ART IS EVERYWHERE

One of the things I really enjoy in Cuenca is that art seems to be everywhere.  I will be walking along and a door which was closed yesterday is open today, and voila, there is an art exhibit.

 The other day Jim and I happened upon a really fun exhibit of artwork by Eduardo Segovia.  This is in a great space near the cathedral and is called Casa de la Cultura, Salon del Pueblo.  The gallery is free.  Whenever I see the doors to this gallery open, I always go in because the space itself is lovely and invariably there is a good exhibit.

We had never heard of this artist but really enjoyed his unique homage to Picasso and Miro.

Danza del Lobo

La fiesta de la caperucita

Besides many wonderful black on white paintings he also had some ceramics on display.

Gemelos precolombinos

When we got home we Googled him and learned that he is known as one of Ecuador's top ceramicists and that he is entirely self taught.  He has exhibited worldwide and is especially well known in the Netherlands.

Yesterday our Sunday walk took us to the square where the modern art museum (Museo de Arte Moderno) is located.  It's another really old, fabulous space with interior courtyards.

I noticed that the door was open so I went in while the rest of our party went down to the square.  This museum is also free.

The majority of the works seemed to be nature related, that is, items were constructed of chicken bones, chicken feathers, butterfly wings, things found while beachcombing, etc.  This was my favorite work, made entirely of fish vertebrae.

This museum also has plenty of places for outdoor sculpture.  I especially like this large hummingbird.

Not all works were by local artists.  This one, utilizing an old dictionary and insects, was constructed by US artist Tim Weaver.

Naciendo en los Bosques

I really liked his construction which used the old photos as a back drop for the entomology collection.

Outside once again and the artwork continued with this random scene on the side of a building.

Art seems to be part of everyday life here and I like that.

Audrey

BARCELONA!

Yesterday we left Madrid by high speed train (AVE) to Barcelona.


We love traveling by train because you can see where you are going and you don't have to watch out for road signs. Also train stations seem to dump one into the middle of town instead of miles away like airports do. This 3 hour trip was very nice, but a bit boring as the countryside was quite arid and brown. The highpoint of the trip was the snacks

and lunch.

(Note the baby bottle of olive oil. This was absolutely scrumptious on the hard whole wheat roll. Under the foil is tortellini).

Once we got settled in our hotel in Barcelona and got a chance to walk around I was thrilled to see narrow windy medieval streets like in Florence.



I am very happy that I found a hotel in the Barri Gothic, or "Gothic" (old) neighborhood. We are about 2 blocks from the Picasso Museum.

Barcelona seems to have everything I was missing in Madrid. There is artwork and artful expression everywhere.



This amazing pattern on the ceiling in our dinner restaurant was caused by clear glass wine bottles placed in the chandelier.

The dinner there was also lovely - we had this beautifully presented warm goat cheese salad

followed by roasted rabbit.

I have been able to continue to indulge my amusement in funny signage.

The Barcelona take on chicken nuggets:
Next time - what do you do when engulfed in a massive thunder storm?

Audrey