Pots in Places

What a wonderful excuse to visit Madrid. My sister Tanya, a professional photographer, was having an exhibition of her photographic collages and invited us to the opening party. How to get there? The quickest option with an airport just up the road was by plane but surprisingly, it was cheaper to fly to London than the relatively short distance to Madrid. There was not much difference time wise between the train and bus. We opted for the bus as it set off at a civilised hour for the six hour journey and was only a couple of stops further on the Metro to our centrally located hotel.

Caixa Forum arts centre and garden wall

Monumental bronze doors of the Prado museum extension

Reina Sofia museum cafe

Having been to Madrid a few times over the years we decided not to run around exhausting ourselves being non stop tourists for the three days we were there as we had already seen most of the major sites and important galleries. Instead we enjoyed a bit of shopping interspersed with lots of coffees and people watching in the sunshine. With local knowledge in the form of my sister and nephew at our fingertips we had fun discovering new trendy areas, bars and restaurants. We did visit the relatively new Caixa Forum, a spectacular industrial looking arts centre. It was formerly a power station which has been cleverly renovated and stands next door to a house with a vertical green garden wall. We had a good explore around this great building and the Warhol exhibition on display was an added bonus. The stainless steel floors and green walls of the loos were also a big hit! Around the corner the Reina Sofia museum just happened to have a free opening day so we popped in and made our way to the vibrant cafe for a much needed sit down.

                            Velazquez' Maids of Honor invade the streets of Madrid

Plaza de Santa Ana

Lighthouse Studio

Finally the big night and opening of the exhibition Pots in Places had arrived. We hopped on the metro to Usera station in Madrid Rio and after a short walk we arrived at the Lighthouse Studio. Tanya had converted her spacious photographic studio into a gallery for the exhibition. We arrived early and set about having a good look at her wonderful collection of colourful photographic collages before it was too crowded. It was a great evening. There was a fabulous spread of food and drink and soon the room was brimming with guests enjoying the exhibition. It was also lovely to catch up with family as well as familiar and new faces but just wish we had persevered with our Duolingo Spanish course for a bit longer! Click on this link for a slide show of private view images.

Poppies, Tiles and Bottles, Tanya Lacey

Lavender and Leaves, Tanya Lacey

The long bus journey back to Almeria seemed to take an age but it gave us plenty of time to ponder on our next move. The big decision was looming ever closer - should we head east or west when we set sail from Aguadulce marina?!

Chinese Lanterns, Tanya Lacey