Gary J. Kirkpatrick Art and Travel Blog
Expressionistic art
For a city of a mere 300,000, Graz has a large number of museums. Boys will no doubt be attracted to the Armory, which holds an extensive collection of medieval armory worn by the knights. We skipped that one and instead have gone to the Graz Museum, Kunsthouse and the Museum in Palais. There are a dozen to visit on our annual 30 euro pass. (click ‘continue reading’ below)
June 2016
After an overnight in Dusseldorf, we flew in a prop jet into the small airpport in Graz, Austria. It’s a tiny airport, and but a 10 minute walk to train station. Before long we were exiting the system and taking the wrong exit, so we added a kilometer to our walk. We missed a turn and added a bit more, but then we got to the door.
Graz is 200 km southwest of Vienna, just about an hour by train. It is the second largest city in Austria and home to six universities with 44,000 students. The University of Gray is the city’s oldest. It was founded in 1585 under Archduke Karl II. There are over 30,000 students in it alone. The entire city is a World Heritage Site (1999). Slovenia is its nearest neighbor (to the south); Hungary is not far to the east. Graz is home to just 310,000 residents.
Graz was settled as far back as 5000 BC, likely for two reasons. First is the Mur River, which flows swiftly this time of year. This facilitated transportation and commerce. Second, there is a large and steep hill just off the river, not 5 minutes from our place, which made for an excellent natural fortification, which has never been breached.
Hitler visited in 1938 and was welcomed and the Jewish community subsequently destroyed. In 2000, on the anniversary of the the Kristalnacht pogroms the city presented the Jewish community with a new synagogue to replace they one destroyed. Some 15% of the city was destroyed by Allied bombing, but the Old Town was largely spared. Graz surrendered to Soviet troops at the end of WWII.
The city has dozens of museums. We bought a pass that allows entrance to 12 of them for 30 euros. So far we have just visited the Modern Art museum, largely given over to an incomprehensible installation. However there were some genuine works or art as well.
We’ve had a few snacks and light meals thus far. Soup. It’s June and the people are eating hot soup! With temperature in the low 20’s c (under 72f) the days are cool and the nights a bit on the chilly side, quite the contrast with Valencia, from where we just came, and where summer temperatures can hit 40C.
Here are views of Graz from the top of Schlossberg Castle.
Cáceres has an old walled town in its center. Walk around and you are in the middle ages, given the buildings, the stone streets and total absence of cars. There is a blend of Roman, Moorish, Gothic and Italian Renaissance architecture, not to mention the stork nests. There are thirty towers from the Islamic period still standing.
Humans have inhabited the area since prehistoric times. Evidence of this can be found in the caves of Maltravieso, with cave paintings dating to 25,000 BCE. The city was founded by the Romans in 25 BC and is a Unesco World Heritage Site, quite justifiably so.
Cáceres is in the part of Spain called Extremadura. I always thought that the name Extremadura referred to the extremely hard (dura) quality of the soil and life there but more accurately extremadura is from Latin words meaning literally “outermost hard”, the outermost secure border of an occupied territory. During La Reconquista it was the westernmost holding of the Christians.
Cuenca, Spain: City on a cliff
Cuenca is situated northwest of Valencia and southeast of Madrid, just an hour from either on the AVE, the fast train. It is known for the houses perched on the cliffs and for the Júcar and the Huécar, two rivers (well, streams is a better word) which encase it. The town was first settled by the Moors, who sought to take advantage of its natural fortress qualities. Nonetheless they lost it in 1177 to the Christians.
The area offers an interesting cuisine, which I will comment upon below the photos.
The Cuisine
There are a number of interesting dishes, mostly tapas.
We had lunch at Restaurante el Secreto. The Guide Routarde sign for multiple years including 2016 attracted our attention. The Guide has served us well through the years and it did not disappoint us. This restaurant has many game offerings. Peg had the venison, which was superb- even I thought so. The wine was very good, local and reasonably priced, as was the entire meal including my ceviche trout.
The decor is worth a look! Ceramics floor to ceiling.
Sorolla: Notes in the sand – Apuntes en la arena
(Exhibit at El Carmen Museum, Valencia, Spain)
April 15, 2016
Joaquín Sorolla y Bastida (1863 – 1923) is known as a master of light and for his portraits, landscapes, and monumental works of social and historical themes, many in the impressionist style. Many of his paintings are housed at the Museo Sorolla in Madrid, while there are monumental works permanently exhibited at the Hispanic Society in New York. The El Carmen Museum in Valencia (http://www.consorciomuseos.gva.es/SOROLLA,-APUNTES-EN-LA-ARENA.asp) is currently exhibiting an excellent collection of Joaquin Sorolla’s paintings of Valencian beach scenes. You can see a few of the 100 works below.
He gained tremendous notice from the painting and exhibition of Sad Inheritance. This painting featured children effected by the polio epidemic circa 1900.
Children on the Beach sold at auction for 3.5 million euros.
Despite his mastery of the medium and tremendous production he is little known outside Spain.
For biographical information go to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joaqu%C3%ADn_Sorolla
March 28, 2016
MUVIM (Valencian Museum of Modernity and Illustration) is now exhibiting poster art, some paintings and a few old films of the era, starting in the 1920’s. Spain suffered through a civil war from 1936-39. Fatalities numbered in the 400.000 range, with another 200,000 murdered by Franco’s Falangists after the war, and atrocities by both sides during the war. Some of the art refers to this period. Other pieces advertise Valencia’s annual summer fair, Fallas (the annual carnival in March of each year) and other events.
The first one below refers to Valencia’s annual summer fair, the second to Fallas, the annual carnival that takes place in March each year; you can see the fire burning the statue (red area).
Crema at City Hall (Ayuntamiento) 2016
The Crema is the burning of the Fallas’ each year starting at 11 p.m. approximately and going to well after 1 a.m. Each of the hundreds of installations throughout the city is burned. There are fireworks galore. The city is alight and thundering. The video is one I took at the Ayuntamiento Plaza, the last one to be burned, and generally the largest and most spectacular. There are tens of thousands of people in the plaza as you will see.
For background information see https://garyjkirkpatrick.com/the-fallas/
Bolero de Carlet, traditional Valencian dance. Just happened across it while we were walking through the medieval section. You will find it interesting!
Casal Calle Cuba- Liiorat Alzorin won many prizes in 2016, including best sound and light show and 1st place in the Special category (largest) for it’s many slendored fallas. Here is a short slide show (below the photos):
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