Picasso and the Beach!

I had a much better sleep in the spare room last night ... and ... I might be seeing the last of my head cold!! Thank goodness! We enjoyed a nice egg and cheese croissant in our room before we headed out to the Picasso Museum. We thought about getting tickets online but then determined it might be just as easy to get them at the door ... because ... even those of us with tickets to the Lighthouse Hill had to stand in line behind those that didn't.

We were mistaken. We were required to have tickets to even enter the line. So, we downloaded them while we waited. Thank goodness the old boy remembered his CVC code!!

The Picasso Museum was really interesting! As we wandered through the exhibits, one could begin to see a pattern in his artistry. He seems to layer different views of things upon one another ... and ... the beholder is left to notice what we notice. I was grateful for the names of some of the pieces, because they gave me a hint of what to look for within the frame.

We also learned that he sculpted as well. I had no idea. He passed away in 1973. Some of his last works were on display in the exhibit. It was fascinating to see the world through his eyes! As Picasso was quoted as saying :

"We all know that art is not truth. Art is a lie that makes us realize the truth."

It is so interesting to think of it that way. We also learned that this understanding enabled him to explore the artifice of all artistic practices by uniting the apparently opposing styles of cubism and classicism.

After our time with Picasso, we thought we would head down to the Old Market for lunch. We keyed in the directions into Google Maps and it took us to a nice little mercado instead! Ha ha. Our second attempt was more successful ... but ... oh my gosh ... it was so incredibly busy!! My nervous system was not at all interested in staying more than a minute in the hustle and bustle of it all.

Instead, we wandered all the way back to the Picasso Museum and took a seat in the beautiful little restaurant we had noticed on our way to the market! It was perfect ... because ... we were both seated in the shade but the sun shone brightly upon our table. It made the cutlery too hot to touch, but created the most lovely ambiance.

Guess what the old boy ordered??? Yes. The anchovies. And ... they were good, but only 8/10! He also ordered the salted cod ... also 8/10. Oh ... and the old boy ordered a beer. Beer is served in wine glasses here!!

I ordered the scrambled eggs with mushrooms, ham, chives and shrimp. I had no idea what it would be like ... but ... I was so pleasantly surprised!!! It was visually so beautiful ... and ... 9/10 for taste. We also enjoyed the orange dessert along with a nice espresso. All in all, it was a wonderful lunch!!
There were many locals enjoying this restaurant ... which is a good sign. We also noticed that very few people are on their phones. Instead, they are chatting and laughing while they enjoy their meals.

And, since it was such a nice day, we opted to head home for the beach chairs and spend a little time enjoying the sunshine by the sea. But, once again, we got distracted.

We thought we best take a look and book our train travel from Madrid to San Sebastian. Imagine our distress when it appeared that there were no trains available. We spent the next couple of hours arranging our next destinations as well. The flexibility of not having plans is lovely ... until you need to take yourself out of the place you are in and try to arrange transportation, excursions and accommodations for the places you are headed.

It's six of one and a half a dozen of the other. We hate to lock ourselves into a schedule before we leave because we always get such great ideas from the locals. However ... this lack of trains put a bit of a scare into us. It's getting to be tourist season here and we didn't want to be stuck buying a $660 flight from Madrid to San Sebastian. As it stands now, in 10 days we are taking a 6 hour bus ride instead of the train to Madrid. It will be another kind of experience, right??

After we got some things arranged, it was too late to pack up the chairs and umbrella for the beach, so we filled our green go-cup with some chilled white wine and headed down to the beach to finish walking along the part of the Malecon we had not yet visited.

And, for supper ... we picked up some nice curried chicken empanadas at the grocery store! We had such a big lunch, we will be just fine with less for dinner.

All in all, its been a good day. Tomorrow ... all we have planned is going to the beach ... and then ... packing up to check out and make our way to our next destination.

Sending warmest smiles from our hearts to yours, k&j ❤️Read more