A lot of Spain to catch up on. Cadiz, Málaga and Barcelona (of course). David and I had visited Cadiz on one of our favorite cruises. I decided to take a tour to Jerez de la Frontera and visit Gonzalez Byass, home of Tio Pepe. Beautiful town and loved visiting the winery. I particularly liked looking at the signatures and drawings on the barrels from visitors of note. Liz Taylor and Mike Todd, Stephen Spielberg and Amy Irving, Chelsea Clinton, Orson Wells, Jean Cocteau, and some British royals. Afterwards, I was looking at the pictures and on one of the barrels grouped with the royals I was trying to decipher the signature. Soraya Esfandiary, the second wife of the Shah of Iran (thank you internet). She visited on the day I was born. I think the wine has aged enough.
They were busy when we visited getting ready for a Christmas party and a big wedding. After Cadiz, we were off to Málaga. After being pretty chilly in Jerez, I prepared for Málaga by dressing more warmly. Of course it wasn’t as cold, being on the Mediterranean as opposed to the Atlantic coast, so I sweated. A lovely city, and as we were wandering, I noticed ads for a production of Gypsy. Directed by Antonio Banderas. I love that he has a theatre company in Málaga that does Spanish translations of American musicals. I always like to see musicals in different languages. David and I once saw Man of La Mancha in Madrid in Spanish. An incredible production. Although, my all time favorite was Grease in Prague. Now if I can snag a ticket to Les Misérables in Paris!
What can I say about Barcelona? All the cities in Spain have been lit up for the holidays. The weather has been wetter than I’d like, but, aside from last night, I avoided getting wet. The one time I leave the umbrella in the room, I get drenched. It was after a nice evening of tapas at Tapas 24, so I won’t complain. My hotel is in the Gothic Quarter, so I’m just wandering the streets and alleys. Graffiti and wall art are everywhere.
I visited two museums, so far. MOCO and The Picasso Museum, and both are worth a visit. MOCO is the Modern and Contemporary art and Picasso is, well, Picasso. MOCO has some really interesting pieces. I loved seeing one of Keith Haring’s subway drawings that had been torn from the subway wall. I remember seeing them for the first time on the subways in NY in the 80’s. I also remember seeing him in the halls of SVA in ‘79-‘80 and knowing he was going to do something interesting.
The Picasso museum had a special exhibit of works by Catalan artists working in Paris.
Tonight I have a ticket to a concert at Palau de la Música Catalana. An evening of Handel and Bach in an art nouveau masterpiece. I’m excited.