Pipocas dragged me out of the house yesterday afternoon for art and burgers. I wasn’t sure if I was up to it as the op was just over a week ago and I’m still in a fair bit of pain and discomfort. But as the weather forecast was calling for RAIN until next Tuesday, I thought I’d better try and get out. And it really was worth the effort. . .
First we walked down to the Plaza Nueva to see a recently installed exhibit of Rodin sculptures … it was weird to actually see The Thinker in person. Do you get that same “is this really happening?” feeling when you see a very famous work of art up close and personal? After that we went on a mission to try and find a small duvet cover for – you guessed it – a small duvet that I was planning to use to keep warm whilst reading or watching DVDs in the living room. No luck. By this time I was getting pretty tired so we made our way back towards home through the Plaza Salvador and took in an exhibit of sculptures by Dalí. I don’t know what’s going on but the street art here has sure taken a dramatic turn for the better lately.
Then it was off to our favourite Irish pub Flaherty for a couple of burgers and a lot of talking. It didn’t seem right to have tapas without wine, but burgers & mineral water went together just fine. Finally got home after having been out for around three hours feeling totally exhausted and then had to climb the long three flights of stairs up to casa az.
Flopped into comfy chair (inherited from Dr A earlier this year) turned on the radiator and (upside down) heater, and got cosy with (coverless) duvet and my Sunny bunny. Don’t we look warm and happy?
Thanks for a lovely afternoon, Pip!
~ more Rodin & Dalí pics ~
casa azahar 
You look warm, happy and very tired. Sounds like you had a very non-stressful and soul satisfying afternoon.
I know what you mean about being in the same place as great works of art. When I was very young I got to go to Europe. We went to the Louvre and I saw the Mona Lisa, which struck me as being very small for such a famous work of art.
Michaelangelo’s David was on loan to the Louvre when we were there also, and we were run through the well lit atrium where he was standing. I wanted to stand there for a lot longer, but “Hurry hurry, the tour has other places to go. . .” was the refrain all day that day. I had a similar experience when we were in Rome and stopped to see the Pieta and Moses.
Later on in my life I made a solo road trip to the Smithsonian Institution. they have a good display of Monets there, and I remember how sweet it was to just sit in the gallery with the Water Lilies painting and soak it in.
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You DO look tired! You should take it easy… LIGHT walking!
Re: Duvet cover… I made my own duvet cover using Queen sized sheets. In the past, I have bought designer sheets on sale and made duvet covers, curtains and bed hangings but for Mom and myself, I bought plain white sheets and a whole lot of Pebeo Setacolour (that is the transparent fabric paint. Setacolour is the opaque) and dyed my own.
Mom’s duvet cover (mine is a pink version of same): http://public.fotki.com/Mudhooks/my_stuff/artistic_stuff/hand-dyed_fabric/img_0030.html
http://www.pebeo.com/us/index.htm
Re: Rodin… I saw The Thinker at the Rodin Museum in Paris many years ago. I think the work of art that awed me most, though, was Van Gogh’s “The Church at Auvers”.
I visited the Jeu de Pommes museum in Paris and at the top of a creaky landing was this amazing painting. It was mesmerizing! The colours are brilliant and the brush strokes make you feel as thought the building is shimmering…
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Art and burgers are an excellent combo in my books. Throw in a cool brew and it’s even better.
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Art and cats is, hands down, the best of all.
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I got to see the Pieta when it was at the New York’s World Fair in 1964. That was so great. The Seattle Art Museum has a huge statue of Guan Yin, a Buddhist boddhisatva, which I am partial to, that also inspires awe in me. The outdoor sculpture around here that passes for art? Meh.
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“You DO look tired! You should take it easy… LIGHT walking!”
I do? I thought I just looked blurry. And yeah I know, I know, but once I was OUT I just kinda wanted to keep going. Because I’m sure as hell not going out in the RAIN in my condition. Luckily the visiting nurse told me the other day that he’d come over on Monday to remove the staples, so I won’t have to go to the health centre.
David and the Pieta are on my want-to-see list, hmh and Silverstar. I think Pipocas had a similar response to David.
Oh wow, Anneke – thanks for the Church at Auvers link. I’d never seen it before. Fabulous. As for making my own duvet cover … are you nuts? 😉
A cool brew (or more likely, glass of rioja) will have to wait awhile longer, mister anchovy. I forgot to ask the surgeon about this before leaving hospital and so I checked with Ricardo (from The Team) last night and he said after about ten days. Which seems a bit soon to me, but what do I know?
“Art and cats is, hands down, the best of all.”
Anything and cats works for me, sledpress. 🙂
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Take it easy now! Burgers, art, cats…what’s not to like? What size duvet cover are you looking for (in actual measurements). It always amazed me that the EU didn’t impose common sizes for bed linen, so that French, Luxemburgish and German sizes f’rinstance are all different – pillows as well as duvets!
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there are many copies of The Thinker, I’m not sure how many Rodin authorised but I think there are at least three or four real copies on exhibit in different countries at any one time
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I have plenty of surplus single duvet covers and would be glad to snail-mail you one. Is blue ok? And would you like patterned or plain?
Just had an idea – I’ll take some photos and you can choose.
Glasgow has a copy of Rodin’s Thinker in the Burrell Collection. Worth a visit if you’re ever in the vicinity.
My friend’s grandfather was responsible for bringing a Dali painting to Glasgow – Christ of St John of the Cross. I’m so not a religious person but this painting, seen in the flesh so to speak, is special.
http://www.glasgowmuseums.com/venue/page.cfm?venueid=4&itemid=68
Out of all the museums and galleries, the Musee d’Orsay in Paris and the Gulbenkian in Lisbon are my top faves.
The first has many Monets and the second is beautifully eclectic.
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I second you on Gulbenkian , T.
Haven’t been there for more than 30 years, so I hope to be able to visit once more.
I had a very odd culinary experience there. In the cafeteria I bought something I was sure was some kind of doughnut. I turned out to be something meaty. Still haven’t got a clue what I ate. Just that it was not a doughnut. 😀
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The museum and the aquaduct were two things I missed seeing when I was in Lisbon last year (took that tedius daytrip to Sintra instead). Next time. I just had a look at the museum website … they even have ecards!
Museu Gulenkian
A meat-filled doughnut sounds good to me, dq.
“It always amazed me that the EU didn’t impose common sizes for bed linen”
It’s crazy, Bea. My M&S duvet (180cm x 180cm) is too square for Spanish duvet covers (180cm x 200cm), and pillows here are a longish rectangular shape with the pillow cases open on both ends. And IKEA has all different sizes for their bedding too.
The actual size of this small duvet is 135cm x 180cm. The smallest size at the shop I went to yesterday was 150cm.
“I’ll take some photos and you can choose.”
Hey, thanks Teuchter! It’s just an old duvet I inherited from next door after someone moved out. Ironically IKEA actually has cheap Indian cotton covers just the right size for it, and they only cost about 6 euros, but getting out there isn’t possible for me at the moment.
And so, I am definitely paying for overdoing it yesterday. Turned out not to be rainy today, so late this morning I suggested to Nog that we go for a walk to the supermarket, and to find some ‘house gloves’, while the sun was shining. When we got to the main street I realised I was STARVING so we stopped at the Horno San Buenaventura for some toast and fresh OJ, then headed off towards the supermarket (about a 15-minute walk from home). Well, I didn’t even make it half-way there. Had to turn around and hobble back and then immediately flopped into bed for an hour or so. Bleh.
But no need to scold me further – I have learned my lesson!
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IKEA? I work less than a mile from the Belfast store, and can easily pop in during my lunch hour. Email me the details and your address and I’ll send some over to you.
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<>
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Oops
That was something along the lines of ^Studiously avoids telling az “I told you so”…^
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Thanks for posting that van Gogh picture mudhooks. I think I’ve seen it once in an exhibition in London many, many years ago, but I’d love to see it again. I haven’t got round to visiting the Jeu de Paumes museum yet – might do that tomorrow or next weekend. (Although a quick google suggests it might have moved to the Musee d’Orsay now.)
az, I don’t get that feeling much with famous art. Usually I just find it a bit of a let down after all the hype (although very occasionally they live up to the hype, some Picasso paintings in particular for me). Seeing the Mona Lisa in Paris is a real disappointment, it’s tiny and there are ten million tourists between you and it unless you want to fight your way to the front. The Thinker is great, but no more so than most of Rodin’s sculptures. Btw, the Rodin museum in Paris is fantastic, one of my favourites. Definitely worth a visit if you’re in Paris, especially if it’s a nice day as many of the sculptures are outside in the garden.
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Thanks, Bea. I don’t know if they’ll have the same cheapy duvet covers there (or even here still). They’re just unbleached Indian cotton, about 6 euros.
Just couldn’t help yourself, eh Anneke? 😛
From what I’ve heard, most people are disappointed by the Mona Lisa, Dan. I agree with you about Picasso – when I saw Guernica a couple of years ago it really took my breath away. I’d love to see the Rodin museum in Paris – Pip was telling me how wonderful it is. And of course then you could take me out for lunch! 🙂
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🙂
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The thing about Rodin that leaves me sort of “sixes and sevens” is that while the work is “his” he make maquettes (small versions of the work) and the workers and students made the full-sized works, even the marble pieces…. They did the hard work and he got the credit.
I suppose the same can be said for many of the great masters, but to me it feels sort of “not right”.
I still thinks the works are amazing. I just like to think of them as more of a collaborative work rather than all Rodiin’s.
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… minus the extra i, of course….
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May I ask why you are linked back to a deleted WordPress blog?
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I don’t know….
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az, that would be great! 🙂
Mudhooks, I dunno about that sort of thing. Does one admire the craftsmanship or the overall thing? Probably a bit of both. Anyway, I’m happy to call it a collaborative effort. It’s a bit like with films, who gets the credit? The director? The actors? The writer? Or any of the other hundreds of people who worked on it?
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It’s weird. I can log into my account and my blog dashboard but when I try and log in after logging out from the logout on your space, I am told that I don’t exist…
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Lets try this
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Nope
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Last try… I promise.
I noticed that the settings on my blog said that my blog was mudhooks rather than mudpuddle
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Shawn!!! I’m so happy to hear you are up and about. Wow, things really seem to be happening in Sevilla — a Rodin exhibit and a Dali exhibit? Very cool. While you are recuperating, you might enjoy watching the new HBO vampire show, written by Alan Ball, the same writer of Six Feet Under. It’s not out on dvd yet, but you can watch it at surfthechannel.com. They have everything. I’m going to check out more of your blog. K.
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Hey Kristin – nice to see you here! 🙂
I checked out surfthechannel.com – very cool. However, the only options for True Blood (which looks quite good) have huge Japanese subtitles taking up about a quarter of the screen. Will definitely watch some other stuff though.
Yeah, I can’t believe how good the street art is right now. You wouldn’t have believed the crap they had up in the Plaza Nueva before this exhibit – it actually hurt my eyes to look at it. Hideous.
Recuperation is going slowly but surely. The nurse is supposed to come over tomorrow morning to take out my staples, though he might end up only taking out half tomorrow and the rest on Wednesday. The constant pain is really starting to get to me – it wasn’t nearly this bad last time (though I think it was worse the first time). Oh well…
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OK, anyone know of a *reliable* feed reader? Google Reader, not so much…
Glad to hear you made it out, az! And I know the “out of gas” feeling as well; I would set out to do something, and find myself having to give up on it, because I ran out of energy. Not very often anymore, thank Bob.
Duvet is a great idea, wish I had one I could convert to a house kimono or something — it’s so cold.
Maybe someone who knits could make you some “fingerless” gloves? I’m thinking of trying my hand at it, but haven’t knitted in a LONG time.
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I think I’ve mentioned Netvibes to you a few times, SC – have you tried it? You can customize your page and add widgets so you have everything you need there (blog feeds, newspapers, email, facebook, twitter, etc). And you can also make a public page that others can follow – here’s mine. It’s especially useful if you are travelling or using a different computer because all your stuff is on one page.
Yeah, I’m thinking of cutting a whole in the centre of that duvet and wearing it like a poncho. It’s one I inherited when someone next door moved out. Too small for either bed here, but a perfect size for the comfy chair.
Update on staples: got them all taken out yesterday and the nurse told me there wasn’t any infection. But I’m still getting some ‘leakage’ and am still in incredible pain (and you know I don’t exaggerate when it comes to pain). It just doesn’t feel right that the pain is actually getting worse and not better. Anyhow, the nurse said he’d call me Thursday morning and come over again if I needed him. If this keeps up I won’t be going to Málaga this long weekend. 😦
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Thanks, az! I remembered you had done something or other with them, but I didn’t realize it was a feed reader.
I think I’m addicted to the idea, now. It’s just too much hassle having to bop all over the net to check up on friends, etc.
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I’m so glad to see that you’re more or less up and about. I’m not happy, however, about the pain.
I’m thinking of you.
anhaga
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“Do you get that same “is this really happening?” feeling when you see a very famous work of art up close and personal?”
Just wanted to confess that when Pip and I walked through the Plaza Nueva yesterday we walked right past the Rodin exhibit and after the most cursory of glances said, “Meh, The Thinker … still there”.
Still, I’ll miss him when he’s gone…
*waves to anhaga*
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