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Madrid – Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum

[I originally posted this in July 2018, but have reposted it to fix some broken image links]

I had a lot planned for today, which included walking around Madrid to understand the layout a little more, then an art gallery and then some churches and restaurants. Unfortunately, I got a little hot walking about so didn’t manage more than about a mile and then I visited Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum.

The Thyssen, as it is known to friends (their friends, not mine), is an art gallery which I read had a manageable number of artworks, as opposed to the nearby Prado. I visited today as it was free entrance, which was sponsored by Mastercard. There was a long queue to get in, but it moved quickly and so it took under ten minutes for me to get in, which was very reasonable.

I thought that two hours would be enough time for me to look around and I was aware that on Mondays the gallery opened from 12:00 until 16:00. So, I start my walking around the gallery at 12:10, and before I know it, it’s 15:45 and they’re starting to clear everyone out.

The free entrance policy is a really good one, but it did inevitably make the galleries rather busy. But it wasn’t excessively crowded, and I do always fear for those galleries with nearly no-one in them, as they lack atmosphere. I also liked that they let visitors take photos, as that seemed to increase the level of engagement.

Frankly, I thought that the gallery was impeccable in its presentation, design and flow. What I really liked is that their web-site has extensive details on just about every artwork in the gallery. So, a visitor can read in depth about any painting they like, as well as read more about the artist. I can’t begin to understand how long that took them to create, but it added substantially to my visit.

Given that I haven’t managed to do much else today, I will write about some of the artworks that interested me, split over the three floors (floor 0, floor 1, floor 2 ) that there were located in the gallery. I’ll add links to those when they’re written, but I’d certainly recommend a visit here, even at the full admission price.

August 13, 2025
Redhill – Garland Pub

In trying to deal with this extreme heat, I decided that I would seek solace in the pub.

The pub is tied to Harvey’s, which might be obvious from this beer selection, but it was positive to see a choice of different real ales as well as numerous flavours of Tayto crisps. The service was friendly, engaging and warm, so the environment felt welcoming and a place that I might want to actually spend some time.

The pub had a clean and inviting interior. CAMRA notes that it was built as a Victorian corner pub in 1865 and was known as the Anchor until Harvey’s Brewery purchased it in 1992. The pub has been in previous Good Beer Guides, but it seems to have fallen out in recent years, although this is more likely just because there’s strong competition in the area.

Oooh, a bar billiards table. Hopefully I’ll get to play on it one day, I think Surrey has quite an active league going on.

This was my first drink….. There’s a lot to be said for water with ice in a heatwave.

This is the Forward’s Choice from Harvey’s Brewery and it was on the turn. In fairness, I could have taken it back and informed them, but I was too hot and tired to do very much about the situation so I’ll accept that one is my responsibility as these things happen.

The Prince of Denmark from Harvey’s Brewery and this was much better, with flavours of chocolate and liquorice, with the taste being rich and very slightly boozy.

I liked this pub, it had an informal feel to it and a decent selection of beers from Harvey’s, which I don’t get to see much in East Anglia. I like the idea of playing bar billiards here and the whole environment felt comfortable and inviting. I won’t hold the beer on the turn against them as I didn’t tell them and it’s hot and these things happen. It just means I’ll have to come again to try the venue again.

August 12, 2025
Madrid – Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum (Floor 0)

[I originally posted this in July 2018, but have reposted it to fix the broken image links]

And in the last of my three part series which has shaken the art world (ahem) is the ground floor of the wonderful Thyssen gallery. Artworks I liked from the other two floors are at floor one and floor two.

Francis Bacon’s Portrait of George Dyer in a Mirror which was painted in 1968. I hadn’t realised that Bacon died in Madrid in 1992, although this is his only artwork that the gallery has. George Dyer was Bacon’s partner, and he killed himself in 1971 by taking an overdose of drugs.

This artwork went a little over my head, so I’m again reliant on the gallery’s web-site to try and explain what it’s all about. They note that “the violence and brutality of the image, focused on the distortion of the main figure whose face is contorted by a spasm, as if being subjected to a number of forces from which he cannot break free, is heightened by a circular halo of light from a source located outside the painting”.

Pablo Picasso’s Head of a Man which was painted in 1913. I have no idea what this represents, and reading the gallery’s description, I’m not sure that they have either. They mention that elements of a face are visible and that it gives “a certain impression of reality”. I’m not entirely clear what that means, but then again, perhaps art isn’t always created to mean anything.

Richard Estes’s Nedick’s which was painted in 1970. It’s apparently part of the photo-realism, or hyper-realism, and this is something that I can better understand. The content is obviously rather close to my heart, but the clarity of the painting and the clarity I thought is rather beautiful.

Kurt Schwitters’s Merzbild Kijkduin which was painted in 1923. The gallery has five artworks from this German artist and this particular one takes its name from a village near the Hague. Until 1957 this artwork was owned by Hannah Höch, whose work was labelled as degenerate by the Nazis, and she buried her entire art collection, which I imagine locally includes this one, in a well in her garden.

Stuart Davis’s Pochade which was painted in 1956. I’m becoming ever more intrigued into how art experts explain artworks such as this, which don’t seem to mean anything. The gallery description of the artwork is interesting, but can’t explain what the point of it is, or any meaning behind it.

The Wikipedia article about the artist notes “with the belief that his work could influence the sociopolitical environment of America, Davis’ political message was apparent in all of his pieces from the most abstract to the clearest”. I’m at a loss as to how this artwork influences the sociopolitical environment of the US, but I’d be interested to know what thinking lay behind it.

Marc Chagall’s The Cock which was painted in 1928. This seemed a popular artwork when I visited, it seemed to attract people to come over. I can’t add anything much to it, other than to quote the gallery’s description that “Chagall depicts a loving embrace between the animal and a female figure that is generally identified as a harlequin”.

Roy Lichtenstein’s Woman in Bath which was painted in 1963. This is the only artwork the gallery has by the artist, and it’s one they are proud of given their coverage of it in promotional material. To me, this sort of painting rather defines America in the 1960s. Apparently artworks by Lichtenstein reach tens of millions of pounds, quite remarkable given that it’s only fifty years old.

Edward Hopper’s Hotel Room which was painted in 1931. This was another popular artwork with a queue of visitors waiting to take a photograph of it. The gallery has four of Hopper’s works and the theme of this painting is to show loneliness in a hotel room in a city. I rather like hotel rooms, but for those who don’t, there’s a lot of depth in this.

August 12, 2025
Madrid – Almudena Cathedral

[I originally posted this in July 2018, but I’ve reposted it to fix the broken image links]

Madrid hasn’t always been the capital of Spain, and it took some considerable time for the church to arrange to build a cathedral in the city. It built many in the Americas during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, but this one took it a little longer.

The construction work started in 1881 when the foundations for the building were started. Land was given to the church by the neighbouring Royal Palace, meaning that it had an important city location. So, the civil engineers got going to build the cathedral, and then the money ran out. It took until 1911 to construct the crypt, but that was sufficient for services to at least be held.

Work didn’t progress any faster after they finished the crypt. The Spanish civil war started and very little work was undertaken during that period, but in 1950 it was decided to speed things up again. So, it had taken 70 years for the civil engineers and the church to manage to build anything other than the crypt.

But, with the help of the local council, it all started happening again. The nave was covered and completed by 1961 and the city residents looked forwards to having a cathedral that they could be proud of. Then the politicians of Madrid City Council got themselves involved with the process, and then the project stopped again because it ran out of money.

It wasn’t until 1984 that work started again to complete the building, more than a century after they had commenced the construction. With a huge burst of energy, it was completed nine years later and in 1983 Pope John Paul II consecrated it.

The impressive bronze doors.

The exterior of this building is beautiful, this is the view from the Royal Palace side of the cathedral.

The cathedral’s grand nave, which is filled with light.

The altar of Virgen de la Almudena, which is an altar dating back to the fifteenth century.

The organ, which was built and put together by Gerhard Grenzing.

The Gothic chest of Saint Isidro, which dates from the thirteenth century and came from the Archbishop’s Palace.

It’s certainly a very grand building, and surprising that it took so long for the work to be completed, although it was at least finished before the Sagrada Família in Barcelona, which they’re still faffing about with (although that’s a basilica and not a cathedral).

There’s no entrance charge, although a donation of €1 is requested, and a reasonable number of people seemed to be paying it. I particularly liked the display boards that gave some of the history of the building, it helped put numerous elements into perspective.

There were also private areas for those wanting to go to pray quietly or who wanted to go to confession. It felt very much a working cathedral and there was a relaxed and calm atmosphere to the interior of the building, although that was slightly marred by someone with the loudest camera I’ve heard in some time.

I didn’t unfortunately get the chance to visit the adjoining crypt on this occasion, I’ll have to hope that I get to come back to Madrid at some point in the future.

August 12, 2025
Reigate – Reigate Tunnel

Whilst other people are going on fancy holidays around the world, enjoying decadent dining and lying by swimming pools with craft beer, I decided to visit what might be the oldest road tunnel in Europe. It was originally opened in 1823 when there was a toll of 6 old pence per coach, but they removed the toll in 1858 and pedestrians were never charged for using it, a decision that I applaud.

This seems a sensible name for the road. Its construction was needed as the town is on a hill that was proving challenging for the road traffic of the time, namely horses, and there were fears that the developing settlement of Redhill might steal their trade. There’s perhaps a slight irony that the railway line then promptly went straight through Redhill rather than Reigate, which might not have entirely delighted the denizens of the town.

It’s clear from this 1880s map why they decided to make this direct tunnel through to the town centre. In the early twentieth century, the council started to buy up properties so that they could widen the road, but then after doing so, they decided not to widen the road.

The road was made one way in the 1930s and then pedestrianised in the 1970s.

They’ve currently doing some work on the structure.

Inside the tunnel. There were originally vaults here, now accessible on occasional tours, which have been used for numerous purposes over the decades including as a war shelter, munitions storage, as a billiards hall and for alcohol storage. They’ve part of a wider caves network which had been created when they dug out silver sand, but they got a bit enthusiastic and in 1858 there was a bit of collapse which initially seemed sub-optimal, but they instead created sunken gardens to make things feel more positive.

Old signage from when there was a licensed premises here.

The bridge from the town side. They had to demolish two properties on the main street when they constructed it. It remains an important pedestrian link from the railway station and I like the efforts made to provide information boards about its heritage.

August 12, 2025
Reigate – Red Cross Inn

Whilst in Reigate I popped into the Red Cross Inn in the hope of cooling down slightly, which I’m not sure was an aim that was entirely successful, but I left refreshed if nothing else. It’s a Stonegate pub which is branded as part of their Craft Union chain.

Some of the pub’s history (transcript below).

“The Red Cross Inn can be traced back to the 17th century.

In 1652 the inn was owned by William Castleman who was substantial enough to issue his own farthing tokens. This is the earliest record of the inn clearly indicating a going concern.

Situated at the foot of the castle owned by the Earls of Surrey and beside the medieval market place.

The inn stands opposite the site of the medieval chapel of the Holy Cross that stood on an island in the middle of the road after the Reformation used as a barn and demolished in late 1785.

For centuries this hostelry was used by traders & farmers on market day, travellers and generations of townspeople.

Today this inn remains a well known Reigate landmark.”

It was reported in March 1900 that the pub was set back six feet to allow for road widening, so the frontage of the pub likely dates entirely from then. Ironically, there’s quite a gap between the pub and the road now, so that sacrifice might not have ultimately been necessary.

The beer was the London Pride and was well kept and reasonably priced. The beer selection was weak, mostly relying on lagers, with no craft keg beers of note, but I have to accept this is Craft Union and it’s not what they claim to be about. The venue was clean, although it was quite warm in terms of the temperature, although so were most places.

In terms of the negatives, there was no real engagement at the bar as the landlord just kept talking to another customer which I take no offence at, but if I was a new customer coming in for the first time, it wouldn’t have been the most welcoming of services. The landlord also was perhaps quite brave with his commentary on some first time customers who had walked in (and out) and I think I’ll limit my comments to that as I don’t want to be too downbeat about any pub.

An old door in the corner of the venue, which I assume is some sort of nod towards the heritage of the building. Stonegate have recently spent £200,000 on doing up this venue, although it wasn’t immediately obvious to me how they’d invested this money, although architectural features such at the fireplace had been retained.

Overall, it’s all OK and actually the sort of venue that I’d go, which is indeed why I do visit Craft Union pubs. I accept their drinks aren’t really what I want, but their pricing is reasonable and there’s usually some vibrancy to the atmosphere. It was quiet when I went, but I understand it’s busy on weekends and so they must be doing quite a lot right to surprise and delight customers.

August 12, 2025
Madrid – Oven Restaurant

[I originally posted this in July 2018 but have reposted it to fix the broken image links]

Located opposite the city’s history museum was this Italian restaurant, which is part of a small national chain. As it was hot and I didn’t feel the need to walk very far, I thought that it looked a pleasant place for lunch. The heat outside also made the restaurant’s name of Oven feel just that bit more appropriate as well.

The restaurant had no other customers when I entered. Nor indeed did they have any customers whilst I was in there, so I was the sole diner. That did mean that I could choose the table I wanted, so I picked the window seat so that I could people watch. Although, since there was scaffolding up, I spent half the time people watching and the other half scaffolding pole watching.

Nicely presented menu, which as the flag suggests, is available in English.

When in Spain it’s only sensible to have, er, an Italian beer. I was brought over some olives whilst I waited for the pizza.

The diavolo pizza, which looks a little burnt, but it wasn’t, it was perfectly cooked. The beef was similar to that in a bolognese sauce, and that worked nicely on the pizza. There was some pepperoni and the base was thin and crispy, just as I liked it. It was clear that the pizza had been wood-fired and it was all at the appropriate hot temperature.

The pizza cutter seems a bit superfluous with a pizza they had sliced, but the chilli oil added extra spice. The service at the restaurant was attentive and friendly, with the staff member speaking excellent English. All very friendly, the pizza and beer cost around £11, which wasn’t the cheapest in the city, but it was central and I liked the dining environment.

August 11, 2025
Madrid – Álvaro de Bazán Statue

[I originally posted this in July 2018, but have reposted it to fix a broken image link]

Located in the city’s historic Plaza de la Villa is this statue of Álvaro de Bazán. The square is currently being restored and so it’s not possible to get closer to the statue. It was added to the square in 1891 and was sculpted by Mariano Benlliure, who was also responsible for numerous other statues in Madrid.

Álvaro de Bazán lived from 1526 until 1588 and was one of the country’s most famous sailors, responsible for the Spanish Armada. It is said that he was never defeated in his time as an admiral and the navy still has ships named after him today.

August 11, 2025
Madrid – R Line (Ópera and Príncipe Pío)

[I originally posted this in July 2018, but have reposted it to fix some broken image links]

My favourite underground line in London is the Waterloo and City line as I’ve always liked that it’s such a quirky little route which serves just two stations. So I was rather pleased to discover that Madrid has a similar set up, with the R Line which connects Ópera and Príncipe Pío.

Inside the carriage, which is similar to many of the other trains on the underground network. It was relatively busy when I used it, which was at 15:00 on a Tuesday afternoon, with no empty seats remaining. Apparently the line was originally an extension of Line 2, which is why it has that route above the doors.

It’s the only line on the Madrid underground which has a letter, as the other lines are all identified by their number. There are two trains which run to and from the stations, and there is one track at each station. The journey takes around two minutes to travel the entire length of the track, which is just over a kilometre.

And the doors open after my exciting journey… Admittedly this journey isn’t exactly something akin to trekking the foothills of the Himalayas, but it intrigued me.

August 11, 2025
2013 KFC Forest Gate Receipt

As to what’s this doing here….

Of no great relevance, but a minor piece of social history from January 2013 and a two piece variety meal.

August 11, 2025