Episode 13, 5/28/2009 – Becquer is my homedog/Brownie con Sandy kind of day.

Today was a fun day. Being a major nerd, one of my favorite things to do when visiting a foreign country is hit up the museums of fine art. Sevilla has a very cool Museo de Bellas Artes which I was dying to get the chance to see. Though I have basically no outside education on Spanish art until the 19th century, the art class that I’ve been taking in school has given me a greater appreciation of Renaissance and pre-Renaissance art.

Our group walked to the museum and entered for the ridiculously low price of only 2 payments of $19.95….Or 1.50 euros. The place itself was smaller than I had expected, but in about an hour and a half, we felt like we did the whole museum justice. It had mostly Rennaissance art, which isn’t my #1 bag, but it sure had some great pieces. Mostly cathedral paintings that were brought to the museum, beautifully preserved. Lots of Virgin Mary’s and Catholic paraphernalia. Highlights for me was a famous St. Sebastian portrait, a sculpture of the severed head of John the Baptist, and a cool scene depicting the Last Judgment (can’t remember the artist).

Moving upstairs, we got into some of the more modern stuff, including lots of landscape portraits of Sevilla. It’s amazing how little the city has changed, really. In the 19th century, there was still the Torre de Oro, the Cathedral, the Plaza de Torros…Even the surrounding buildings don’t change very much. A highlight of the museum trip was easily the famous portrait of Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer, my new favorite Spanish poet of all time.

Our literature class, for being as boring and unproductive as it is, has introduced us to some great literature. I identify strongly with Bécquer’s metric techniques and a lot of his thematic matter, besides the fact that he can rhyme well without seeming corny. He’s like the Spanish version of Byron, kinda. In any case, we got to see THE portrait of him. You know, as in the one that’s featured in all of the history books and literature anthologies? It’s mind-blowing to be so close to something that important and historic. Without breathing, I leaned in to see Bécquer a little closer. You can see the brush strokes that were used to give him his mustache. You can see the flush of his thin cheeks and the swirls that were used to darken his temples. And the fact that it has been preserved so carefully since the 19th century is simply astounding. I silently took a photo, the only thing I could do to possibly capture the feeling.

A faction of our group got separated from us during the walk to the museum, so we got in touch with them again and sought out a bar to watch the Champions League football game between Manchester United and Barcelona. We found this hole-in-the-wall bar next to the museum, which turned out to be one of the more authentic Sevillana experiences I’ve had so far. We ordered a light dinner. I mixed up my order with Stephanie’s and ended up having friend tuna slices, which were thankfully delicious. I ordered a rum n’ coke (which was more rum than coke lol) and we sat back and watched the game. It was cool because we were in a SPANISH bar with real Spanish men and women who were fans and who shouted and screamed and cheered like we do during our basketball games. It was exciting, and the game was a blast, especially with good friends to watch it with.

Afterwards, we went to Burger King (yes, Burger Kings exist in Spain) and tried a dessert that Katie and Sarah had been hyping up to us for the past week or so: un “brownie con sandy”. Yep….It’s supposed to be like a Pecan Sandy, but with a brownie instead…and the fact that it’s pronounced like “browneee con sahnndeee”. It’s quite funny. It didn’t disappoint either. It was quite good. The mix of hot hot brownie and cool cool ice cream. Something delicious that seems American, but still is authentic Spanish.