After two days driving you can get from Brittany to Zaragoza, the beautiful city in Spain a couple of hours on the other side of the Pyrenees.
The city is situated more or less halfway between Barcelona and Madrid. And while it’s a vibrant and interesting place it’s not a major tourist stop. Zaragoza was not crowded and the town felt blissfully free of aggressive saturation by non-Zaragozans.
An early self-portrait by Goya.
Many, many moons ago I studied in Spain and this was a chance to break out my creaking language skills. Waiters tended not to speak English so my “un vino blanco” came in very handy.
Goya is one my top favorite painters and he was born about 40 kilometers from Zaragoza. He is therefore one of the city’s heroes. There are the Museo Goya and the Museo de Zaragossa which highlight works by Goya that haven’t been snaffled up by the major Prado/National Gallery/Louvres. This includes a full set of his caprichios — evocative etchings that depict humorous, grotesque, and metaphorical editorial comment concerning then-current affairs in Spain.
For me Goya exists in that small, rarefied group of elite, master painters who were in complete command of their craft and channeled it to communicate their own view of life. Goya lived and worked at the highest levels of Spanish power and was the court artist under several regimes. For such a brilliant artist he also had a sly sense of humor and clear opinions about the state of the world — no joke for an artist in the time of the Inquisition. At the end of his life he fled to France, still painting, far from home.
A big plus for us aging knee-sufferers is that while these museums are comprehensive, they are small and perfectly formed. You can linger on your favorite works and still be out in an hour and half.
My favorite part of the trip outside of the museums was the old town. In the center of the city there is a tangle of ancient streets that date back to Roman times when Caesar Augustus came and saw and slaughtered, and are filled with excellent cafés and restaurants — but also hardware stores, hair salons and clothes shops. It’s not just a tourist attraction, it’s a living, breathing neighborhood where we were privileged to explore and nibble.
If you are visiting Spain this year be prepared for record high temperatures and water restrictions.Spain is being hit hard by drought. The government has allocated an eye-watering €2.2 billion euros to help mitigate the affects of water-loss.
No matter the weather it is well worth the visit. Lmc
This article appears in Living & Painting in France, my monthly magazine/newsletter about the ex-pat artistic life. Clicke here for your subscription. It’s free!