So when my roommate told me that the museums in Madrid are free with your student ID, I dug through my luggage to find my Pitt ID and let it sit there until I made time to go to the museum.
My bosses were out of the office on Friday and they told me to take the day and do something fun.
So of course I slept in until an indecent hour and then I decided to go to the Museo Reina Sofia.
I felt incredibly cultured as I walked around four floors of exhibits. Unfortunately I have few pictures to show for it because of rules regarding photography.
It was really, really cool after years of looking at reproductions of Dalí and Picasso in Spanish textbooks to see the real things. Reina Sofia has a large collection of work from both artists.
The most random thing I encountered was an exhibit featuring "Rebel Without a Cause". I sat down and watched it for a few minutes.
The most interesting exhibit I encountered was the "Guernica". One of Picasso's most recognized pieces of work and an enduring anti-war statement. I knew the picture but I did not know it's story.
Picasso painted it during the Spanish Civil War in response to a bombing in the Basque Country of Spain. However, he did not think it was safe in Spain following Franco's rise to power and it spent 40 years abroad and only returned after Franco died. It's truly an amazing picture because it is so big: approximately 12 feet high and 25 feet wide.
I really enjoyed walking through the museum and seeing everything. I look forward to going to more museums here in Spain and back home.
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