"I am sitting in the garden outside El Museo de Sorolla, a museum filled with the works of Spanish painter Joaquin Sorolla y Bastida. This place is not so much a museum as it is a living memory of the man- the paintings are displayed in his acutal home and studio, and he planned and planted this garden himself."
"The effect is unique for a museum trip- calming, peaceful, an oasis of rest in the heart of Madrid's business district. Cars race by outside the garden walls, but their blaring horns and roaring machinery are drowned out by the gentle splash of a cheerful fountain and the quiet rustling of the trees as they are teased by the wind."
"The house is beautiful enough by itself, even if it was not filled with treasures: a warm buttercream facade with ivory columns and arches, walls inside of deep rust and cool sage, old wooden floors and stairs that creak in greeting, the banisters polished smooth from years of use- this place was a home, and it beckons warmly, inviting the visitor to rest."
Sitting on the bench where i wrote this journal entry.
"The works of Sorolla are fantastic: his use of dappled light, a blending of broad and delicate brush strokes, gentle, swirling colors, and his subject matter- the things closest to his heart, his wife and children, the Spanish people, the seashore, and his gardens- combine to create the heartbeat of the museum. Deep, comfortable, measured, familiar. I love this place."
"I visited the Reina Sofia yesterday, which was a wonderful trip, but the Picasso exhibit left me feeling anxious, claustrophobic, feverish, and uneasy, like being trapped in someone else's nightmare. Modern art just isn't my thing, apparently. Today, the beach scenes and children of Sorolla's artwork were like a gentle breeze on my face. What a joy.
I want to take Mom here, hopefully on her next visit. I think I will come back here on my last day in Madrid. I would like that. Until then, I bid farewell to these gardens and their peaceful greens and soothing blues, to this wonderful house with its inviting warmth and light, and head to La Mallorquina to get some lunch."
A week later, with Mom, at the museum for yet another wonderful visit.
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