Coronavirus has officially arrived in Madrid. As recently as last week, I watched news of the unfolding pandemic with shockingly limited perception. I listened when friends explained the long-lasting effects on the economy and the importance of social distancing. But the phenomenon still felt far away. I scheduled yoga classes. I visited museums, worried about my book edits and generally went on about my life. That’s crazy about everything happening in Italy, I would think when I browsed through Instagram. I agreed that the phenomenon certainly seemed serious. But, even as the streets in Madrid grew quieter, it seemed serious somewhere else. Somehow, the idea that the same measures would…
The Prado, Madrid: Five Fabulous Things
The Prado Museum in Madrid is viewed as the epicenter of the art scene for the city, if not the whole country. It’s with good reason-the Prado is Spain’s national art museum, and it contains more than 7,000 paintings and thousands of other important Spanish works of art. Now that I’m living back in Spain, I’m delighted to spend time at the Prado again, visiting my favorite paintings. While The Prado certainly has more than five fabulous things, here are my favorites: 1 Las Meninas by Velasquez (Room 12) One of the most important painters in Spanish history was Diego Rodriguez de Silva y Velasquez (Spanish people have crazy last…
Leaving the Atocha Station
Disclaimer: Leaving the Atocha Station is actually the name of a novel by Ben Lerner. I haven’t read it but I’m sure it’s great-you can check it out on Amazon here. The title came to mind this week as I was, well…leaving the Atocha Station, probably for the last time in a while. For the four years I’ve lived in Madrid, I’ve gone through Atocha on average twice a day (it’s part of my work commute). It’s the Grand Central of Spain. As a rabid devoted New Yorker, I am stalwart in defending Grand Central as one of the greatest train stations in the world, but after four years in…