GOING FOR A STROLL IN SOME PARKS OF THE CITY

Now that spring has just arrived I felt like writing a springly post. And what better than writing a post about parks? (The photos have been taken by myself during some of my visits to some parks in Madrid).

The Retiro Park

It is Madrid's main park. El Parque de el Retiro, is not far from the city's main tourist attractions such as the Prado Museum and is a very popular and magnificent place for a stroll. Home to several sculptures, monuments, and a boating lake, it also presents an annual book fair, and there are free concerts throughout the summer. Many local families spend their Sunday afternoons here, renting a horse-drawn carriage or paddling a rowboat in the pond. But it wasn't always this democratic, as in the 17th century only the royal family was allowed to use it privately, hosting pageants, bullfights, and mock naval battles. Only a century later did it open to the public, but even then visitors had to be formally dressed to enter.

The Royal Botanical Garden

Madrid's botanical garden was inspired by king Fernando VI and then another king, Carlos III, inaugurated it in 1781. Especially attractive are the wild roses of many hues and varieties, and the Classical Romantic Garden with a duck pond.

The Campo del Moro and the Sabatini Gardens

These gardens belong to the Royal Palace and were opened to the public in 1978 by order of the king Juan Carlos I.

The West Park

This is Madrid's best landscaped park, structured according to the style of British or naturalistic parks with great open grass spaces and copses. In the bottom half of the park we can find the Rosaleda, the rose garden. Nearby, it is possible to take the cable car or Teleférico to the Casa de Campo.

The Casa de Campo Park

Literally called the "Country House", the Casa de Campo consists of 1722 hectares and is therefore one of Europe's largest public parks. In the 16th century, king Felipe II ordered the purchase of the Vargas' country house, around which further grounds and estates were added. The park was declared the "Royal Forrest" under the reign of king Fernando VI. It suffered enormous damage during the Civil War and was finally handed over to the City Authorities in 1963. Its flora is represented mainly by Mediterranean oaks, ash groves, copses and reafforrestation areas; the fauna by a variety of birds and small mammals, rodents, and insects. It has a trade fair area, an amusement park, Madrid's Zoo and the Teleférico (cable car).

The Capricho Park

El Capricho (literally, a whim) is one of the most beautiful, charming and atractive parks in the city. Though this park is still quite unknown even to Madrid´s inhabitants. Maybe because it is not in the center of the city and it only opens on weekends.

In the XVIII century the Duchess of Osuna bought this ground. She belonged to a well known aristocratic family interested in music, arts and literature. They wanted the garden to become a place for leisure and enjoyment. The idea was to create a park where the visitor would be surprised by different small buildings and special arrangements, like a labyrinth, which would appear unexpectecly while walking in the park.

The Fuente del Berro Park

The origins of these gardens date back to 1631, when the owner of the land, the Duke of Frías, sold a large piece of property to King Felipe IV. It had a wealth of orchards and abundant water from a spring that irrigated then, which was known as the Fuente del Berro spring. In the present day, lush plant life, trees, including some age-old specimens, statues and monuments scattered throughout, as well as the summerhouses, lodges and pavilions that can also be seen from the paths, contribute to preserving the look of this late 19th/early 20th-century garden.

This park occupies 7.4 hectares, 1200 square metres of which have been used to plant certain species of plants that are easily recognised by blind people due to their touch and smell.

The Quinta de los Molinos Park

This park is the perfect place to watch the flowers blossom on the countless almond trees in spring, I was declared a Historical Park and is considered part of Madrid's cultural heritage.

And after showing you some of the parks of my city to go strolling, let me wish you a very happy spring!

Source:

http://www.esmadrid.com/

http://www.gomadrid.com/

http://www.aboutmadrid.com/

MONA LISA'S TWIN SISTER PAINTING DISCOVERED AT THE PRADO MUSEUM, 500 YEARS ON

painted by Francesco Melzi (supposedly)

Recently Spain's Prado Museum has revealed a replica of Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa, also known as "La Gioconda'', describing it as the most important known copy of the iconic painting. The discovery of the "twin sister" of "La Gioconda'' (came to light February 1st) was "a real revelation", said Gabriele Finaldi, a Prado deputy director responsible for restoration and investigation.

The replica had been at the Madrid museum for years, but it had been merely regarded as just another copy of the Mona Lisa, which da Vinci painted sometime between 1503 and 1506.

Experts began to restore it in order to lend it for an exhibition at the Louvre in Paris, which has the original Mona Lisa and it was then when they made the breathtaking discovery, hidden beneath black overpaint while in the Louvre’s original, Mona Lisa’s face is obscured by old, cracked varnish, making her appear almost middle aged, in the recently restored Prado's copy we see her as she would have looked at the time, as a ravishing young woman in her early 20s.

The Mona Lisa at the Prado in Madrid was thought to be just another fine copy, with added eyebrows and an odd black background. But curators at Spain's national art museum on Wednesday announced a startling discovery: the painting was actually executed by one of Leonardo da Vinci’s key pupils (probably Francesco Melzi), at his workshop at Florence, working alongside the master.

The artist who made the copy repeated all of da Vinci's original corrections, repainting the outlines of the Mona Lisa's waist and head, the position of her fingers, and making changes to her cheeks and neck.

The replica gives keys into how da Vinci created the Mona Lisa and into his working methods generally, restorer Ana Gonzalez Mozo said. She described the "twin" as "the most important version of La Gioconda known until now."

The Mona Lisa is widely believed to be a portrait of Lisa Gherardini, a Florentine merchant's wife, and the copy makes her look younger and more seductive. Miguel Falomir, chief conservator for renaissance painting, said, "When the X-ray revealed the landscape, it was in extraordinary condition. It was the most surprising thing in the 14 years I've been here." It has belonged to the museum at least since 1666, first as part of the royal collection and then as a state treasure. The black background behind the female figure had been added on top of a Tuscan landscape identical to that in da Vinci's original.

painted by Leonardo da Vinci

La Gioconda is definitely one of the most popular paintings worldwide and one of the works of art that has inspired the greatest number of artists over the centuries, from those who tried to copy its enigmatic smile to classic pop-art versions, to famous Salvador Dali's Self Portrait as the Mona Lisa. Here you are a handful of Mona Lisa versions:

Roy Lichtenstein

Picasso



Matt Groening

a guess?

another guess?

a ciber Mona Lisa

Mona Lisa's earliest copy will be lent to the Louvre at the end of March as an addition to the exhibition Leonardo’s Last Masterpiece: The Sainte Anne (29 March-25 June).

Last Saturday I could see the painting, after waiting for nearly an hour in a long queue and it was quite difficult to watch it properly, because there were so many people staring at it, but finally I was lucky enough to watch it and have the chance to compare it with a copy of the Gioconda painted by da Vinci, that was hanging nearby. And there were, at least, three big differences that catch my attention: the painting colour, the model's smile and the model's age. The colour of the painting is much stronger at the Prado's Gioconda (which I found more attractive than the dark colours on the Leonardo's Mona Lisa), the smile in the Louvre's Gioconda is more enigmatic and related to the age, the Prado's Gioconda seems to be younger. Anyway  you can see by yourself and tell the differences looking at both paintings below, do you want to try?

Really, is this painting ever going to stop surprising us?

Source:
The Independent
Stripes.com

6 EASY STEPS TO ENJOYING A VINO TINTO FROM SPAIN

Spain has become one of the leaders in the wine world, producing high-quality wines at mind-blowing prices. There are several types of unique grapes and wines being produced throughout the entire country, offering everything from a fruity white wine to a full-bodied, bold red, so there is a wine for every person, at every price range.

Spain has over 70 (Quality-Approved) wine regions, and has more vineyards planted to land than any other country in the world. Spain places third in terms of volume of wine produced, behind France and Italy. So much wine is made in Spain that there are many wines that are not even shipped out of the country. All the great wines are available around the world, but there are some amazing small batch wines that can only be found within the country, usually they are from small wineries in small, unknown wine regions.

And today I have another guest blogger, I should better say several bloggers, who have a very interesting blog for any foreign people who visits or lives in Madrid, Cheap in Madrid.com, (with cheap and free events in Madrid, I truly recommend it!) in which they have made a simple guide to enjoying red wines of Spain. Please come in and have a look……

CHOOSE YOUR:

1. Price

You can find delicious wines in Spain for under 10 euros, but the range of price and quality is immense. Decide how much you are willing to spend first, so you can narrow down your choices from there.

2. Region

In Spain, food and wine quality is regulated by its Denominación de Origen (designation of origen), based on the region from which it comes. The most famous regions for red wine are:

• Rioja

• Ribera del Duero

• Priorat (Catalunya)

The differences between the wines of these regions has a lot to do with the micro-climates of the areas and different wine-making processes, but I encourage you to experiment with them to understand the what distinguishes their tastes.

3. Grape

• 100% Tempranillo

• Blend

• Granacha (if you choose Priorat)

The rockstar grape of Spain is Tempranillo. You will find some blends of varietals such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Granacha (Grenache), Merlot and more. There are certainly more grapes than these listed in Spain, but these are the most common, and a great start.

4. Classification

• Joven: very little aging

• Crianza: aged at least for 1 year, at least six months of which in oak

• Reserva: aged for 3 years, at least 1 year of which in oak (and the rest in bottle)

• Gran Reserva: aged 5 years, 18 months of which in oak

The younger wines are not necessarily worse, but have a different flavors, complexity, and structure. Gran Reservas usually only come out during “excellent” harvests.

5. Vintage

Spanish vintages are rated on this best-to-worst scale: Excelente, Muy Buena, Buena, Regular. The following recent years are considered “Excellent:”

• Rioja: 2001, 2004, 2005, 2010

• Ribera del Duero: 2001, 2004, 2009, 2010

• Priorat: 2001, 2004, 2005

6. Food pairing!

The Tempranillo grape is a wonderful food wine because of it’s medium body. Two keys to food pairing: flavors that you find in the wine & foods from the region the wine originates. A few safe options for most Spanish red wines:

• Mature cheese (Manchego, for example, with a Ribera del Duero)

• Jamón Ibérico, Chorizo, or Lomo

• Green Olives

• Pickled Veggies

• Patatas alioli

• Hearty meats and veggies (for older wines and especially Priorat)

And Listo! You are ready to enjoy your vino tinto!

Source:
The cheap in Madrid.com