Madrid

We woke up on Sunday our last day in Spain and drove the hour North to Madrid.  We had some time before we needed to get to the airport so we decided to check out the Centro de Arte Reina Sofia or Spain’s modern art museum.  The museum once was Madrid’s first public hospital. 
We were all feeling a little like Cole in the picture above.  Tired and ready to go home, but we still found our smiles and saw some neat things. 


We were able to get cultured by seeing lots of Salvador Dali above and Picasso below. 

 
This is Picasso’s most famous piece of artwork called Guernica.  They mean business when they guard this painting.  It is huge and has a machine next to it that I guess protects it during non viewing hours.  A lady walks around and stares you down if you have a camera and yells at you “no photos”.  My camera accidentally took this picture (WITHOUT a flash so as not to hurt the painting), when she was not looking.  It is going through a rebellious stage these days and does this sometimes. 
Guernica is Spain’s most impressive piece of art according to Rick Steve’s.  It is not only art, but history as it captures the bombing of Guernica , a proud Basque market town in northern Spain who was targeted for the world’s first saturation bombing on civilians thanks to Franco giving permission to his fascist ally Hitler.  A sort of guinea pig city to try out Germany’s new air force.   LOVELY ideas guys. 
After getting cultured at the Art Museum, we had just enough time to swing by the temple before heading to the airport.  It was a beautiful temple with gorgeous flowers all in bloom.   
 
  Such a great trip…..and memories for our first Spring Break in Europe.