Spent a Saturday afternoon at the Reina Sofia museum. (free after 14.30) Not my favourite museum in Madrid I have to say. For me, Picasso’s Guernica is the only stand out piece and the Dali’s on display are disappointing (guess all the best stuff is in Figueres??). However, if you walk... and walk and walk... you’ll find their terrace. Unfortunately it’s cunningly located so as to force you to view all exhibitions first (philistine I know :P) but it’s worth it.
I've been meaning to big up La Casa Encendida here for a while. Discovered it a couple of months back and it's fast becoming one of my favorite places in Madrid.
It's a cultural centre sponsored by the bank / credit union Caja Madrid and is full to the brim with interesting events, great short and feature length sceenings, exhibitons, free internet and... an AMAZING rooftop hangout area. Apparently from next month, they'll be showing movies there at night so I'll know where I'll be this summer.
Check out some snaps from the weekend, hung out in the garden and then headed to the screening of the somewhat bizarre Aardvark.
Really starting to appreciate this area now I live beside it. That said, I brought my mate for walk through the neighbourhood over the weekend and in the space of 3 minutes she saw a man poo-ing, a drug deal and a man rooting through a bin for clothes. Note to self - might not be a place to bring visitors. Excellent photo exhibition with some cool wall art just off Ronda de Valencia though.
This morning I took my hung-over self off to the Caixa Forum for some culture to replace the brain cells lost last night. Caixa Forum is one of my most favourite places in Madrid. Located within the museum triangle, it’s got an amazing vertical garden at its entrance, a brilliant gift shop (seriously, all my Christmas presents are coming from here) and great exhibitions
The current exhibition is dedicated to Fellini. Did you know Fellini invented the term paparazzi? Definitely a useful pub quiz fact :)
In the 1950s Rome became the new Hollywood as American productions began filming in Italy to cut costs. Few photographers were allowed access to the sets so the rest wandered the streets in search of stars and scandals with the best shots making the front pages. Fellini provided the name for this new breed of photographers in La Dolce Vita with his character Paparazzo – a photographer. From then on, the new photographers were called paparazzi...
