance and daily life of the peoples of mixed race, descendants of European, African and Indigenous inhabitants of the colonies. There is also a ward dedicated to modern art and social criticism against colonisation. I found the organisation of the museum a bit strange, by theme areas instead of time-and-place.

Artefacts from the Museum of the Americas

Arguably, the most important group of pieces that the museum exhibits is the so-called Tesoro de los Quimbayas (Quimbaya Treasure). The Quimbayas were a small indigenous group from precolonial America, who lived south of what is now Medellín, Colombia. They were known for their works in gold and an alloy of copper and gold called tumbaga. The treasure comprises 122 pieces, which represent about one fifth of the original findings. It is believed that the belonged to two sets of grave goods, and dates from the 5th or 6th centuries CE. The treasure was dug up during the Colombian gold fever, when archaeological items were sold for their weight in gold. The artefacts include figures, crowns, jewellery (nose- and ear-ornament, necklace beads, pins, pendants), containers, ceremonial vessels and poporos (used to keep coca leaves for religious ceremonies), and musical items such as bells.

Quimbaya treasure

I actually had been thinking about staying in Madrid and do something else, like the observatory known as Faro de Moncloa, which is literally next to the Museum of the Americas. Or a nice themed restaurant or something. But it was ridiculously hot and I just did not feel like it. It was early for lunch too, but by the time I got anywhere cool, it would be right in the middle of the rush. So I just went back into the transport system. Of course, the train was delayed. I need to stop planning around the official train schedules, especially around food times…

27th July 2024: Staying inside in Madrid’s heat (Spain)

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I was so excited when I found tickets for the historical hall at Pacífico station that I did not stop to think I had booked for late July, at 16:00, in Madrid. The heat wave was an extra, but even without it, the Spanish central plateau is not precisely known for its mild summers. However, the hall only opens once a month, and not every month, and I had never been able to find a ticket on a weekend I could go, so honestly – when I saw these tickets, I did not think about the weather, just… that I could come.

The day came, and Madrid had a heat alert. It was around 37 ºC, and I thought I would stay inside, and just head out for the visit. Unfortunately, since trains are being horrible, I needed to take one with at least an hour’s berth to make sure I reached the underground station Estación de Pacífico. When I arrived, I looked around to finally realise that the hall was at the actual platform, warded off by a very modern nondescript door. I had brought a book to pass the time, because I knew I would either have a lot of time, or I would be stressed because the train was late. I found a bench and settled down to wait somewhere I could keep an eye on the door. Visitors are not directly admitted into the hall, but they are cleared at ticket control on the other side of the platform, then go back all the way to the entrance. In our case, we waited for a bit, and the guide decided to head through the platform right as a train arrived, so everything was full. Spanish logic.

The former hall Vestíbulo de Pacífico is part of the network of Underground museums Museos de Metro de Madrid. Until it was walled off in 1966, it was the entrance to the station Estación de Pacífico, built in 1923 when the underground Line 1 was extended towards the south-west. The passengers climbed down a now-disappeared staircase and crossed the hall, which still had natural light. On the other side, there was some sort of metallic bridge with another set of stairs to access the platforms.

The station used to be part of a huge complex owned by Metro, which also comprised offices, control rooms, and the warehouse that housed the engines that created energy for the trains to run on. At the time, it was an unpopulated area, so land was cheaper. Today, most everything has been replaced by apartment buildings and only the station and the nearby Nave de Motores remain.

The whole complex was designed by architect Antonio Palacios, and the hall was built in white tiles with blue decoration – a homage to the Pacific Ocean, which gives the station its name. The hall is tiny by today’s standards, barely 119 square metres. It has three vaults that used to have skylights for the sun to light up the hall – now those are closed off as the street above them is busy. The station was renovated in the 60s so it could accommodate the longer trains, new accesses were built, and the hall closed down. That renovation was the same that made the station Estación de Chamberí close, and apparently another hall that has been uncovered in Ventas.

The hall was bricked away for almost half a century, until restoration work started in 2007. It took ten years, as budget was low and the process was labour intense – 60% of the hall had to be rebuilt. However, the final product is really good, you can see the newer tiles if you look for them, but the whole thing feels extremely well preserved. Even the staircase, which was built to access the hall after the iron bridge was destroyed, feels time-appropriate. A replica of the original doors was put up.

Pacífico Booking Hall

And right when I have seen all the five Underground museums that require appointment… I find out there is a passport of them – Pasaporte de Pasaporte de los Museos de Metro. Just my luck! Then again, maybe Metro will take these articles as proof of visit and backstamp me for them?

The visit took about one hour, then I rode the underground back towards Atocha, and bypassed it to the next station. I had decided to try my luck with the queue at modern art museum Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, part of the national network of museums covered by my card. To be honest, I do not enjoy modern art that much, so I have been putting off this one visit. However, the museum holds a piece by Pablo Picasso that has become quite socially loaded – Picasso’s Guernica, which I have always thought I ought to see at least once.

Pablo Picasso (1881 – 1973) is considered one of the most important artists of the 20th century. He was co-inventor of collage, co-founder of Cubism, and inventor of the assemblage (basically, collage in 3D). He painted, sculpted, and made prints, ceramics and theatre sets. I have never connected much, if at all, with the kind of art he was making. I do not really understand the limits he broke, nor whatever he wanted to express. That is why I wanted to see this artwork in particular – to try to understand.

Arguably Picasso’s most famous painting is Guernica (1937). During the Spanish Civil War, German planes bombed the Basque town of Guernica, in the north of Spain, to aid the Nationalist army. The town was destroyed, and up to 300 people lost their lives – the raid opened the northern front for Franco to reach Bilbao. British reporter George Steer wrote a scoop on the event after he witnessed the destruction, and his reports made waves internationally. Picasso, who lived in France at the time, had been commissioned a piece of artwork for the Paris World’s Fair by the Republicans (at the time the rightful government of Spain). Upon reading the news, he scrapped his original idea and painted the Guernica instead.

The painting is one of the most important artworks that the museum has. It is a huge piece, in black and white, showing the carnage. As most men were out in the battleground, the majority of victims were women and children – along with a dead soldier, a horse and a bull, most of the figures in the pairing represent women and horror. I honestly find the description of the painting more chilly that the artwork itself.

One kind of feels that the museum itself as built as a huge sarcophagus for the Guernica, and other pieces are there just to fill up the space. A sculpture by Eduardo Chillida is exhibited in the gardens. There is also a space about architecture, with blueprints and photographs, including artwork by Le Corbusier. Other artists whose work is shown include Salvador Dalí, Joan Miró, Alexander Calder… Actually, I enjoyed the museum more than I thought, as I expected only abstract art that I would not understand. I enjoyed the blueprints and photographs of buildings, and the actual building too.

Exhibits at Museum Reina Sofía

I then headed up Paseo del Prado to find one of the local cultural centres. I was ridiculously amused when I reached the corner where CaixaForum stands. I was on my phone, and when I looked up, I saw the Patagotitan “looking” at me. It gave me a laugh.

Patagotiatan at Caixaforum

The cultural centre Serrería Belga is running a Japan-themed exhibit, divided in parts:

  • Kinpaku. Naturaleza, poder e imaginación en el arte japonés (Kinpaku: Nature, power and imagination in Japanese art): Kinpaku [金箔] refers to gold leaf artwork, often used in decoration in classical Japanese culture. A private collector has lent their items to exhibit – windscreens and fans, all painted in gold, so they can be enjoyed by everyone.
  • Kimono, identidad cambiante: un siglo a pie de calle (Kimono, changing identities: a century on the streets): Kimono [着物] is the traditional Japanese clothing – one that unlike many others is still common wear. There were twenty of these, including accessories.
  • Expokon: A series of panels discussing different hits in sports manga and derivatives.
  • Japan International Manga Award: Panels drawn by the Spanish artists who have won the awards in different years.
  • Kamishibai: Kamishibai [紙芝居] is (was) a form of Japanese street theatre using a small paper theatre with pictures to tell the stories. There were several sets of stories, some classical, some more modern.
  • Manga Kids Academy: A few panels showing Japanese school life through manga and anime.
  • Itadakimanga!: A series of panels showing different foods popular in manga and anime.
  • Gêmu: cultura visual y videojuego japonés (Gēmu: visual culture and Japanese video games): Some items regarding video games, and even a few arcade machines for playing.

Japanese exhibits at Serrería Belga

The exhibits were part of Madrid’s summer cultural program, which has named Japan “Guest Country”. They were a few cute little exhibits, and they were free too, so a good way to complete half a day trip. I headed back to the station afterwards, to wait for whichever train came, and I was lucky enough that one was there in a couple of minutes – I even found a good seat on my way back.

And I have finally seen the hall at Pacífico, which has been a goal since April 2023. Now I just have to figure out a way to obtain the passport and have it stamped…

6th July 2024: O fortuna! (Madrid, Spain)

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A couple of days before going to London to see Kamijo, I found out that a local music non-profit was staging Carmina Burana by Carl Orff in Madrid. Buying tickets (for that, and the upcoming opera Madama Butterfly) broke havoc with my credit cards, but everything was eventually fixed – I think. It had me stressed at the beginning of that trip, but it seems to be finally fixed. Again. I did have to miss Swan Lake in London because the credit cards would not go through.

Anyway, I had my ticket and though I would have loved to spend the day out, I was too ridiculously tired to take a whole day of sightseeing. Furthermore, the place I wanted to have lunch out was not taking reservations since they broadcast sports, and there was some big match or another. Yes, I want to go somewhere that defines itself as a sports bar, but that’s a story for another day (like the time I thought I could go to a sports bar during the Olympics because “Oh, well, there’s nothing sporty going on, right?”).

I thus decided to head off with a small pre-show plan, which turned out to be a great idea. When I alighted from the train station, the streets were clear for the Pride parade – I do not think I have ever seen the area surrounding Estación de Atocha so empty. I walked towards the theatre Teatro Real, but my first stop was the underground station of Opera, home to one of the Underground museums Museos de Metro de Madrid. Unlike the others, this is only tangentially related to the underground system itself – it is an archaeological museum, hosting an ancient fountain, part of an aqueduct, and the remains of a sewer.

King Felipe II made Madrid the capital of Spain in 1561, and aside of some brief periods of strife, it remains so to the present day. That has implied a lot of changes through history – among them, the destruction of the city walls, and the construction of an aqueduct to provide the city with water. When the court moved there, the villa of Madrid was little more than a village whose population skyrocketed in a couple of years. The new city needed services as it grew.

One of these was the fountain called Caños del Peral (literally something like “Peartree faucets”). The fountain was 34 metres long and it channelled water from the stream that ran down what is now Arenal Street. It was built in local limestone, had six faucets, and it probably was the largest fountain in the area where it was built in the late 1500s – the outskirts. Ironically, today it is quite close to the centre of the city, even the middle of Spain, the so-called “Zero Kilometre” in the square Puerta del Sol.

Fountain Caños del Peral

The fountain was destroyed during the reign of José I (Joseph Bonaparte, Napoleon’s brother, who was installed as king of Spain between 1808 and 1813). Caños del Peral, along with the buildings around the square, were demolished and used to fill the gorge that until then had separated Madrid in two. And in that filled gorge it was discovered in the early 2000s during works to refurbish the underground station of Ópera. Further works uncovered the sewer from the same period, a structure that channelled black waters away from the drinking streams for sanitation.

Sewer at el Arenal

The aqueduct Viaje de Amaniel was built around 1615 century to bring clean water to the Royal Palace, and with time it also supplied other properties. The infrastructure was heavily remodelled in the 18th century, after the Royal Palace was rebuilt into its current form after the fire that destroyed the original alcázar.

Section: Viaje de Amaniel

As I was coming out from the little museum and the underground system, I noticed a display reading that the underground / train station that I needed after the show was closed “until end of service”. Which was good to know beforehand, since I had time to replan my route – the trains were a mess in the evening due to Pride, and a few stations being closed off for crowd control. I grabbed a snack at the local Starbucks and headed into the theatre.

The Royal Opera of Madrid Teatro Real opened in 1850. It was originally designed by José Manuel González-Valcárcel, though it has been widely renovated, with the latest iteration dating from 1997. It is considered the most important venue for performing and musical arts in Spain – despite having been closed for decades at a time. Curiously, the theatre has the shape of a coffin – at first, I really thought that was my imagination, but apparently it is not only real but intentional.

Teatro Real: stairs and interior

I had found really good tickets, first floor next to the Royal Booth – for the same price, I would later get a fifth / sixth floor ticket for Madama Butterfly. The repertory had been put together by Fundación Excelentia, a non-profit foundation dedicated to promote and divulge lyrical heritage and musical values.

Carmina Burana Promo

Programme:
  First part:
  1. Beethoven: Egmont. Overture: Sostenuto, ma non troppo – Allegro
  2. Beethoven: Symphony No. 8 in F major, Op. 93
  Second Part:
  3. Carl Orff: Carmina Burana

The show was conducted by Juan Pablo Valencia and interpreted by the orchestra Orquesta Clásica Santa Cecilia, the choir Sociedad Coral Excelentia de Madrid, soprano Rocío Martínez, baritone Manuel Mas and countertenor David Miranda.

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770? – 1827) is considered one of the most important figures in Western music. Born in Germany, his works bridged the classical and romantic periods in classical music. His works are amongst the most performed in the world, even though he began losing his hearing halfway through his career. He composed Egmont around 1810 for a full symphonic orchestra, and Symphony No. 8 in F major, Op. 93 in 1812. The Symphony has four movements: Allegro vivace e con brio (F major), Allegretto scherzando (B flat major), Tempo di menuetto (F major), and Allegro vivace (F major). I am not the biggest Beethoven fan, to be honest, but it was good. The conductor had a great time.

My main reason to be there was the second part of the show: Carmina Burana (Officially Carmina Burana: Cantiones profanae cantoribus et choris cantandae comitantibus instrumentis atque imaginibus magicis which translates from Latin as “Songs of Beuern: Secular songs for singers and choruses to be sung together with instruments and magical images”, quite a mouthful). German author Carl Orff (1895 – 1982) composed the cantata between 1935 and 1936. Most of the lyrics are in Latin, though there is a bit of old German and even old French. The cantata has 25 movements based on 24 Medieval poems, with the first and last movements being the same: O fortuna, which happens to be one of my favourite choir pieces ever. There is one instrumental-only piece, and all the others have vocals – for choir, soprano, baritone and countertenor.

The twenty-five movements are organised in sections, which are officially five, but divided as:

  • Fortuna Imperatrix Mundi (Fortune, empress of the world): 1. O fortuna (Oh, fortune), as I mentioned, I love this choir; 2. Fortune plango vulnera (Regret for the wounds of fortune).
  • I. Primo vere (In spring): 3. Veris leta facies (The joyous face of Spring); 4. Omnia Sol temperat (All the things are warmed by the sun); 5. Ecce gratum (Behold the welcome)
  • Uf dem anger (In the meadow): 6. Tanz (Dance), the only instrumental movement in the cantata; 7. Floret silva nobilis (The noble woods bloom); 8. Chramer, gip die varwe mir (Monger, give me a coloured paint); 9a Reie (Round dance); 9b Swaz hie gat umbe (Those who dance around); 9c Chume, chum, geselle min (Come my dear companion); 9d: Swaz hie gat umbe reprise; 10. Were diu werlt alle min (If the whole world were mine)
  • II. In taberna (In the tavern): 11. Estuans interius (Seething internally); 12. Olim lacus colueram (I once swam in lakes) – this is the piece the countertenor sang, and I am not completely sure the guy was drunk, or playing drunk. 13. Ego sum abbas (I am the abbot); 14. In taberna quando sumus (When we are in the tavern)
  • III. Cour d’amour: 15. Amor volat undique (Love flies everywhere) I have to admit that I did not love the soprano, who sang for the first time at this piece – she sang well, but too low, it was difficult to hear her at times; 16. Dies, nox et omnia (Day, night and everything); 17. Stetit puella (There stood a girl); 18. Circa mea pectora (Inside my chest). 19. Si puer cum puellula (If a boy with a girl). 20. Veni, veni, venias (Come, come, please come) – these are the same lyrics that Final Fantasy VII’s theme for Sephiroth, One-Winged Angel has, and looking at the translation, now I understand why it was never intended to be the psychotic mass-murderer theme… 21. In trutina (On the scales); 22. Tempus est iocundum (Time to jest); 23. Dulcissime (Sweetest lad)
  • Blanziflor et Helena (Blancheflour and Helen); this refers to the romance story of Blancheflour and to Helen of Troy. 24. Ave formosissima (Hail to the loveliest)
  • Fortuna Imperatrix Mundi: 25. O fortuna (Oh, fortune)

All in all, it was a great experience, and I had a privileged seat. I really enjoyed the show, as it was expected from something at the Teatro Real. The gentleman next to me slept through the first part and hummed along the second, which was weird. The soprano’s voice was too faint and she tended to sing towards the other side of the theatre, making it hard to hear her, but the baritone was good. The choir was fantastic, and the percussion musicians had a perfectly choreographed exchange of positions to play all the small parts which was really amusing to watch. Especially one who hugged the gong to quiet down the reverberations.

Artists after the Carmina Burana Show

When I came out the theatre, I headed off towards the underground system and reached the train station, which took over 20 minutes – normally, I would have just walked to Sol and take the first train there to connect faster, and stay within the same system. As Sol was closed, this was not an option. When I arrived at Atocha, the platform was almost overflowing as the trains were running with long delays. I think I took a train that should have passed through around 22:30… at 23:00. I was not sure everyone would fit in the train, to be honest. Good thing that they announced a second one for a few minutes later. I made it home past midnight, took a shower and crashed because it was hot – Spain in July. What else is new?

31st May 2024: Santa María de Huerta & Medinaceli (Spain)

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For the last few years, I’ve tried to do (or visit) something cool on my birthday, especially when it fell on a long weekend. In 2024 I could not plan anything big despite the long weekend,. Instead, I broke it off into a small outing with my sibling and a little road trip. There are a couple of places not too far away that I wanted to see, but the roads are not so great. One of my parents is keen on driving anyway, so they were happy to oblige, and I could get away with not driving the curves myself.

Our first stop was the Cistercian monastery Monasterio de Santa María de Huerta. The Order of Cistercians are a Catholic religious order. A group of Benedictine monks founded the new order in 1098, as they wanted to strictly adhere to Rule of St. Benedict, and felt that the other had “relaxed” too much. Cistercian monks are credited with creating very “pure” churches as they believed that ornamentation was superfluous and distracting from prayer.

The monastery is located in the village of Santa María de Huerta, which actually grew around its walls at the side of Jalón River. The building dates back from 1162, though the order had been in Spain for two decades at the time. Most of the building was erected halfway between Romanesque and Gothic styles, with some add-ons from more recent times, mostly the Herrerian cloister and a Baroque altarpiece – which distorts a little the idea of the “pure Cistercian lines” and no extra decoration. But then again, I am not a fan of Baroque decoration.

Entry is from the side of the church to the Gothic cloister Claustro de los Caballeros, around which all the dependences can be accessed. The first one is the church, the first area to be built. There are still some of the original paintings, and a baroque organ. The monks’ refectory is the most important room, built from 1215. It has large pointed-arched windows which allow light to come in, and it is communicated with the kitchen. There is a second refectory, more Romanesque, for the lay brothers who took religious vows but were not actual monks. The last cloister, in the Herrerian style, is severe and impressive. As we were leaving, there was a black out, not sure what that could have meant…

Santa María de Huerta Monastery

We went back to the car and we drove towards the town of Medinaceli, which has a couple of monuments I wanted to see. Reputed for dating back to Roman times, it has a free-standing arch Arco Romano de Medinaceli, the only one in Spain with three arches. It is a triumphal arch built in reddish sandstone during the first century, at an altitude of 1200 m, where it rains, snows, and so. It feels like a miracle that a small structure (around 13 metres long, eight metres high and two metres wide) has withstood two thousand years.

Medinaceli: Roman triumphal arch

We saw the collegiate church Colegiata de Santa María de la Asunción, built in a late Gothic style. Artistically, the most important item is the iron grating in front of the altar. Religiously, there is a figure of Christ, which is called Cristo de Medinaceli, a wooden sculpture from the 16th century (though the most famous sculpture with that name is in Madrid). It was a little underwhelming, and most of the sculptures were not pretty.

Medinaceli: Collegiate Church

Afterwards we visited the main square of the village Plaza Mayor de Medinaceli. To one side stands a 16th-century building called La Alhóndiga, current town hall and former prison, with rounded arches on the ground floor and a balcony all along the façade on the first floor.

16th Century commercial building turned into town hall

To another side, the palace of the former dukes Palacio de los Duques de Medinaceli, which was saved from the ruin turning it into a semi-private art gallery. Inside, the most important part is the Roman mosaic. The palace was built around 1430, and today only the Renaissance yard stays undisturbed. I am not a big fan of modern art, so I just can say that some of it was colourful and pretty. The entry ticket included entrance to a rural-house-turned-erotic-art-exhibition which… was weird. The whole house was painted pink, and the works were neither interesting and nor felt artistic at all. So 10 bucks to in the end see a Roman mosaic was a bit steep.

Medinaceli Duchate Palace

We decided not to stay in town for lunch, but – almost in a bit of a joke – we drove off to have lunch at what is probably the most iconic roadside restaurant in the centre of Spain – Área 103, a brasserie that is over 125 years old. It includes a small hermit-church built for truckers, Capilla de los Conductores.

Drivers' chapel, Area 103

It might have not been a glamorous birthday, but hey, along with the escapade on Tuesday, I guess I spent it doing what I like – discovering new things.

7th May 2024: “Dragon Hunters” in Alcalá de Henares (Spain)

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The Archaeology and Palaeontology museum in Alcalá de Henares is running a temporary exhibition on the history of digging dinosaur bones, called “Dragon Hunters”. I was drawn to it because well… dinosaurs. Driving in the city centre is a nightmare, so I left the car in an easy-to-park area a bit away, and walked downtown.

I had been trying to see the cathedral of the Magistral Cathedral of Saint Justus and Saint Pastor Santa e Insigne Catedral-Magistral de los Santos Justo y Pastor, but it was always either locked, booked for events, or “closed to visitors”. This time around, I was able to finally see it – and it was honestly a bit underwhelming. Though I generally enjoy Gothic buildings, I guess I was so hyped after trying so many times, that reality did not live up to expectations. Furthermore, I dislike when places do not advertise that part of the visit is closed / unavailable, so I guess I’m still pretty out of luck with this one cathedral. I missed the chance to climb up the tower and see the views of the town due to construction, but oh well.

Legend has it that catholic Saints Justus and Pastor were martyrized in the year 304, near the Roman city of Complutum. In the year 414, a chapel was built to keep their remains in the place where the martyrdom happened. The current building was erected by architects Antón Egas and Enrique Egas in late Gothic and Renaissance styles around 1446. The tower, by Rodrigo Gil de Hontañón and Rodrigo Argüello, is Herrerian. The interior has three naves with pointed arches, and to one side stands the cloister, with access to the museum, and – when it is open – the tower. It was a bit of a bummer not to even be able to step into the open part of the cloister. Underneath the altar there is a crypt with a gold-and-silver urn with the remains of the Saints, and the stone where they were killed.

Afterwards, I continued on towards my real destination, the local Archaeology and Palaeontology museum Museo Arqueológico y Paleontológico de la Comunidad de Madrid, MARPA. They are currently running the exhibition Cazadores de Dragones (Dragon Hunters). The exhibit summarises the historical hits of palaeontology, starting with prehistoric and classical references and theories about them, such as a the phoenix having been inspired by Protoceratops skeletons, or the bones of giants being actually dinosaur fossils. This area has a few replicas and small statuettes – running from the originally-made ones to the newest reconstructions.

Exhibit entrance, protoceratops, corridor

The exhibit name-drops a few of the big figures in dinosaur-digging history such as William Buckland, the man who described Megalosaurus as an antediluvian creature; Gideon Mantell, who tried to reconstruct an Iguanodon from a tooth (now in the Natural History Museum in London); Georges Cuvier, who proposed the idea of extinction, and named animals such as Megatherium, Pterodactyl or Mosasaurus; and Richard Owen, who “invented” the word “dinosaur”, meaning “terrible lizard” – though today we know that a lot of dinosaurs had more in common with birds than with reptiles, down to protofeathers and even feathers.

Archaeopteryx, titanosaur

The following section follows the “Bone Wars” – Charles Marsh and Edward Cope were two palaeontologists who raced through the Morrison Formation (Montana, USA) to discover up to 30 species of dinosaurs – they were not always honest in their competition, and it did not help that Cope messed up a reconstruction of an Elasmosaurus, placing the skull at the end of the tail. The Morrison formation was (is) in the middle of nowhere, and digging during the 19th century had its risks. This concept ties with the idea of “the adventurer” à la Indiana Jones, mentioning Roy Chapman Andrews and Barnum Brown, the man who excavated the first Tyrannosaurus. And then you turn a corner and are greeted by a replica of a T-Rex. Of course, I stayed a while here – trying to take pictures without the security guard in them.

Tyrannosaurus rex replica

After World War II, palaeontology hits moved from the USA to Mongolia and the Gobi desert, with new species being discovered every so often. Later, in the last years of the 20th century, the idea of “the avian dinosaur” arrived, and there is a replica of a Deinonychus, with screens showing recreations of the creature looking “like a lizard” and looking “like a bird”, feathered and all.

Titanosaur, therizinosaurus, eggs, deinonychus

Finally, there are the local dinosaurs: a tail and part of a foot from Qunkasaura pintiquiniestra, a nest from the Poyos Site (Guadalajara), and the star of the show – the original fossil holotype of Concavenator (Concavenator corcovatus), a theropod found in Cuenca. The fun part? The museum which holds the holotype, Museo de Paleontología de Castilla-La Mancha, bans pictures – so I took my sweet time with this. There is also a life-size reproduction, with colours tuned down to more realistic than the originally proposed blue and red.

Concavenator fossil and reproduction

Afterwards, I wandered around MARPA, mostly to go to the palaeontology room, as I have explored the museum extensively before. The palaeontology ward is relatively new, and it has quite a few nice reproductions and… even if I have explored that one too. I also dropped by the shop to get the exhibition book. Finally, I went back to run through the Dinosaur exhibit again, just because I could, before I headed home. I had thought I’d look for a nice restaurant for lunch, but nothing drew my attention.

20th March 2024: Mundo Pixar (Madrid, Spain)

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Due to some kind of weird… extended family thing, we ended up with some vouchers for Pixar World Spain Mundo Pixar, happening in IFEMA in Madrid. It would have been a pity to waste all of the tickets, so there we went, on a Wednesday morning, to at least redeem a couple of them. This immersive exhibit comprises several rooms with life-sized scenarios and characters based on Pixar films.

Mundo Pixar Madrid - outside

Pixar is an American animation studio which started off as part of the Lucasfilm computer division back in 1979. For over a decade, the group collaborated with graphic design and CGIas a third-party, until it was properly founded as an independent company in 1986. Pixar collaborated with Disney creating computer animations, and kept developing the technology, until it was finally able to pitch its first feature film to Disney – Toy Story, which was also the first-ever completely computer-animated film. Released for the 1995 Christmas season, it was a world-wide hit. Pixar became part of Disney in 2006.

The studio’s films have received 23 Academy Awards, eleven times for Best Animated Feature (a category added in 2001). One of the characteristics of Pixar films is their layering – though they are marketed as children’s entertainment, they tend to have a deeper, more adult-oriented subtext that… kids don’t even grasp. Something weird is that despite its successes, Pixar always seems on the brink of bankruptcy…

We had tickets for 11:00, and thought we had plenty of time until we got caught in a huge traffic jam due to a fair in another part of IFEMA. We had over 45 minutes of leeway, and ended up taking half an hour just to be able to get into the parking lot from the roundabout 650 metres away. That was wild.

We finally got into the queue around 10:50, and it took a while to get in. Mundo Pixar is organised in a U-shaped circuit, so that you can get round to the shop before or after seeing the exhibit. For a weekday, it was packed – not only by families, a bunch of random friend groups and tourists, too. Interesting.

We accessed through a tunnel to the first space, which is a bit of a self-promotion video mixed with the rules of the game – mostly, the one that people seemed unable to follow: do not touch. The immersive experience takes you to recreated scenarios from several films by the studio, to the slightest detail. The rooms are supposed to have different smells, but we only perceived a few. And of course, people kept touching.

Rooms 1 & 2: Up. This films tells the story of an old widower who goes on a last “adventure” to Paradise Falls, where his late wife would have loved to live. To do this he… floats his house away with thousands of balloons. He meets kid Russel and dog Dug. The rooms include a view of the whole house, and one of the interior. The living room is a perfect reconstruction of the one in the film, down to the pictures and the armchairs where Ellie and Carl sit, and the device Carl builds to steer the house while it flies.

Room 3: Monsters Inc.. This is a take on a widespread childhood obsession, the monster in the closet. In another dimension, energy is powered by the screams of frightened children from our world – thus, monsters sneak into kids’ rooms using magic doors to their wardrobes. Sully and Mike are the top-scary team until they run into a toddler who turns their lives upside down. The room has different bits from the film, including the scream factory doors and the two main characters waving awkwardly, recreating a scene where Mike and Sully are made to pose for a picture – I kinda expected them to move.

Pixar World Spain: Entrance, Up, Monster Inc.

Room 4: Toy Story. A bunch of toys which / who become sentient when they are not being played with get a new companion, who does not know he’s actually a toy. Enter a house-move, a bully neighbour, and a nasty dog. Chaos (and a trio of sequels) ensues. The fun part of this room is that it’s built so you see the room from one of the toys’ perspective, everything is high up, and the toys themselves are scaled.

Room 5: Elemental. This is a coming-of-age romantic comedy which focuses on overcoming differences. You walk into a train car with the two characters – a water element and a fire element, awkwardly sitting next to each other.

Room 6: Inside Out. In this coming-of-age comedy-drama, every person (and cat) has five basic feelings: Joy, Sadness, Anger, Disgust and Fear. They control a person’s life using a big console, and they collect “core memories” to help with their job. A young girl’s Joy and Sadness must learn to work together to overcome moving to another city. The room shows a perfect life-size reproduction of Sadness and Joy at the console and all the core memories.

Room 7: Ratatouille. This films follows the adventures and misadventures of the rat Remy, struggling to become a chef – to do this he hides in the hat of a young man and “guides” his cooking. The title is a pun between the word rat and a French recipe. The room is a huge kitchen, and you see Remy cooking inside a huge chef hat.

Pixar World Spain: Toy Story, Elemental, Inside Out, Ratatouille

Room 8 & 9: Coco. Set around Mexico’s Day of the Dead (Día de los Muertos), this film sees a young boy, Miguel, explore his family roots and his love of music. The first room shows Miguel and his grandmother, and the second area holds skeleton Héctor, a dead musician who accompanies Miguel in his adventures.

Room 10: Luca. This film tells the story of two sea-monster children (Luca and Alberto) and a human child (Giulia), and deals with friendship and acceptance in the Italian Riviera in 1959. The room hosts the size-appropriate children, with Giulia – and her cat – getting the most prominent set.

Room 11: Cars. The film is set in a world populated only by anthropomorphic vehicles. Arrogant young racing car Lightning McQueen learns about humility, sportsmanship and friendship. There was a nice staff member taking pictures of visitors in this room, with the film’s main character.

Pixar World Spain: Coco, Luca and Cars

Room 12: Finding Nemo. Nemo is a little clownfish, the only survivor from a barracuda attack in which his overprotective father, Marlin, lost his wife and all their other fertilised eggs. When Nemo gets “fished”, Marlin embarks on a crazy journey to find him, meeting amnesic surgeon fish Dory, wannabe-vegetarian shark Bruce, and surfer turtle Crush. To be honest, finding Nemo in this room was easy. He was in the middle of it, surrounded by marine mist, with jellyfish and the rest of the characters on a screen behind him. I was severely disappointed there was no Bruce whatsoever in the room.

This was the last room; afterwards there was the shop, and a small photocall with a giant Luxo (a yellow bouncing ball with a blue band and a red star), back at the beginning. I am not sure this area actually counted as a room, because we were told there were thirteen rooms? No clue.

Pixar World Spain: Finding Nemo, photocall, Pixar ball

Fortunately, when we left, the traffic jam had dissipated. Unfortunately, I had to go work in the evening, which did not feel great. I obviously enjoyed the rooms dedicated of films I had watched (and liked) more than the others – I personally find the first ten minutes of Up heart-wrenching, but Finding Nemo was my favourite (both as a film and a room). I still uphold my protests about shark discrimination though!

23rd February 2024: Zorita de Los Canes & Recópolis (Spain)

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Zorita de los Canes is a hamlet at the bank of River Tagus, in the middle of nowhere in the Spanish Central Plateau. It was founded as an Almoravid dynasty fortress (alcazaba), however the stones that erected the castle are much, much older. The fortress was built around the 12th – 13th centuries, and although ruined, it used to be visitable – not at the moment though. The stones to build the castle were quarried from an even older settlement, which today is known as the archaeological site of Recópolis.

During the Middle Ages, Zorita was extremely disputed. After the Moors built the alcazaba, the town was taken over by the Christians, then recovered by the Almoravid dynasty, until it was conquered by Christian king Alfonso VII. The village was entrusted to the Order of Calatrava, the first military order to be founded in the Kingdom of Castile, who were to defend it against the Almohad Caliphate.

I’d been wanting to go to Recópolis for a while, and I found out that the archaeological sites in the area are free until the end of the year, so I thought it would make a nice mini-trip. I booked the ticket a few days in advance as it seemed that the weather would be cold but dry, albeit windy. I thought it could be a good chance before fuel prices go up again.

I had an early lunch and drove off with the idea to get to the archaeological site around quarter to three, as I was booked for three o’clock and the ticket said to arrive ten minutes in advance. The drive was a bit faster than I thought, but the Sat-Nav sent me on a completely different route than Google had, which made me a bit insecure about timings. That’s why, even if I saw a couple of villages that looked interesting, I decided not to stop and explore them, I could do it on my way back. Suddenly, the ruined castle came into view. I pulled over in a safe place to admire it and checked the time – I was good. Thus, I drove into Zorita de Los Canes and stopped at a small parking lot at the entrance of the village. I parked next to the river Tagus Río Tajo, which gave me a couple of nice views.

Castle in Zorita de los Canes, atop a hill

Part of the Medieval wall still stands, and access to hamlet’s core is done through an ancient gate, which I was happy to cross on foot. There was a small church, and at the summit of the peak stands the derelict castle Castillo de Zorita de los Canes. I decided not to climb as I knew it was closed, and after a few minutes, I got back into the car and drove off.

River Tagus and Castle in Zorita de los Canes

All in all, I was in town for about a quarter of an hour, and did not drive for longer than three or four minutes before I parked at the entrance of the archaeological site Parque Arqueológico de Recópolis. The interpretation centre was empty and locked, and I was the only car in the parking lot. The time was around 14:30 at that point and I decided to wander around for a bit, as there was what looked like a hiking trail amongst the fields. I found a nice lookout of the castle, but not the ruins themselves.

Zorita de los Canes from far away

The discovery of Recópolis is credited to Juan Catalina García López in 1893. Juan Cabré Aguiló started the excavation in 1945, and found a “little treasure” (tesorillo) of coins from looting (one of them fake). Of Visigoth origin, it predates the Moorish town by a few centuries. It was erected around the year 578 by king Leovigildo in honour of his son Recaredo, who would go on to become the first of the Christian kings of Spain.

The city followed the byzantine pattern. There were two perpendicular streets, one of which lead to the palatial area, with shops to the side. Recópolis became important enough to mint its own coins, but the crisis of the Visigoth state lead to it conquest by the Moors in the 8th century. The city was slowly abandoned and became a quarry for the nearby settlement of Zorita. Later, in the 11th century, Christian settlers built a church and a small village, which had been abandoned by the 15th century.

The whole archaeological area spreads 30 hectares, out of which eight have been excavated. The interpretation centre has a few replicas of artefacts that have been found – due to security concerns, no originals are kept on site. To be honest, I was not surprised – I could have walked into the site and left without anyone stopping or even seeing me. When I arrived, it was me and the vultures, and I had a bit of a flashback to that time at the cave Cueva de los Casares, and even fantasised a little about being alone to explore the site. The guide arrived on time and opened the centre, and I was still the only one there, which was weird – I know for a fact that there were a bunch of reservations for 15:00, but only I showed up. Maybe the others became discouraged because of the weather?

The nice tour guide suggested waiting for a few minutes to give time for others to arrive, and offered me the VR experience. I accepted, of course – I’m not going to turn down such a thing. It was really fun, because you could pick up objects as the local goddess and a little child showed you around a reconstruction of the town, the palace and a glass workshop.

Afterwards, we headed off towards the ruins – nobody else had shown up. The guide offered to let me stay after the tour to take all my pictures so I decided to just listen to him as he explained and pointed to some very interesting details – a bit giddy inside. Would I really be alone eventually? He showed me the church, the palace and the grain silos in the ground, where grain was stored. He also took me to the palace and pointed out the main streets, and taught me how to differentiate the Moorish construction (criss-crossed materials) from the original Visigoth one (parallel architectural stones).

We also chatted a little and I mentioned I hoped it did not rain – he said that it had been threatening rain all week, but it would be all right. I eyed the black cloud approaching and hoped he was right.

Spoiler alert: he was not.

After finishing the guided visit, I was left alone indeed. I went around the main area of the archaeological site, and when I was in the church, the storm broke out. I had an umbrella, but I still got drenched. Interestingly though, even if it was raining and windy, it was suddenly not as cold as before. However, I had to give up eventually, since taking pictures was too difficult. As I decided to return to the visitor centre, the cloud finally moved through, and rain slowed down. I was heading down the hill towards the visitors’ centre when it finally cleared completely. I stopped, wondering whether to leave or come back, and when I looked up I saw a rainbow, sprouting right out of the castle. There were even vultures flying against the retreating cloud. It was really cool.

Rainbow hitting the castle, and a vulture flying

I felt motivated again, so I went back to the ruins of the city to take a few more pictures – after all, it was really cool to be all alone in the archaeological site. I wandered among the houses where it was allowed, and went to the edge of the site to take it all in, then I walked back. As I was in the middle of the street, a griffon vulture circled me a couple of times, maybe wondering if I was food – I think staying where I was taking pictures did not help? It eventually left, and I headed back to the centre, where I arrived just in time to watch the little video documentary about the Visigoth town.

Ruins of Recópolis

Recopolis ruins

Griffon vulture mid-flight

I left afterwards, and I got caught in the storm again – thus I did not stop in any village on the way. The first half of the drive was miserable in the rain, but then it cleared out, and the rest of it was all right. Fortunately, I did not run into too many other cars either. I got home around sunset and went to bed early since I had to wake up early the following day.

Nevertheless, now I’ve got a VIP (VOP? Very only person?) experience, alone in an archaeological site, which is added value to the whole thing and I loved every second of it, even with the rain.

17th February 2024: Hita, Medieval villa (Spain)

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Today, Hita is barely more than a hamlet at the foot of a hill, lost in the middle of the Spanish central plateau, in the Guadalajara region. Its origins date back to pre-Roman times, and the settlement was first recorded in Roman roadmaps. The area later became part of the Caliphate until 1085, when it was conquered by king Alfonso VI and the town was incorporated to the Crown of Castile. The town flourished in the Middle Ages. In the 14th century, a then-famous poet, known as Juan Ruiz, the Archpriest of Hita (Arcipreste de Hita), wrote one of the most important literary works in Spanish-speaking history, the Libro del Buen Amor (Book of Good Love), a bit of a parody of the local society of the times in poem form.

Also in the 14th century, the lord Íñigo López de Mendoza took over the region. He rebuilt the castle from the ruined Moorish alcazaba and erected a wall around the settlement. However, the village eventually lost its importance, inhabitants, and vineyards, as the feudal system evolved. It was mostly destroyed during the Civil War in the 20th century. In 1961, historian Manuel Criado de Val wrote a play based on the Book of Good Love and it was played in the town square. People liked the idea, which eventually grew into the town’s Medieval Theatre Festival. It revitalised the village a little, and the first summer of June, the town fills up with plays, a marketplace, tournaments and jousts, and people dressing in period clothing. Today, Hita has fewer than 300 inhabitants, and it’s trying to build a reputation as a picturesque day trip “Medieval villa” – it has even built a visitors’ parking lot.

We arrived around 11:00, and left the car at the entrance of the village, in said parking lot. By 11:20 we had walked by all the whole historical centre – which, given how the town is promoted as a Medieval marvel, was a little underwhelming. We parked in front of the area named stockade or palisade, Palenque, where the medieval tournaments are carried out. Its construction is fairly recent, so it does not hold any historical importance outside the festival.

Stockade in Hita.

Next to the Palenque stands one of the remaining sections of the medieval walls Muralla Medieval that still remain around the village. There is also the sculpture of a semi-mythical figure – Álvar Fañez de Minaya. Minaya was Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar, El Cid’s, right-hand man. El Cid’s deeds are known from the Spanish epic poem Cantar de Mío Cid, which presents him as someone akin a Round Table knight. Though he probably did exist – along with his lieutenant – he was probably more of a mercenary and a warlord than the legendary hero.

Sculpture of Minaya in front of the medieval wall

The access to the historical centre is done through the stone gate Puerta de Santa María, the only one of the wall entrances that has survived – although it has been heavily restored. It was originally an arch, in civilian gothic; today the upper part is completely reconstructed, with two turrets. In front of the gate stands the pillory Picota, which signals that in medieval times there was a justice department.

St. Mary's gate into the town of Hita.

The village is small, and mostly uphill. There is a main square, some ruins, and a church. Since the church was closed and we could not snoop around, we decided to visit the local museum and sign up for the guided visit that was offered, as they would open the visitable monuments up.

The museum, Casa Museo del Arcipreste, multitasks as archaeological display, ethnographic museum, festival promotion, and recreation of the Archpriest’s writing chamber, with some facsimiles of the pages. There are masks from the festivals, and the town’s botargas.

Hita - local museum

When the guided visit started, we first overlooked the landscape. We got a commentary of the location of the village and its historical importance, and the kind of soil and crops that used to and still are grown in the area. I had chosen the weekend because the weather was going to be nice, and it was – especially no wind, which would have made things awkward.

We then visited the ruins of Saint Peter’s church Ruinas de la Iglesia de San Pedro. Originally a Romanesque temple turned mudéjar, it was blown up during the Civil War. Today, only the altar stands, and it is used as stage for cultural acts. As a memento of its original mission, the town has kept the tombstone of the last governor of the castle before it was destroyed, still on the ground.

Hita - Ruins of St Peter's church

We moved onto the church Iglesia de San Juan Bautista. The building was erected in the mudéjar style throughout the 14th and 15th century. The tower is herrerian, erected in the 16th century. Inside, the most remarkable detail are the wooden ceilings, also dating from the 16th century. The floor is sprinkled with gravestones that used to be in the other church. There are two baptism fountains, and a small statue of the Virgin Mary with the Child, carved halfway between Romanesque and Gothic styles. Then she was embellished with baroque jewellery.

Hita - Church of St John the Baptist

Thankfully, we only looked at the ruins of the castle,and did not climb up to it – today, only a wall and the base of a tower stand, high up the hill that in the Medieval Age controlled the whole plain.

Ruins of the castle in Hita

Instead, we were invited to peer into a bodego, a traditional cave-house. The one we saw was restored, but it felt pretty authentic. There was a bedroom, a kitchen, and the end of the dwelling was more cave-like, working as stable and barn. The smell was damp, and it was good that they’ve put electric lights on it, because the tiny windows would have made it a little claustrophobic.

Cave house in Hita

We then descended towards the main square Plaza Mayor, which was the old marketplace and even older synagogue. A hollow on the wall has been used to recreate a cell where the Archpriest was imprisoned. Opposite the wall, there are popular architecture houses, with typical porticos.

Main square in Hita

The Archpriest's cell

To end the visit, we looked at the gate Puerta de Santa María, and then were invited to see a traditional wine cellar excavated into the medieval wall. Though wine production was abandoned long ago, the cellar Bodega de Doña Bellida still exists with its traditional structure and huge clay vessels. It was excavated into the mountain, just like the bodego.

Wine cellar and jars

There was not much more to see in the village, so we just headed off afterwards. I was a bit underwhelmed about the whole thing, I am not going to lie.

3rd February 2024: The Botarga Parade (Guadalajara, Spain)

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There is no reason to doubt the folk / pre-Christian origins of Carnival (Shrovetide). Scholars trace it back to Greek Anthesteria to honour Dyonisius and the Roman Saturnalia – Romans liked adapting everything from everyone after all, especially if a party could be had. It might even be related to Imbolc, an ancient Irish festival celebrated halfway between Winter Solstice and Spring Equinox (similar to how Hallowe’en is the night between Autumn Equinox and Winter Solstice). In the European Middle Ages, it was around this time when people consumed all the meat they had from the winter slaughter before it went bad – and then they would have no “good” food for a while. This eventually led to the idea of fasting during Lent, when the Christian church decided to hijack the celebrations.

A lot of what we consider “Carnival” today can be traced back to Medieval Italy – it started the masquerade balls, dressing up, and the carnal parades. The most important event was the Carnival of Venice. From there, it spread into Europe and with the Spanish and Portuguese empires to the Caribbean and Latin America.

Going back to its origins, it seems clear that the celebrations were rooted in nature, especially the coming of spring. Just as Hallowe’en marks the beginning of winter, it is around Imbolc (Christians call it Candlemas, and celebrate it on the 2nd of February) that you start really noticing that the days have grown longer. They are about an hour longer than on the Winter Solstice – at Stonehenge, one of the most natural / mystical points in the world, sunset on the 2nd of February 2024 was at 16:59, while on the Winter Solstice it was 16:02. Like Hallowe’en brings out spirits and monsters, Inbolc starts conjuring spring and nature-related folklore “creatures”.

Looking at Europe, there seem to be a lot of analogous characters in Carnival traditions. The German characters Hooriger Bär (hairy bear) and Strohbär (straw bear) wear a… camouflage / leaves suit covering all its body which looks eerily similar to the English Whittlesea, the Polish niedźwiedź zapustny, the Italian Hermit (tree-man), or even the Slovenian Korant. When one looks at the Korant, it can be seen the “leaves” are actually fur (sheepskin to be precise), which would make it in turn similar to the Hungarian busós, horned and more animal-like. All these appear to represent a connection to nature, only enhanced by the German Hopfennarr, which looks like one would draw a spirit of spring. It would be easy to reach the conclusion that all these characters are indeed related to the advent of spring – both for plants and animals.

As Italy (and especially Venice) made carnival a thing in Medieval Europe, they “exported” the concept of costumes “done right” and “proper” masks. This influenced older characters, giving them a more similar look to the archetypes in the Commedia dell’arte, with colourful clothes and expressive masks. These are more generic, masked, characters as those found in Venice, though in this city every character has its own name and story.

Some of these characters – both newer masked and older nature-linked characters – seem to have their representatives in the current Spanish Carnival folklore. They seem to have been especially important in the centre of the country, more dependent on agriculture and nature cycles than those areas close to the sea. They were popular in the past, and switched from the pagan festival to the Christian one. They were stifled during Franco’s Dictatorship (with the ban on Carnival), and have been recently re-popularised by folklore enthusiasts – some of them have been “rescheduled” to more touristic times than around Carnival. It is considered that the origin of these characters lies in fertility rituals and symbols – such as the orange – and dances from pre-Roman Spain, with some authors daring to call them Neolithic.

I attended the parade Tradicional Desfile de Botargas in Guadalajara which gathered these characters from the town and several other villages in the province. The main and more general name of the characters in this area is botarga. However, there are different characters according to what they look like: botargas, vaquillones, diablos, mascaritas, chocolateros, danzantes, and mascarones. These characters and their recovered traditions were declared Intangible Cultural Asset in 2022. The parade was a big day when most of the characters in the region came together. The parade used to take place on a Thursday before, and it was changed to the Saturday before Carnival so more people could enjoy it.

The term botarga derives from the Italian bottarga, which refers to colourful clothes related to Medieval performances and the Commedia dell’arte (aside from fish roe). The original clothes seem to have taken their name from the 16th-century actor Stefanello Bottarga, who used to wear wide pants, and play one of the archetypical characters, the vecchi (old geezers or masters). Under the name “botarga”, the province has recovered (or reinvented) a few traditions, and up to 36 single characters and groups walked the parade in Guadalajara.

The proper botarga is a usually single character, who wears a mask and garish clothes in bright colours. The masks can be made of many materials, some of them even esparto. The botarga usually carries some kind of staff, and it chases the onlookers, and sometimes pokes them for luck or fertility. Vaquillas (heiferettes) and vaquillones (literally, big male heiferettes) are characters which cover their faces with sackcloth or a similar material; they carry horns, and often cowbells; they represent cattle and are sometimes accompanied by “shepherds” (with staffs – there is a pattern there). The danzantes are dancers, and Diablos means Devils, pretty self-explanatory – some of the latter also wear horns, and a few are covered in black soot, and enjoy “marking” the onlookers with black smudges. Mascaritas and Mascarones both derive from the word mask, and could be translated as “small masks” and “big masks”; the mascaritas are the most common character, usually women in traditional clothes covering their faces with plain white masks.. Finally, the chocolateros or chocolatiers offer the treat (which they… carry in a chamberpot) to whomever they meet – and if they are declined, they use it to “attack” their victim.

There is actually a project called The Botarga Route, with a calendar so one can see each botarga in the original village. Most come out between New Year’s Day and the end of February, but some have been “moved” to the main day of the summer festivals. The great thing about the parade I attended in Guadalajara was that it concentrated a lot of the region’s botargas and further characters, and one “guest” from another region – it was the Desfile de Botargas, Vaquillones, Diablos, Mascaritas, Chocolateros, Danzantes y Mascarones de la Provincia de Guadalajara.

Characters posing in front of Espacio TYCE Guadalajara

The host botarga, Botarga from Guadalajara (Botarga de Guadalajara) is a team of four. They chase teens and and lightly hit them when they catch them. They play a traditional Carnival game similar to bobbing-for-apples, alhiguí. A dry fig is hung from a sort-of fishing pole, and onlookers can try and catch the fruit – the trick is that one has to use their mouth, not their hands hands. Meanwhile the botargas sing “tothefig, tothefig, not with the hands, yes with the mouth” (alhiguí, alhiguí, con las manos, no, con la boca, sí). Originally, there was only one character that came out on the 17th of January and played alhiguí with the children around the church of Santiago – El Manda (the Order-giver). Later, two more were added – Los Mandaneros (the Order-receivers), and since the custom was recovered in 1998, a new character, Botarguilla (Little Botarga) carries the basket with the figs.

First, all the characters met at Espacio TYCE, then they marched down to the Main Square in front of the town hall Plaza Mayor for the Carnival opening speech, and back.

The host botarga opened the parade. Music was provided by three teams of musicians: Grupo Dulzaineros from Guadalajara, Dulzaineros Pico del Lobo (their main instrument being the dulzaina, an instrument similar to an oboe) and Gaiteros from Villaflores (pipers). Although the parade did not take long to devolve into a lot of chaotic fun, it was organised in three bodies – single botargas, couple botargas, and teams. The signs reading “individual”, “couples” and “teams” were carried by characters wearing full-body costumes that made them look like walking grass-made men. Since I know the town a little, could I watched the parade from three spots, short-cutting from the TYCE area to the square Plaza de Bejanque , and then to Main Street Calle Mayor. Then I walked along towards Plaza Mayor Main Square, where the botargas one by one, or group by group, came on stage as the character was explained.

Botargas de Guadalajara

Aside from the music, there was a very distinctive sound – a lot of the botargas carry cowbells on their belts. The local botargas that participated in the parade are (in alphabetical order of the village they come from, and how they were called onto the stage):

  • Botarga de Alarilla: Botarga from Alarilla. It comes out on the 1st of January to greet the new year and send the evil spirits away. When it is not scaring little kids or getting frisky with the single ladies, it gives out little satchels of nuts.
  • Botarga de Aleas: Botarga from Aleas. The character used to come out on the 3rd of January, now it comes out on the 15th of August, for the village’s festival. The botarga and a number of dancers go around asking for money and food – especially sweets and wine.
  • Botargas y Mascaritas de Almiruete: Botargas and Little Masks from Almiruete. They come out on Shrove Saturday. The botargas throw straw and the mascaritas confetti. There are three other characters – the bear, its trainer, and the heiferette.
  • Botarga de Cabanillas del Campo: Botarga from Cabanillas del Campo. The two characters come out on the 3rd of February, sounding bells and cowbells to bother people and summon spring.
  • Chocolateros de Cogolludo: Chocolatiers from Cogolludo. They come out on Ash Wednesday to tempt people to break the religious fast. They carry a chamberpot with creamy chocolate, and sponge cakes dipped in it. If they don’t manage to tempt the onlookers, they smear the chocolate on their faces.
  • Botarga de Fuencemillán: Botarga from Fuencemillán. On the closest Saturday to the 25th of January, it dances in front of the image of Saint Peter, and chases people to get rid of the bad spirits.
  • Vaquillas de Grajanejos: Vaquillas from Grajanejos. They look more like shepherds and farmers than actual cattle.
  • Botarga de Hita: Botarga from Hita. Though today the two characters come out during the town’s Medieval festival in July, they are clearly Carnival characters. They represent the struggles of personified Carnival and Lent – though they dress so similarly, I could not tell who’s who.
  • Botarga de Humanes: Botarga from Humanes. It comes out on the 1st of January and knocks on doors to wish a happy new year. It wears a colourful costume with 31 tinker bells and seven bells. It blocks entry to the church unless it is given a coin.
  • Diablo y Vaquillas de Luzaga: Devil and Heiferettes from Luzaga. Nowadays, they come out on Shrove Saturday. The heiferettes wear red capes, a mask of sackcloths, a hat, and carry bull horns. They toll the cowbells and chase the onlookers. The devil throws straw to symbolise riches and fertility.
  • Diablos y Mascaritas de Luzón: Devils and Little Masks from Luzón. The devils carry horns on their heads and cowbells on their waists. They paint their body black and use a piece of potato to feign huge teeth. They “attack” onlookers with a mixture of ash and oil. They are accompanied by the Little Masks, who are safe from their actions, wearing the typical clothing of the area and white face coverings. They come out on Shrove Saturday.
  • Botarga de Majaelrayo: Botarga from Majaelrayo. This is one of the characters that comes out “off season”, on the first weekend of September, though the original festival was the third Sunday of January. It is one of the few (if not the only) unmasked ones, and it leads traditional dancing on Sunday.
  • Botarga de Casados de Málaga del Fresno: Botarga of Married Couples from Málaga del Fresno. The original botarga came out on the first of January. It stopped for a while and when the tradition was picked up, the festival moved to the 24th of January, and two more masked characters, the mojigangas were added. The botarga carries a staff and a bag of candy and chases people who go and come out from mass.
  • Botarga de Mazuecos: Botarga from Mazuecos. On the 23rd of January, they chase the young and hit them with their poles.
  • Vaquillas de Membrillera: Heiferettes from Membrillera. They wear two tunics in different colours, a collar of bells, and horns on their waists. They come out on Shrove Saturday to chase the youth.
  • Botarga de Mohernando: Botarga from Mohernando. This duo of botarga and buffoon come out on the closest Sunday to the 20th of January. Though they participate on the religious activities in a serious fashion, they chase kids and teens, and play pranks.
  • Botarga de Montarrón: Botarga from Montarrón. It comes out around the 20th of January, and panhandles through the village for food and drink that is later consumed by the inhabitants. It is one of the few botargas to attend mass, leaving its bells and mask outside.
  • Botarga de Muduex: Botarga from Muduex. This botarga has just been recovered, so it is writing its own tradition. It will come out on the local festival in July.
  • Botarga de Peñalver: Botarga from Peñalver. It chases young men and if it caches them, it will ask them a question, and only let them go if it likes the answer. It comes out the first Sunday after the 3rd of February.
  • Botarga de Puebla de Beleña: Botarga from Puebla de Beleña. This horned character takes part in the religious ceremonies to honour Saint Blaise (3rd of January) and chases people to hit them with its staff. He also knocks on doors and makes its cowbells toll to call people to mass.
  • Botarga de Razbona: Botarga from Razbona. Considered a symbol of prosperity and fertility, it comes out on the closest Saturday to the 25th of January. It picks up donations for charity and cultural acts. It used to attack people who did not cooperate with ash, now it gives out candy for those who donate. However, as it is regarded as a pagan character, it won’t step into the church.
  • Botarga de Retiendas: Botarga from Retiendas. It comes out on the closest Sunday to Candlemas. It dances and chases people to the beat of a drum, and takes part in the religious ceremonies.
  • Vaquilla de Riba de Saelices: Heiferette from Riba de Saelices. It comes out on Carnival Saturday (though originally it was Shrove Tuesday), charging people and getting mock-stabbed in return.
  • Vaquilla de Ribarredonda: Heiferette from Ribarredonda. The heiferette comes out on Shrove Sunday, tolling its cowbells. In the village, shepherds who cover their faces with sackcloth masks keep it in check with their staffs – the person playing the heiferette wears a helmet for protection.
  • Botarga de Casados de Robledillo de Mohernando: Botarga of Married Couples from Robledillo de Mohernando. It comes out on the 1st of January and enters the houses to wish a happy new year and wake people up with tolls and chimes from the bells it carries.
  • Botarga Infantil de Robledillo de Mohernando: Child Botarga from Robledillo de Mohernando. The only child group in the area, they come out on the closest Sunday to the 24th of January. There is a child botarga, musicians and basket-carriers. They don’t wear masks and they perform traditional dances.
  • Vaquillones de Robledillo de Mohernando: Big-Male-Usherettes from Robledillo de Mohernando. Completely clad in sackcloths and carrying horns and cowbells, they charge the onlookers on Shrove Saturday.
  • Botarga de Romanones: Botarga from Romanones. They come out on the last Saturday before Carnival (which was technically the day of the parade so… not sure when). The Little Masks throw confetti or flour at the ladies. They are accompanied by a shepherd and a bull – the bull is “fought and killed” a few times, as it can come back to life with a sip of “magic wine”.
  • Botarga de Salmerón: Botarga from Salmerón. A group of Little Masks comes out on Shrove Saturday. They throw confetti as a fertility charm. A botarga, Tío Alhiguí (Uncle Tothefig) comes with them to play the game with children.
  • Botarga de Taracena: Botarga from Taracena. It comes out on the 23rd of January. Alongside musicians, it walks through the town streets, chasing people towards the church.
  • Botarga de Tórtola de Henares: Botarga from Tórtola de Henares. It comes out in the morning of Christmas Eve, knocking on doors for food. It also comes out on the 6th of January and, along the Little Masks, during Carnival.
  • Botarga y Danzantes del Santo Niño de Valdenuño Fernández: Botarga and Danzantes of the Holy Child from Valdenuño Fernández. They come out the first Sunday after the 6th of January. There are records that a child got lost in 1721 everyone in the village looked for him. The botarga and the dancers recreate this event, and dance in exchange of oranges. One of the dances, the paloteo, involves the group of eight dancers clashing batons with each other.
  • Botarga de Valdesaz: Botargas from Valdesaz. This group chases each other and onlookers on Shrove Saturday.
  • Vaquillones de Villares de Jadraque: Big-Male-Usherettes from Villares de Jadraque. They come out on Shrove Saturday, wearing orange capes, horns and a hat, chasing anyone they come across.
  • Botarga de Villaseca de Uceda: Botarga from Villaseca de Uceda. Recovered in 2023, this botarga comes out the first Saturday after the Epiphany. Its design is modern, and it has mane-looking hair.
  • Botarga de Yélamos de Abajo: Botarga from Yélamos de Abajo. It is the only botarga that comes out during Holy Week (Easter) – but it actually looks a bit like a devil. On Spy Wednesday, villagers light a bonfire in front of the church, and summon the botarga with rattles. The botarga uses the bonfire to light its broom, and dances until the broom goes out. On Holy Thursday the botarga is summoned again, and asks for money. The money-giver says a prayer, the botarga kneels and a coin is inserted in the money-box hidden in the botarga’s hump. On Black Saturday, a dummy botarga is burnt in the bonfire.

Botargas from different villages

Vaquillones de Villares de Jadraque

Furthermore, the four botargas from Guadalajara walked (and ran) after the kids and teenagers at the head of the parade. The Mascarones (Big Masks) from Guadalajara – a cultural association which has worked really hard on the recovery of the botargas – were clad in colourful rags – a lot of them were accompanied by their kids and toddlers in marching suits, with the children handing out candy to both enthusiastic and terrified onlooking kids. The botarga from Muduex, just recovered, received a lot of attention. The kids who were part of the parade often went to give child onlookers candy.

Every year there is a “guest botarga” in the parade. In 2024, the guests are the Hamarrachos de Navalacruz, a group of very druidic-like characters, preceded by their very own flagpole. Navalacruz is a village in the Ávila region, and they have a whole party of creatures – three types: the ones covered in oak leaves, the ones covered in a hay sack, and the ones covered in fur. They seem to represent ancient winter spirits (big Hogfather vibes).

Hamarrachos de Navalcruz Characters

Funnily enough, I was “attacked” three times – twice by the Devils from Luzón Diablos de Luzón. They paint their bodies black and carry cowbells on their belts, horns on their heads and big teeth made from potatoes – they painted my forehead and jawline black in two different occasions. Another time, one of the Vaquillones from Robledillo de Mohernando Vaquillones de Robledillo de Mohernando mock-charged at me. I startled and he was mortified. But it was all good. Oh, and at some other point one of the Mascaritas dumped a handful of confetti on me – I had found a great spot to take pictures: right in front of a potted plant on main street. I was not in the way, since they had to ditch the plant, but I could take pictures of the characters up front.

Botargaas Parade, different characters

Once the parade made it to Main Square, they were called by groups onto the stage. The child botarga did a little dance to show off their skills. The most impressive moment on that stage came with the exhibition of the Dancers of the Holy Child Danzantes del Santo Niño de Valdenuño Fernández. They carry batons that they use when they dance, slamming them against the batons that others carry in a very impressive display of coordination.

Botargas on the stage

Danzantes del Santo Niño clashing batons

The speech of the major had nothing of interest, just the usual political stuff. Mementos were handed to the recovered botarga, and the guests, and then came the Proclamation to open up the Carnival period. The speaker was someone I’ve never heard of – Pepe Sanz, president of a local Vespa and Lambretta motorbikes club. I think.

Unfortunately, as I had been following the parade, I had a horrible spot in Main Square, I could not see the stage at all – but I could use my phone above my head for pictures and videos, while the people in front of me blocked the barriers and played with their phones. I can’t even. After all the speeches, welcoming the Carnival and so on, all the botargas and characters headed back to where came from. I did not stay for the backtracking, because it was cold and it was time to get back home.

24th January 2024: Williams & Zimmer by the Hollywood Symphony Orchestra (Guadalajara, Spain)

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I had a good day planned, but it turns out that life sometimes does not go as one wants, so in the end the fun part of it was reduced to attending a concert in the theatre Auditorio Buero Vallejo in Guadalajara. The Hollywood Symphony Orchestra was touring Spain with a repertoire of film soundtracks by Hans Zimmer and John Williams.

Williams And Zimmer promo

The Hollywood Symphony Orchestra (HSO), from Los Angeles, comprises some musicians who record original soundtracks for films. Originally just a recording orchestra with works dating back to 1953, from 2006 they hold concerts and radio broadcasts. Today it is dedicated to perform “live to picture” concerts, playing live music in synch with the original material from the film. I think it would be really cool to watch a whole film with them playing the score!

However, this is not what they brought this time. It was more “snippets” of films with a remix of the main themes. The “Best Cinema Music” La mejor música de cine comprised several pieces by probably two of the most famous composers ever.

John Williams was born in 1932 and is still considered “an active composer and conductor”. Since his career started in 1954, he has been nominated for an Oscar 54 times, and he won five times – Fiddler on the Roof, Jaws, Star Wars, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial and Schindler’s List. Hans Zimmer, a German film score composer and music producer, has been “only” nominated twelve times, with two wins – one for The Lion King and another for Dune. But he is more than 30 years younger than Williams, so I guess there is still time. Both of them have written film music I enjoy a lot (along with Howard Shore and Jerry Goldsmith), so I really wanted to go. I was even ready to brave the awful Guadalajara crowds and head to the theatre there.

The whole concert lasted about two hours, in two parts with one interlude, and two pieces of encore – a total of 15 songs. The director was not introduced, but he looked nothing like the main director that the HSO webpage introduces. As set up, the orchestra was on stage and behind them, a screen showed scenes from the films whose soundtracks they were playing. They were not too well planned, though, because most of them had to run a time and a half before the music piece ended. I like this set up though, because it gives me something visual to look at while the music plays. For me, it is perfect – it is the same thing they’ve done before at the Final Fantasy live concerts.

Setlist:

Part 1
  1. Main Title from Star Wars (Williams, 1977)
  2. The Lion King soundtrack medley (Zimmer, 1994)
  3. Superman Main Title Theme (Williams, 1978)
  4. Schindler’s List Theme (Williams, 1993)
  5. Pearl Harbor Suite (Zimmer, 2001)
  6. Now We Are Free, Gladiator main theme (Zimmer, 2000)
  7. The Raiders March, Main theme of the Indiana Jones films (Williams, 1982)
Part 2
  8. E.T. the Extra-terrestrial main theme (Williams, 1982)
  9. Main Theme from Jurassic Park (Williams, 1993)
  10. Molossus, Batman Begins main theme (Zimmer, 2005)
  11. Hymn to the Fallen, Saving Private Ryan main theme (Williams, 1998)
  12. Harry Potter Main Theme (Williams, 2001)
  13. He’s a Pirate, Pirates of the Caribbean main theme (Zimmer, 2003)
Encore
  14. Imperial March from Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back (Williams, 1980)
  15. The Raiders March, Main theme of the Indiana Jones films (Williams, 1982).

Hollywood Symphony Orchestra standing in front of an Indiana Jones photogram

All in all, the day did not pan out as I had planned it, but it did have a bit of an epic ending, and I was glad that I managed to squeeze the outing. I did miss hearing the theme of Jaws, but I got Jurassic Park, Pirates of the Caribbean and Indiana Jones. I have to admit that The Lion King was way intense (hello, inner child!). And I did not like the Gladiator film, but the rendition was epic. Most of it was. Except for E.T., which felt a bit too long, I thoroughly enjoyed the performance. A great way to end a not-so-good day.

Hollywood Symphony Orchestra in front of a Star Wars poster

Edit in January 2025. It seems this was not the Hollywood Symphony Orchestra at all, but a group of musicians impersonating them. During the 24/25 tour, the performance so bad that there were complaints and musicians got sacked and quit left and right. This rendition was good, to be honest, but I feel ripped off. Isn’t this fraud, technically? The reports of what happened in 2025 are surreal, with the ensemble impersonating two different orchestras for different repertories. Note to self: never trust promotor NK Prodarte.

13th January 2024: Commemoration of Ricardo Velázquez Bosco in Guadalajara (Spain)

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In general, I’m not a fan of guided visits, but I’ve learnt to accept that they are sometimes the only way to get access to several monuments. Thus, I signed up for the free* “themed visit” about Ricardo Velázquez Bosco in Guadalajara. The route was organised by the town hall to commemorate the centennial of the architect’s death in 1923 (I know it’s 2024, the activities started in 2023, but they spread through January).

Velázquez Bosco is considered one of the most important architects in the Spanish late-1800s – early-1900s. Among his works are the Spanish Crystal Palace and the Madrid mining school. His style has been called “emphatic eclecticism” and described as eclectic historicism with academicist tendencies – which basically means that he did not like Modernism, and preferred combining historical styles instead.

In Guadalajara, he worked for the most important noblewoman of the period – the Duchess of Sevillano and Countess of La Vega del Pozo, María Diega Desmaissières y Sevillano (Duquesa de Sevillano y Condesa de la Vega del Pozo). The Duchess lived in Madrid, but was connected to Guadalajara through her aunt, Catholic Saint Maria Micaela, founder of the nun order known as Handmaids of the Blessed Sacrament. The Duchess of Sevillano (known in town as “the countess”) had a lot of buildings erected in Guadalajara and around it, most of which are now private property and have a very-limited-to-inexistent visit regime. The town loved its countess since she commissioned (also to Velázquez Bosco) the farming hamlet Poblado de Villaflores – the construction and subsequent agriculture and livestock activities created a lot of work in the area.

To honour her aunt’s charity work, the Duchess ordered Velázquez Bosco to build a school and an asylum, and though she never really lived in Guadalajara, she commissioned him to build her a palace when her Madrid home was expropriated. She never got to live there, as her heart failed in Bordeaux at the age of 64. She was buried in Guadalajara, in a pantheon that she had also ordered the architect to erect for her.

Today, both the asylum and the palace are schools, and cannot really be visited. The pantheon is privately managed by a private foundation Fundación San Diego de Alcalá, which also manages one of the schools, the adjacent gardens, and the church of the former convent.

The first stop of the visit was the pantheon Panteón de la Duquesa de Sevillano. It is a small eclectic building, the inside is a Latin cross, the outside is a homage to the First Romanesque buildings, with neo-Gothic ornamentation. The characteristic purple dome and the interior mosaics are of Byzantine influence. The crypt is a false one, as the pantheon is reached by climbing up a monumental staircase, so when you “go down” to the crypt, you are actually at ground level. The Duchess’ sepulchre, carved in marble by modernist sculpture Ángel García Díaz, represents the funeral procession. We had to pay 1 € in order to visit the pantheon, as there was no agreement between the town hall and the foundation.

Ducchess of Sevillano's pantheon

Ducchess of Sevillano's Pantheon

We then were taken to another of the foundation’s buildings, the school Colegio Niña María Adoratrices. Today is a semi-private Catholic centre run by nuns from the congregation founded by Saint Maria Micaela. The school cannot generally be visited, so I was glad this worked out. The school building was erected in red brick, with a white limestone façade echoing the Renaissance building of the University in Alcalá de Henares. The school used to be a convent, and there is a restricted cloister. Legend has it that the cloister is only open for wedding photographies to brides who studied at the school. It is square, with two stories of neo-Romanesque arches and columns with vegetal decoration. We were also shown the chapel, with neo-Mudéjar panelling on the ceiling, and the monumental staircase.

Adoratrices School Guadalajara: Façade and cloister

Adoratrices School Guadalajara

Finally, we walked to what was built as the Duchess’ palace in Guadalajara, Palacio de la Condesa de la Vega del Pozo, today another school, Colegio de los Hermanos Maristas, also Catholic and semi-private, and extremely difficult to visit. We were shown inside and got to see the actual outline of the palace. Inside, we saw the panelling and the ceramic decoration before we reached the inner patio, a mix between Castilian and Andalusian styles.

We then visited the smoking room upstairs, an astonishing ward with ceramic tiles decoration and wooden floors. As a last snoop, we could peek into the balcony, which keeps the original cement-tile (baldosa hidráulica) floor. It was extremely impressive – and one can forgive the horrible pale yellow exterior the palace has been painted. Ricardo Velázquez Bosco was one of architect Antonio Palacios’ teacher, and I had the feeling that Palacios took his ideas for the Fundación San Diego de Alcalá, Panteón de la Duquesa de Sevillano, Colegio Niña María Adoratrices, Colegio de los Hermanos Maristas, Maudes hospital from the walls and floors of this palace.

Maristas school, former Duchess of Sevillano's Palace

Maristas school, former Duchess of Sevillano's Palace inside

The visit took around two hours, and it was free except for the pantheon. Being able to see the inside of both schools was the best, because it is rare that visitors are allowed in either. Thus, I am glad I signed up for this, especially as the weather held – we had a tiny bit of drizzle, but not much, and the clouds kept the cold at bay.

29th December 2023: Parque Mágicas Navidades, Torrejón de Ardoz (Spain)

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For the last escapade of the year, I organised an outing with the family. I had thought that after our annual Christmas / New Year’s lunch gathering, the younger squad could go on for a while while older relatives caught a break from us. For a few years, the town of Torrejón de Ardoz has been organising a bigger and bigger “Christmas park” called Magical Christmas Park Parque Mágicas Navidades. During the last decade, the display has grown to be a massive event which runs throughout December to after Epiphany day. It has become so popular that they started charging people from outside town for entry.

The park is huge by any standard. This year there is a small amusement area with winter-themed rides, an ice-skating rink, a Christmas market, a small house for Father Christmas / the Three Wise Men (depending on the date), and several displays: the “Ice Festival”, the “Frozen Mountain” and the “Asian Lantern Festival”. There are smaller decorations sprinkled all over the park

Unless you are a local, entrance is 6€ / person. Once inside, you can buy tickets for the rides and the Ice Festival, but if you get your tickets in advance, it’s a tiny bit cheaper. In our case, I bought an entrance + Ice Festival combo that was 16€ – buying tickets inside would have been 11 €, so we saved one whole euro!

We reached the station by 19:45, and it took just a few minutes to reach the park entrance and go in. We found ourselves in a path with some food stalls, the Christmas house (sold out when I bought the tickets), some light sculptures and a few meninas. I noticed similar statues when I was in Madrid back in December, but I did not pay much attention to them. It turns out that they are part of an art project by artist Antonio Azzato collaborating with other creators and some of the city’s schools, and a pretty big deal – a modern art project. The word menina refers to a young girl from a noble family who enters the court to serve the queen or her children. Probably painter Diego Velazquez’s depiction of them is the most famous, and is the inspiration for Azzato’s figures.

Parque Magicas Navidades Torrejon Access from Train station

Since we had a timeslot to enter the Ice Festival at 20:30, we decided to find that first to make sure we did not miss our entry; once we located it, we would see what to do. On our way, we crossed a literal starry field – sorry, starry forest Bosque de Estrellas. We walked by a giant snowman, a huge teddy bear, Cinderella’s carriage and Father Christmas’ sleigh, all made of lights. Then, we found the Magical Gate Puerta Mágica – this is a huge structure made of thousands of small light bulbs that looks a bit like the façade of a gothic cathedral. Every hour o’clock there is a show, and we had a three-song disco show that we stayed for, as I had just spotted the destination.

Parque Magicas Navidades Torrejon Magical Gate

After the show, we headed off to the Ice Festival, a giant tent kept at -6 ºC – we were let in early, it was barely 20:15, so I’m thinking timing is… a suggestion. During the first week of the festival, ten two-person teams compete to build an ice sculpture from 25 ice blocks, according to the theme of the contest. This year, the topic was “freezing up the world”, so each piece tried to represent a city or area. Unfortunately, after almost a month of competition, some pieces were damaged or… slightly melted. Such as the… let’s say the “leaning tower of Paris” a.k.a. the Eiffel Tower. In all seriousness though, there was Las Vegas, Rio, Kyoto, New York, Kuala Lumpur… Did I mention the below-zero temperature? I think I lost sensitivity on my right pinky, and by the time we were out some of my fingertips were actually blue…

Parque Magicas Navidades Torrejon Ice Festival

Next, we decided to see the Asian Lantern Festival Festival de las Linternas Asiáticas – a number of figures made out of fabric with light inside, similar to Brilla Zoo, and just as Christmassy, I guess. We actually started on the Second Space, which was dedicated mostly to dinosaurs. There was also a dragon (as 2024 is the Chinese year of the Dragon), some contemporary animals – elephants, flamingoes, lions, red pandas… oh, and lots of Venus flytraps.

Parque Magicas Navidades Torrejon Asian Lanterns 2

Our following spot was the “Way to Bethlehem” Camino de Belén, which recreates the Biblical story of the Nativity, from Joseph and Mary heading off to the census, to the stable and the adoration by the Three Wise Men. It is described as the largest Nativity in Spain – the figures were actual-size, but not too well made, and the whole thing was a bit creepy. Furthermore, they had the same two songs on a never-ending loop.

Parque Magicas Navidades life-sized Nativity

Afterwards, we decided to “climb” the Ice Mountain Montaña Helada, which has a ton of light-reindeers and some white sculptures of creatures of Scandinavian mythology – I think. There were faeries, elves, a winged lion, dragons, horses, a pegasus, trolls… and two very non-mythological polar bears. There was finally a sculpture of a reindeer standing on a sleigh. I’ve recently learnt that a reindeer that keeps its antlers in winter is a pregnant female, so there’s a lot to say about Father Christmas’ sleigh… There is also a light Christmas tree Árbol de Luz in amongst all the reindeer, and you get a glimpse at the ice rink Pista de Hielo, designed by former figure skater Javier Fernández.

Parque Magicas Navidades Torrejon Frozen mountain

There was a bit of a photocall area and we fooled around there for a few minutes. Next, we went back towards the Asian Lantern Festival Festival de las Linternas Asiáticas, to see the First Space, which we walked backwards, apparently. It was mostly about bugs and creepy-crawlers – even bigger than the Naturaleza Encendida ones. There were ladybugs, a praying mantis, butterflies, bees, a scorpion for some reason, flowers and… pandas. Because something is not Asian if there is not a panda?

Parque Magicas Navidades Torrejon Asian Lanterns 1

Once we were out of the area, there were some pink and purple flying penguins which gave way to a small garden with a lot of laser lights and other standing penguins, reading “Merry Christmas” in several languages. We headed back towards the train station then, passing by the Christmas market Mercado Navideño and Christmas Village, though it was hard to know when one ended and the other began. We did not go into any of the rides, not even the carousel, because they were extremely expensive… Neither did we try any food, but I am willing to be the prices were on the same range.

Parque Magicas Navidades Torrejon penguins

We walked out of the park, and we saw a train leave as we were approaching the station. We settled to wait for the next one, which – surprise, surprise – was delayed, so although we were at the station before 23:00, we did not make it home until almost half past midnight, despite the ride being just under 35 minutes. However, I think I’m going to start the family tradition of a mini-adventure after the yearly big-family meet-up, we had a lot of fun.

Parque Magicas Navidades Torrejon Light Christmas tree, reindeers and fountain

20th December 2023: Brilla Madrid Zoo (Madrid, Spain)

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After an unwarranted amount of stress in the morning, I decided to take a little escapade in the evening to see some lights. The city of Torrejón is known as one of the local “Christmas hubs”, but it was “family day” and tickets were free, so there was no way to get a same-day entrance. I was a bit bummed, because that was convenient to reach by public transport. Instead, I resolved to go to Madrid instead – there was a light show on the topic of animals which had a small same-day discount – with it, I could get the skip the queue “upgrade”, the ticket itself, and the processing fees for the price of a nominal ticket. The downside was that I had to drive there. I booked entrance for the 18:40 timeslot, and left about 17:15, anticipating the traffic jams on my way to the park Parque Juan Carlos I. Traffic on the motorway was rather aggressive and all the exits were jammed. Thus, instead of driving to the main entrance to the park, I decided to drop the car off near one of the side entrances, and walk the last couple of kilometres instead of driving them. When I strolled by the parking lot, I saw that it was full and there were emergency vehicles there – I would have had to go to the inner parking lot, which means walking almost as much, and I saved one merging into the highway and one exit. I don’t mind driving, but I’m not a fan of other drivers.

As I walked into the park, I ran into the first sign reading Brilla Madrid Zoo (Madrid Shining Zoo). They had placed signs all along my path – rather convenient. I walked for about 15 minutes and I was at the gate just past the 18:20 timeslot. Since it was a schoolday, and quite cold, it was almost empty and the staff had no problem letting me through. Brilla Madrid Zoo is a project by Brilla Events, who claim that there are over 500 light figures – I did not count – in a path that takes about 1.3 kilometres.

Brilla Madrid Zoo entryway

After the entrance arch, you go down to the actual ticket control. I had bought the skip-the-queue ticket which allowed me to see an “extra” exhibit in a tent, called Pollinators (Polinizadores). The whole Brilla Madrid Zoo exhibit has a “take care of the earth” kind of message, but it gets old really quickly as each “animal” repeats the same few words every couple of minutes. The Pollinators area had giant displays of a hummingbird, a bee, a butterfly, a bloom, and a bat for some reason. There was a screen with “Gaia” addressing the crowd, and it would have been creepy if not for the kiddos running and screaming around.

Brilla Madrid Zoo Giant hummingbird

As I went in, I was greeted by giant giraffe necks, then I moved into the Savannah (Sabana), with lions, leopards, zebras, hyenas, antelopes and elephants. Afterwards, there was the Jungle (Jungla) with gorillas, capybaras, jaguars… From there, after a turn, there was Australia, with echidnas, koalas, dingos, kangaroos.

Brilla Madrid Zoo Giraffes, Jungle, Australia, Whale

The entrance to the Ocean area (Océanos) could be done through a whale. Along the fountains / ponds of the park stood sharks (great whites and hammerheads), lionfish, turtles, clown fish (a.k.a. Nemo), blue tangs (a.k.a Dori), barracudas, koi carps, corals… There were also two real geese who seemed to be enjoying the exhibit too. It was really hard to take straight pictures as there was very little reference outside the actual animal.

Brilla Madrid Zoo Ocean

As I got close to the River areas (Ríos), there were otters and frogs. The coastal biomes were represented by the Swamp (Pantanos) and the Mangroves (Manglares). There were crocodiles, anacondas, Venus flytraps… for the first, and a flock of birds for the latter – flamingoes, pelicans, herons…

Brilla Madrid Zoo Rivers, Mangroves, Swamps

Then there was a bit of an avenue flanked by Flamingoes (Flamencos) to reach the Butterfly zone (Mariposas) and the Peacocks (Pavos reales). After another turn, there was the area dedicated to Nocturnal Animals (Nocturnos), with lemurs, bats, owls, and a wolf howling at the moon, perched on a dolmen.

Brilla Madrid Zoo flamingoes, butterflies, peacocks and wolf

After the dolmen, I found the Reptiles (Reptiles), with more frogs, iguanas, chameleons, a cute Komodo dragon… The path lead to what I guess is China by any other name: the Tiger (Tigre) and Pandas (Pandas). The Extinct Animal section (Extintos) was sad – with a dodo, a Tasmanian tiger, a white rhino, a Yangtze dolphin, a species of emu…

Brilla Madrid Zoo Reptiles, Panda, Tiger, Extinct animals

But then came the fantastical animals: Griffon (Grifo), Dragon (Dragón), Alicorns (Alicornios) – winged unicorns – and a Phoenix (Fénix).

Brilla Madrid Zoo griffon, dragon, alicorn and phoenix

Once outside the area, you find the Ice figures (Hielo), with seals, Arctic foxes and penguins. There was a tent with a souvenir shop and some food stalls, but I did not go inside. I thought I would just walk back through the park before it became too late – and colder.

Brilla Madrid Zoo Ice

I liked Brilla much better than this year’s Naturaleza Encendida, to be honest. It was quite cold though, and a bit windy. I ran into another jam on the way back, this time caused by an accident. I have a theory regarding signals in this country – half of the drivers don’t use them, and out of the ones who do, yet another half think that signalling gives them immediate preference, even when what they are doing is illegal…

2nd December 2023: Iron balconies and croquettes (Madrid, Spain)

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I wanted to do a full day in Madrid this weekend, but ticketing did not align, thus I had to organise two half days. So on Saturday morning I set off for an 11:00 visit to Frontón Beti-Jai. A frontón is the court where games of Basque pelota (pelota vasca) are played. The term refers to a number of sports that use a small hard ball which is hit by the players so it bounces off the vertical walls of the court. Depending on the specific variety, the ball can be hit with the hand, a racket, a bat or a type of basket, and it can bounce on one or two walls of the frontón as long as they are at right angles with each other. Basque pelota is mainly played in Spain and France, and it is also popular in some Latin America countries. Though it was originally included in the 1900 Olympics, it has only been played as an exhibition sport and never in competition.

In the 19th century, Basque pelota was a popular and lucrative business in Spain, especially in Madrid. In 1891, businessman José Arana commissioned architect Joaquín Rucoba to build a frontón in Madrid, “similar to but better than” the one in San Sebastián, the original Beti-Jai. The capital’s Beti-Jai (“always party” in Basque) was placed in the district of Chamberí, witch construction starting in 1893. The architect designed a white-and-grey outer façade in an eclectic style with Neoclassical reminiscences in order to blend with the mansions in the area at the time, and a red-brick Neomudéjar secondary or side façade. The inner wall that stands behind the main entrance is also Neomudéjar. The playing court is plain concrete, and he whole area is shaped as a half-ellipse. There were long-lost stands on the ground, and three upper stories supported and adorned by cast iron balconies and columns, with a wooden roof on top. The decoration on the balconies is different for each floor.

The frontón opened in 1894 and it hosted games until 1919 – it is said that the crackdown on the betting systems and loan sharks caused Basque pelota to slowly fade out of fashion. Throughout the period and afterwards, it also had some alternative – and creative – uses, among them aeronautical experiments by renown engineer Leonardo Torres Quevedo, car workshop (a few times in different years), motorbike shop, political hotspot, even industrial bakery. The stands were eventually walled off – which protected the ironwork. Though both in the late 1970s and the early 1990s the building was “declared” as protected, the structure was eventually left to rot. The building was bought and restored by the Madrid Town Hall between 2010 and 2019, finally attaining protected status in 2011. It is the largest and oldest frontón standing.

Frontón Beti Jai inner façade and stands

I like cast iron architecture a lot, which is why I signed up for this Pasea Madrid guided visit. We did not get a nice and knowledgeable guide this time, so I mentally checked out. She was not just nervous, she read the whole visit out of a phone, gave some wrong or plain false information, and relied on people “knowing things” and “having visited places”. I wandered around taking pictures and approaching the group periodically trying to fish out any interesting bit of information, until the guide grew tired and kicked us out when most people decided to just stand in the sun, even if there was some time left. People who had been listening to her had barely any time for photographs.

Fronton Beti Jai Stands.

After the frontón, I had a reservation for lunch a restaurant part of a franchise specialising in croquettes, is called Solo de Croquetas Zurbano – a pun between “only croquettes” and “croquettes’ solo”; Zurbano is just the street. It has been a bit of a buzz lately so I was really curious about it. The place was organised in three floors – a bar on the ground floor, a loft-like seating on the first floor and a bigger restaurant-like area in the basement.

Though the Internet said the restaurant opened at 13:00, I was offered a reservation at 12:45, which I took because I did not want to be wandering around in the cold for too long. I was not extremely surprised though when I popped by at the reservation time and it was indeed crossed. I ended up wandering for a while before 13:00 came up and I could sit down. I decided to try a basic “croquette tasting”, which includes six savoury croquettes two sweet ones, and a drink. There are three lists to choose from, and I took the B-set:

  • Rulo de cabra con pimiento caramelizado, goat cheese roller with caramelised red pepper – happy to report the pepper was barely distinguishable, just added some colour to the filling. Very cheesy, cheese is always good.
  • Boletus con trufa, boletus with truffle. Lots of mushroom, little truffle, but okay. I’m not that much of a truffle fan anyway.
  • Provolone con tomate seco y orégano, provolone cheese with dry tomato and oregano. There is never such a thing as too much cheese.
  • Cachopo; a cachopo is a typical dish from the North of Spain that consists on two beef steaks with a filling between them, and everything breaded, which I ate once in Astorga. This one was weird.
  • Cecina con puerro y queso gorgonzola, beef jerky with celery and gorgonzola cheese. Probably my favourite out of the savoury ones.
  • Sobrasada de Mallorca con queso Mahón, sobrassada (cured pork sausage filling) with Mahon cheese. All right.
  • Croqueta de Oreo con chocolate blanco, Oreo and white chocolate. Rather good, which is surprising considering I don’t even like Oreos…
  • Croqueta de Cheesecake con frambuesa , Cheesecake and raspberry. Surprising, to say the least.

Solo de croquetas tasting

All in all it was good. The croquettes were decently sized and had distinctive flavours. The set felt a bit scarce though. Not that I went hungry, but I could have done with another couple of croquettes. I think it is what they are counting on – the tasting is okay, price-wise, considering the novelty (18.50 €), but if you want anything else, the meal will get very expensive very fast. I guess it is noteworthy that all croquettes are gluten-free, and the tasting has a lactose-free set and a vegan set.

I left the restaurant and walked towards the train station. On the way, I was distracted by the small Christmas market, more precisely by the a gorgeous 1900 merry-go-round that had been installed among other attractions. I had a bit of a walk around to check out the stands and then I went to wait for the train – which was, predictably, delayed.

Carousel in Colón Square

26th November 2023: A Bunker and a Greenhouse (Madrid, Spain)

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I have been to the park Parque del Capricho in Madrid before, and I was not really impressed. As it is considered a “hidden gem” in town, I expected something… I don’t know… more grand? It has different “attractions” such as a bee hive, a casino, ponds, fountains, statues… quite into the Romantic spirit of the times it was built, but I really did not connect with its design. I have to admit though that when I first visited I did not register the locked-down door with the word “bunker” surrounded by a brick structure next to the palace. It turns out, there is a Civil War bomb refuge 15 metres underneath the grass (I did see a machine gun spot in the grounds of the nearby castle, which was actually installed there to protect the military position). The refuge is a place you can only visit through the town hall’s Pasea Madrid program, as it is usually closed to the public.

The park was built as a recreational garden between 1787 and 1839 at the whim of the 12th Duchess (and Countess) of Osuna, who placed a summer house Palacio de los Duques de Osuna, in the centre of it. It became wildly popular among the high classes at the time – just like walking around cemeteries had become popular in France and England. However, at the turn of the 20th century the park had dwindled in fame. It changed hands, and after the 1929 crash it became all but abandoned. With the advent of the Spanish Civil War, the palace became an orphanage first, and it was later confiscated by the Republican government to be used as military operation centre. General José Miaja was in charge of defending Republican Madrid from the military coupists and moved the emergency command centre from downtown to the so-called Posición Jaca in the outskirts. The park was chosen because it is close to the airport, and it was easy to deploy defence batteries. Some of the most important battles in central Spain were “supervised” from there.

The day started dark and gloomy, so I picked up a thick coat – the webpage also noted that the temperature in the refuge is around 15 ºC. Public transport was just not feasible – round trip would have been about four hours by train – so I took the 40-minute drive and parked in the main avenue, a few minutes away from the park entrance. I had calculated a wide berth of time because I was not sure how easy it would be to park, but I apparently got there before the family weekend-makers. I was early for the 11:00 tour, so I just hung out the park for a little. By the time I walked in, the weather was nice and sunny.

One of the buildings in the park is a miniature farming house that today has an equally-tiny orchard with cabbages, cauliflowers and… a pumpkin patch. I swear, I had never seen a pumpkin patch before, not one so… colourful. I walked around for a little, then waited for the guide to arrive.

Pumpkin patch in El Capricho

The Civil War bunker or refuge Búnker del Capricho was built next to the palace where the command was set, excavated into and down the small hill. It was designed to withstand bombings, and protect its occupants from chemical attacks – people were rightfully freaked out as World War I had yielded to the development of chemical weapons. Building the refuge was commissioned to miners-turned-soldiers, who were able to finish it within the first few months of 1937. In case of an attack, the palace would be evacuated from the doors and windows, the personnel would go down into the refuge and close and lock the doors. Once operational, the refuge could host 200 people for up to two of weeks.

The bunker is dug between 14 and 16 metres into the ground. The walls could withstand most bombs designed at the time, with some of them being over two metres thick. The thirty-metre gallery could be sealed with submarine-like doors – designed by marine engineers – and keep out any toxic gas. There is a ventilation system and different wards on the sides, one of them identifiable as an operating theatre, another as a shower room. The floors are tiled, with different patterns for different rooms – the theory is that the patterns would allow anyone to know where they were even in low visibility conditions. The gallery is tiled too, but in white, and it has round ceilings, also painted white – also in theory, this is to counteract the claustrophobia from being underground; this idea was also applied when the first underground stations were built in Madrid.

Upon entering the bunker, there are two flights of stairs at a ninety-degree angle to each other. Then, there is another right-angle turn to enter the actual refuge. There are two metal doors that could be hermetically shut, now peeled-off and rusty, but which really look like ship or submarine safety doors. This design minimises shock waves and blocks any gas that could be used against the Republican Command. The structure is bigger and wider than I thought it would be.

Underground refuge in el Capricho Park

I guess it is part of the Spanish history, so good enough to see once and then move on – know about history not to repeat it, but do not dwell in it. Which is what I did. Once the guided visit was over, I wandered the park for a little. I found the park miniature fortress, the lake with its black swans, and the small casino. I was hoping for some nice autumn colours like I saw a couple of weeks before in Retiro Park, but there was not much on that front. I however did come across a few bees hard at work.

Black swan feeding

Honey bee on purple flower

I left the El Capricho and went across the avenue to walk into the neighbouring, bigger park Parque Juan Carlos I. I wanted to see the so-called Estufa Fría – just a fancy name to call a greenhouse. The greenhouse did have some pretty autumn colours in the Japanese garden, as the small maples (Acer palmatum) had started turning gold and red. The structure hosts palm trees, ferns, a small “bamboo grove” and an autochthonous forest that was composed of mostly evergreen plants and ivy. I had no idea that the Estufa Fría even existed until a few days before, so I guess I’ll need to keep it on my radar for future springtime visits – I want to see the blooming cherry trees in that park anyway.

Estufa fría or cold greenhouse in Juan Carlos I park

It was not much of an outing, barely a few hours, and I was home for a late lunch. I did not want to stay out long, as that evening I had tickets for the opera.

26th October 2023: Groove& in Guadalajara (Spain)

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This was a short-enough trip that I could just fit in within half a day. Not that Guadalajara has many things that interest me, but it is close enough to Madrid that now and then there is a good show or artist coming. This time around, the South Korea Cultural Centre Centro Cultural Coreano, sponsored a small tour by the Korean percussion group Groove&, as part of its Korea Sound Festival. One of the stops was the Centro Ibercaja Guadalajara.

Korea Sound Festival poster

Based in Seoul, Groove& defines itself as a female percussion ensemble team based on traditional music. It is formed by three women: Sang-kyung Lee [이상경], Min-ju Sohn [손민주] and Ha-gyeong Kim [김하경]. All of them play the janggu [장구], which is the most traditional Korean drum – it has two heads (each with a different pitch) made from animal skin and the body is hourglass-shaped.

Sang-kyung Lee also plays the yanggeum [양금], a percussion instrument similar to a hammered dulcimer, but with metal strings which are hit with a bamboo stick to produce the music. Min-ju Sohn plays the ulla [운라], a set of ten small gongs hanging vertically from a wooden frame, the gongs are struck with a small beater. Finally, Ha-gyeong Kim plays the kkwaenggwari [꽹과리] a small brass gong which is held from a string with one hand and struck with a hard stick with the other. There were also cymbals and gongs.

Groove&'s Korean percussion instruments

I arrived at the cultural centre about half an hour before the show. There were a few people waiting, and it was a very weird crowd. Entry was free, and the act was sponsored by a local cultural association, which attracted a number of people who had absolutely no idea about what they were going to see. When doors opened, I found a seat on the third row, behind the authorities and the associates, but rather in the centre. The introduction was a little bit embarrassing though. The person introducing the band could not pronounce their name, and she sneered that “Korea is more than we know from the films and series that are a fad”. Well, of course. I’ve never been to Seoul, but I am rather sure people do not squid-game through life.

The concert lasted for about an hour and it was very interesting. Unfortunately, the venue was extremely small and the metal instruments reverberated a lot. For the first song, Kim walked out dressed in a folk costume and played around the audience, I think in a bit of a recreation of a pungmul [풍물] – a Korean folk music tradition that includes drumming, dancing, and singing, with performers wearing bright colours. Lee did all the talking, and she tried some Spanish along with English. The Korean she spoke was translated into Spanish by someone from the Korean Embassy I think. There were eight songs, a few emcees, during one of which Lee introduced the instruments. This was extremely funny, especially the ulla, as Sohn offered us a rendition of Under the sea from The Little Mermaid.

Groove& playing in Guadalajara

Setlist:

   1. Groove&
   2. Get!
   3. Wave
   4. Chaser
   5. Dodang-gut [도당굿]. Dodang-gut is a shamanic festival / ritual to call the spirits so they bring welfare, and well-being to the village, with a special importance given to female shamans.
   6. Pray
   7. Dusk
   8. Matt-Jang-Gu [맞장구]. This is a word that means agreement or listening to the other person, and also the position of two people playing the janggu drum face-to-face.

The show was extremely energetic considering these three women barely even move from their siting points on the floor. I had a lot of fun, despite the weird public – and the fact that apparently people in Guadalajara just love talking during shows, providing commentary.

Despite the metallic sounds being extremely high and echoing, the drumming was fantastic, you could feel it in your belly, and I really enjoyed it. I had never thought I would end up in a traditional Korean drumming show, but the opportunity presented itself and I took it up. A while back I participated in a Japanese drumming (taiko) workshop, and had a blast. I did not expect this to be similar – different countries and all – but I’m starting to suspect I like folk percussion in general.

20231026 Groove& greeting after the concert in Guadalajara

After the concert, the three drummers met with attendees. They took pictures with people and had some merchandising on sale. I bought a signed CD for 10€, said “thank you” in Korean (literally the only thing I can say that is not a food… and I don’t even like Korean food) and we took a picture together.

Groove& posing in Guadalajara

I headed off after that, just in time to get caught in the rain, because what is a concert without a little adventure?

16th September 2023: Archaeological Site of “Los Casares” (Spain)

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I took an almost two-hour drive to the municipality of Riba de Saelices, which involved having to fill up the tank in the middle of nowhere – ouch. It was early in the morning, and once I got off the motorway I saw a bunch of roe deer grazing dawn away. A couple of them got spooked by the noise of the engine and jumped towards the road, and another was uncomfortably close to the asphalt, but I was careful not to run any of them over – of course!

I went past the village and took a turn at an unpaved road, and reached the parking spot of the site, 3.5 km later, around 9:10, which was great for my free 9:30 visit. . My main interest in the archaeological site Conjunto Arqueológico de Los Casares was the cave Cueva de los Casares, which can only be visited by appointment and in small groups. Post Covid recovery plans have made some archaeological sites free until the end of the year, and I wanted to visit before the end of good weather. The cave holds important carvings from the Upper or Median Palaeolithic period. However, the site also comprises the remains of a Muslim village, a defensive tower, and an ancient oven, with the latest findings dating from the 14th century.

I found the parking spot – a clearing at the foothill of the area. The whole place was empty except for a kettle of griffon vultures (Gyps fulvus) circling up above. It was a bit creepy, I’ll be honest, and I joked with myself that maybe the webpage for the archaeological site was just the way the vultures ordered food. From the parking lot I saw a small clearing with tables, and up the hill, a small tower, which I thought was the tower from an old Muslim castle. Since I had some time I decided to climb up and I found the entrance to the cave, with a notice that visits started there. By then it was already 9:30 so I thought maybe my ticket was wrong and the winter timetable had already started so the visit was at 10:00. A bit before 9:40 I saw two cars approaching – yay.

Vultures flying

Archaeological site Los Casares: cave, ruins, and tower

Finally, the guide arrived and she told me that the visitors in the other car had lost their way, so she had had to guide them down the track. We started late as the group also took a while to come up. We stayed at the entrance of the cave for a little as the guide explained about the civilisation that inhabited the area in the Palaeolithic, and a bit about the cave bears that used it as a lair before them.

The cave Cueva de los Casares was inhabited by Neanderthals some 60,000 to 40,000 years ago. The stonework and industry have been classified as the European Mousterian; among objects found inside the cave there are flint points, arrow tips, scrapers, and even pottery. Animal remains, both from predatory events and human consumption have also been recovered. The most important archaeological items found in the cave are the carvings on the walls. Though there are carvings from later periods, some experts think that the cave holds the oldest anthropomorphic carvings in the Iberian peninsula – not carved by Homo sapiens (modern humans) but the previous Homo neandertalensis.

Entrance to the cave Cueva de los Casares

Only the first third of the cave can be visited, and we got to see horses, cattle and the human-like figures. Once you know what you’re looking for, it gets easier to identify the shapes. One characteristic about the human depictions of the period is that humans are represented to have weird heads, though nobody really knows why – possibly animal attributes to represent their qualities. The humanoids are represented alone and in groups, and sometimes they are one above another. There are families, activities – such as diving – and copulation (apparently this is important because the carving in question might be the first ever recorded). It is an interesting experience, though no pictures are allowed inside, there are some on the official page – you don’t get to see half of them anyway. I’m disappointed we were not shown any mammoth carvings either, those are restricted to the expert-only area, but at least I saw something, and it was original.

After the cave, I climbed up the gully to the hilltop and the Berber tower – called Torre atalaya (“Watchtower tower”) – which hangs above the entrance to the cave to look at it. On the way up I also had a good view of the Muslim settlement underneath, Poblado Hispano-musulman. I also looked down the gorge and the valley called Valle de los Milagros, which I may or may not hike in the near future in search for fossils. However, I really did not feel like staying at that point, so I just drove back.

Watchtower Los Casares

Muslim village of Los Casares

Valley Valle de los Milagros from above

9th September 2023: DinoExpo XXL (Guadalajara, Spain)

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When I heard that this was going to happen nearby, in Guadalajara, I was mildly excited. I mean, I did not expect a Jurassic World Exhibition level event, more similar to Dino World Expo. Not even.

In any case, I decided to attend DinoExpo XXL to have a look. There, I had the pleasure to see a bunch of dinosaur models cramped in an obviously-too-small area, a few fake skeletons and bones, and some “Ice Age” representation. Some of the dinosaurs swayed their tails and necks, and there were roaring sounds. It is obvious that someone agreed to place the exhibit there without thinking it through. The models were extremely close to each other, to the point that a lot of their tails were basically in another one’s snout.

The kids were thrilled though, except the ones who wanted to actually ride the available dinosaurs and their parents told them that it was too expensive – on top of the ticket – for a photo-op. A bigger area would have been more enjoyable, but the way it was crammed in the auxiliary tent took of a lot of its lustre. Not sure about the legality of the Jurassic Park logo either… The models were a bit on the old side – some of them a bit damaged, and others inaccurate, such as a Spinosaur with the old tail, and Nanotyrannus has been deemed a juvenile T-rex for a while now.

Two dinosaurs on jeeps that remind of Jurassic park

DinoExpo XXL general view

A hunt scene and a family scene - with dinosaurs

A model of smallish T-rex and a fossil cast.

I stayed for about forty minutes, then left when the area started crowding up. I really did not feel like doing anything else, so I just drove home.

11th July 2023: Museum of Dreamers in Madrid (Spain)

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After I had so much fun in the Balloon Museum, I decided that I also wanted to see the Museum of Dreamers, which is something similar. Furthermore, it Madrid exhibit will close down at the end of July, too.

After I finished French school in Madrid, I headed headed off to the Japanese fusion restaurant Nomo Braganza, part of the Nomo Group. Nomo was established in 2007 under the culinary direction of Japanese chef Naoyuki Haginoya. I have to say that I don’t really trust the Spanish-Japanese fusion too much, but in this case, it really panned out. I met my sibling for a late lunch, because I was curious about the chef’s menu, what in Japanese would be called omakase [お任せ], which means leaving the choice of food to the chef. The menu was was a whooping 12 small-sized courses for 50€ – drinks not included, and considering it was 39 ºC outside, we ended up ordering a few rounds of water.

The menu, which changes periodically, comprised in July 2023:

  • Age Edamame Truffle – fermented edamame beans fried with white truffle scent. I personally prefer my edamame boiled, but the truffle scent was a nice touch.
  • Sukiyaki Croquette – oxtail croquette breaded with panko breadcrumbs. This was surprisingly good – and the actual flavour was strong.
  • Maguro Taco – mini taco of tuna tartar with wasabi and shiso (the “taco” was weirdly… not taco-shaped, more like cracker-shaped). The tuna was really good, albeit the base was a bit strange.
  • Gyu Niku Gyoza – aged beef dumplings with caramelised onion and yuzu, two of them per person. It was all right.
  • Ebi Chili – spicy king prawns and fried egg on kataifi noodles, mixed at the table. When we are talking spicy, it means… really spicy. The prawn bits were sizeable, but this was really something I would not miss should it disappear from the menu.
  • Toro Tartar No Temaki – tuna tartar prepared at the table: raw tuna belly mixed with Japanese onion, turnip, egg yolk, chilli pepper and wasabi on a bed of nori and rice so you can roll it yourself (spoiler: you really can’t). This was probably one of my favourite items – but I guess that after all I am a raw tuna fan.
  • Brie Nigiri – flamed Brie cheese nigiri with honey and walnuts. This was probably the weakest sushi bite, but it was still good.
  • Butter Fish Nigiri – butterfish nigiri with kimchi and chilli peppers. Butterfish is only good raw anyway.
  • Aburi Salmon Nigiri – flamed Norwegian salmon nigiri, with Japanese mayonnaise, salmon roe and onion. I still prefer raw salmon, but the flame was light so it was barely perceptible.
  • Maguro Tataki No Nigiri Trufa Nose – tuna tataki nigiri with soy and black truffle sauce. This was also really good.
  • Gyu Niku No Tataki – aged beef tataki with caramelised mushrooms and miso sauce. The combination of meat and the mushroom was strange, but when taken separately it was all good.
  • Caramel dorayaki – two halves of a dorayaki filled with salty caramel paste. Unexpected, because the menu listed something else, but it is not as if it was bad at all!

Chef's choice menu at Nomo Madrid

My sibling ordered some green tea out of the menu, and in the end, the drinks did not add as much to the price as I expected. Also, I have to give a shout-out to the pickled ginger we got. Really good.

After having lunch, we took a train towards the Museum of Dreamers, which is stands in Espacio Ibercaja Delicias, a place that seems to always look somewhat abandoned, even when it is stupidly hot and sunny. The exhibit was designed by sisters Elena and Giulia Sella, founders of Postology, an agency specialised in “phygigal” experiences. This concept merges the words “physical” and “digital”, allowing for a number of immersive and surreal experiences. The Museum of Dreamers is one of those things that you have to see with an open mind to have some fun. It comprises sixteen interactive installations which are basically photo-ops – after all, the word instagrammable has been officially accepted on dictionaries. I guess it is a new niche that can be exploited, and to be honest, I can get behind that, because some of these activities are hilarious.

Entry is timed, but they do not hold a very strict waiting policy – at least not on a Tuesday at 17:00 and 39 ºC. There were no timed exhibits or performances either. The first installation is a dark room with a starry sky of sorts, designed maybe to isolate the rest of the exhibition from the outside, maybe as a metaphor (100 Dreamers). Then you get to a semi open space that opens to the smaller installations that allow for fun pictures. All through the space there are motivational sentences and “rules” for safety in the different installation.

There is some kind of cosmic tube with mirror that was dizzying to walk into (Free your power), a tunnel made of hearts with an encouraging message at the end (Do what you love), an upside down room (Change perspective), an downside down bedroom with a giant plush and fun bed covers (Never stop dreaming), one full of disco lamps (Sparkle more), and a neon staircase flanked by colourful palm trees (Step by Step).

Museum of Dreamers exhibits

Afterwards, there is a ball pit – you know, it’s not like I had ever stepped into one before Friday, and now that’s twice in one week – with a “relaxing island” in the middle (Enjoy Today). In front of that, a tunnel made of fake pink flowers with a long table, set for a tea party (Believe in Magic). That managed to make you think of Alice in Wonderland imprint on your brain. Thus, you are in the right mindset for the following room, full of giant mushrooms and flowers that open up at will – theirs, for sure, not the visitors – whole giant butterflies hang around with their wings made out of lights (Wonder).

Museum of Dreamers exhibits

The final part of the exhibit consists on a second row of booths – a colour wheel, a door that opens to a fantasy scenery, a VR experience (Choose your Way), a stage (The stage is yours), some pink telephones (Your Dreams are Calling you), bright lights commanding you to DREAM (Be Bright)… There were two more rooms, one with a sky background and swings (Sky is not the limit), and the other with punching bags reading FEAR, STRESS, ANXIETY and so on (Never Give Up). I can’t punch, but I can strangle, so I choked the hell out of these last two.

Museum of Dreamers exhibits

That was the end of the escapade. It was a fun half-day out.

7th July 2023: Balloon Museum “Pop Air” in Madrid (Spain)

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Part of this summer’s plans involved a three-week French course-and-stay in Montpellier, but I ended up changing my mind – too many hidden costs on top of the already-steep price, and a generalised bad feeling that I could not really define. I decided to take a course in Madrid and use up the evenings to do some exploring in town.

After class, I booked a table at the Chueca shop of the Japanese restaurant chain Sibuya Sushi Bar, which claims to offer a new concept of sushi. Most of what they offer felt pretty normal to me, except some random baos and the desserts. I browsed the website before booking, so when I arrived I had a pretty good idea of what I wanted. Somehow, the waiter did not expect that and was thrown off track. I ordered some ebi furai and a sashimi mix – I have to admit that the size of the sashimi portion did surprise me a little, as I did not expect such a generous serving. Luckily, I had hold on ordering dessert, because the two dishes were more than enough.

Lunch at Sibuya Madrid

There were two temporary exhibits I wanted to check out, and I chose the one that closed down earlier. I checked as I had lunch, and there were tickets available online. I decided to take the underground and buy the tickets in person instead of stressing about making it on time for a particular timeslot. I reached the Balloon Museum on time for the 15:45 entry. The exhibition Pop Air runs from March to July 2023 in the Escenario Puerta del Ángel in Madrid’s Casa de Campo.

Still considered a noon slot, the exhibition was not too crowded at the time I entered, I even had a couple of rooms for myself before I reached a point in which you had to be admitted because the performance was timed. The Ballon Museum‘s Pop Air exhibit is a collection of art pieces that use air and light as their main vehicle.

Artworks:

  • The Goof by Filthy Luker (2021). They are a bunch of “friendly monsters” that observer the world feeding off surprise and happiness. They look… just adorable, as if they were made of giant inflated latex gloves in different colours with huge eyes.
  • Aria, The Breath Immersive Experience by Pepper’s Ghost (2022). A room full of mirrors and digitally-created colourful spheres that spreads to infinite and beyond.
  • Airship Orchestra by Eness (2020). More adorable creatures made out of air, some resembling Japanese peaches, other bunnies, or cacti.

    • Ballon Museum exhibits. The Goof, Aria, Airship orchestra

  • Hypercosmo by Hyperstudio (2021), which is basically a huge ball pit with a show of music and lights.
  • A Quiet Storm by Quiet Ensemble (2022). A dark room where cannons shoot bubbles.
  • Silenus by Max Streicher (2002). A giant, breathing… person… sleeping. It’s a bit creepy, to be honest.
  • Knot by Cyril Lancelin (2017). It is an inflatable… knot, literally a 3D knot made out of a tube.

    • Balloon Museum exhibits: Hypercosmo, A quiet storm, Silenis, Knot

  • Polyheadra by Karina Smigla-Bobinski (2022). It is a room full of balloons with small magnets which you can stick to the wall and the ceiling, and even to each other.
  • Never Ending Story by Motorefisico (2021). Music: Gentle Music by Plume (Netlabel). A lot of decorative balls in a small room full of mirrors and light.
  • Tholos by Plastique Fantastique (2022). A giant black ball surrounded by a plastic structure that imitates the archaeological tholos tombs.
  • Canopy by Pneuhaus & Bike Powered Events (2019). Four palm-tree-like structures that open up and glow if you bike them into life.

    • Balloon Museum Exhibits. Polyheadra, Never ending story, Tholos, Canopy

  • Cloud Swing by Lindsay Glatz with Curious Form (2019). Cute swings held by colourful “clouds” of light.
  • The GINJOS by Rub Kandy (2022). They’re blobs of air with eyes. When I saw them my first impression was “they’re squishy and unstable. I have found my people”. I also found the song hilarious, especially the reference that “GINJOS are not Barbapapa”.
  • Into the Rainbow by Ultravioletto. A VR experience out of which one cannot really take pictures. A white sphere travels through the colours of the rainbow and its symbols – orange candy, yellow rubber duckies, green trees, blue whales, purple… cows(?) and amethyst crystals
  • A number of cute photo booths for picture opportunities, without credit to any particular artist.
  • Parcobaleno by Stefano Rossetti (2020), is a large “inflatable park” for “all the family” (i.e. for kids), which was empty as it was way too hot for any playing.

Ballon Museum exhibits. The swings, the Ginjos, Parcobaleno

All in all, it was a really silly but fun experience. I headed back home afterwards, because even if exploring Casa de Campo is on my list, it was way too hot and I did not have any cold drinks on me. I made an amazing underground-train connection though, which was great because the Casa de Campo stop is pretty far away by public transport – and rather horrible to drive to.