My feet were pretty worn out after the Reina Sofia, but I only have this one day for museums. So first there was a short break for a lunch.
Sardines on toast with tomato
On the corner across the street from the new wing, there’s Cafeteria Pando with outdoor seating. It seemed to be about half locals and half tourists. The dark sardines are oil preserved and the white ones are pickled in a vinegar brine. Very yummy!
But I still have two and a half more hours until the Museo Arqueológico Nacional closed, so I decided to squeeze in another museum visit.
And then even though I was on a roundabout with several buses, I wasn’t sure, even if I found one going to the Archaeological museum, how to pick ones heading in the right direction – because roundabout. And it was a short distance, but would require two transfers to get there by subway. So I took a taxi.
Middle section of a clever timeline visualization for cultures represented in this museumEnd section of a clever timeline visualization for cultures represented in this museum
I was looking with a particular interest in a few research projects:
Front view of earrings and pendants Side view of earrings and pendants, trying to see if there’s anything on the backMuseum label that doesn’t give a lot of detail about these earrings and pendants Oooo look at these earrings with back fasteners!In which someone told me it was impossible for Romans to have had stud-type earrings with a pin and back fastenerMuseum label about bronze plaques of law installed on buildingsLook how thick that is!Oooo writing!So much bronze that was saved and not melted down for reuse!Standardized measurement template!Museum label for the 4th century modius standard measurementOh wow! It’s a whole water pump that not only hasn’t been melted down, but also looks barely corroded.Museum label for the water pumpSo much bronze just lying around the placeOMG it’s a preserved basketMuseum label for the basketsExtant baskets!Twisty rope/cord on this statue of Livia from PaestumMuseum label for Livia from PaestumCloseup of a flat belt that’s twisted and then tied in a nifty knot on a Livia as FortunaCloseup of a flat belt that’s twisted and then tied in a nifty knot on a Livia as FortunaContext of the statue of Livia as FortunaMuseum text for Livia as FortunaFancy Iberian belt on a relief from OsunaMuseum text about the reliefs from OsunaTwo actual beltsMuseum text about the actual beltsA friend is researching beltsMy coworkers will enjoy this display on pigments and dyes Narrow necklace of big chunky glass beadsMuseum label for the chunky beadsString of glass beads and labelBeads!Boxes and their constructionStraps?Tabbed straps?Narrow but straight connectionLooks more like the fabric is rolled than hemmed or taped Pretty typical appearance of sleeves with intermittent buttonsShoulder and sleeve construction
Look at this bronze sculpture! Do these look like sleeves to you? Not from draping rectangles and no evidence of as assist from cords tying into place. I think they might be sleeves.
And then after all that culture, I needed another snack!
A small salad, a sesame bagel with cream cheese, a Lebanese flatbread with honey and zaatar, and a juice concoction.
Magasand Cafe was one of the only reasonably priced restaurants in the neighborhood of the archaeological museum – a neighborhood also full of designer boutiques like the Loeve store, all of them way out of my tax bracket.
This cafe is mostly sandwiches and art magazines. So I ordered a salad! It was an excellent salad, filling and well balanced. I also took a chance and ordered a bagel since they dared to put it on the menu. It was not the platonic ideal of bagel, but way better than I was expecting. Better than most bagels I’ve tried to eat in Boston.
But the most intriguing thing was the Lebanese flatbread with honey and zaatar.
The menu very clearly saying it is honey and zaatarLook at this zaatar! It’s got caraway seeds in it! And maybe five leaves of thyme.
It did not taste traditional to me, but it did complement the salad very well.
Plants and laundry in an open air courtyard just off the staircase in the middle of the building. The walls are a warm orangey yellow and the trim is a matching brownish orange.
I promised you a picture of where I’m staying. Here’s the lovely open space in the middle of the stairs in the middle of the house. Luckily (especially for an AirBNB), it’s only up one flight of stairs.
A cute little round table with a fake plant and a flyer advertising the restaurant. There are two plates and each has a pastry. There’s also a cup of tea.
Went to a comfy looking cafe a block away from the place I’m staying. I had a savory 4 cheese flaky pastry with pepitos on top. There was also a thin smear of pizza sauce inside that elevated the tastiness. And then the sweet pastry was a pistachio croissant. An excellent use for the pistachio butter that is now so much more available since the Dubai Chocolate debut. These should catch on more places – it was excellent. The tea was a Darjeeling.
I’m going to list some relevant Youtube links because the embedding isn’t working right now and I’ll play with that later
Room of blue candiesGetting fancy with my camera angle on the blue candiesSome children interacting with the blue candiesA long room with a rectangle of floor in the distance covered with black liquorice candiesCore tenets of displaying candy sculptures
Two museum guards interacting with a pile of silver candies
Okay, so the candy sculptures are all both untitled and have names. They are all an infinite supply that you can take from, but they also all have an ideal weight (or ideal height, or original weight).
I’d been wondering how this would go because the last time I was in Madrid, I went to the contemporary art museum and saw their display for Steal This Book with a guard to tell you not to even think about stealing one of their many copies.
There were three of the candy installations in this exhibit. The blue ones had a room all to themselves right when you enter the gallery. It’s a beautiful room, well suited to making this feel significant. There are three kids arguing when I get in that you really can take the candy and then grabbing a fistful. A guard comes over – with another guard, and they are like, “Yes, you can take them, but please maybe just two per person.” But even better was that they then had a long conversation (of which I didn’t catch any) about the exhibit and the artist that looked very serious and a little intimidating to the kids.
The room with the liquorice candy was still pretty full and nearly square to the corners. I suspect that’s specifically because of the unpopularity of the flavor.
And then there was the silver wrapped candy that looked especially… huddled into the corner. But just as I was thinking that, two of the security guards went up to it and filled up their pockets. This was the only one I took from because I figured the guards must know which one was the tastiest. I was amused watching the curator’s video above talking about the trust between exhibit and curator, and I clearly do not trust very much at all. But especially not when his interactive sculptures are …semioticly complex.
A person taking a printIf this paper were square, it would have made a terrible fortune telling pyramidThis one is not an unlimited supply.. There are 161 pieces and a sign (and guard) asking you not to touchNot part of the exhibit, but also part of the exhibit – what happens to the paper people take.Core tenets for paper stacks
There were also eight to eleven paper stacks (I didn’t count).
Little rod k mmCurtain of beads Paper on floor, prints on the wallStatement about the artProtest declaration that health care is a right. No excuses.Bibliography of books including interviews with the artist
And several strings of lightbulbs in various configurations, including one square with a paired set of headphones with an mp3 player for partner dancing (tenets). And curtains of fabric (on windows) and beads (dividing rooms). The walls, and tucked into the corners of window niche, had newspaper / magazine clippings. And several other forms.
After that exhibit, I slipped into the museum’s garden in the interior courtyard and had a tuna pastry and a bottle of water.
Pigeons on the grass, Calder the backgroundMore pigeons, the wind blew the sculpture around to the colorful sideSnack of pastry + waterI lived that even though the bushes were shaped, they still had freedom to break freeHello pigeon
The museum as a whole seemed like a good home for this temporary exhibit. They had works by Picasso and Dalí and Miro. But the works were incorporated into a framework that addressed the rise of cubism and surrealism as a political movement.
Jacques Lipchitz – Harlequin with Mandoline in Oval (1923)Architects committed to improved housing and public spaces for workers. And access to healthcare.GuernicaA experiment in steel, a moveable sculpture, with a crank, and a sign saying not to touchDrawing inspiration from many different trades
This is going to be a pretty short trip, but it’s my first overseas trip since covid, so I thought I’d start with something modest.
My only suitcase weighing in at a miniscule 7.8 kilos (around 17 pounds)
I managed to pack exceptionally lightly, so we’ll see if I forgot anything. The weather forecast was confusing.
This was my first time flying Iberian airlines, and they get to stay with the internationally owned airlines that give much better service than ones owned in the united states (so far every one I’ve tried has managed other than Turkish Airlines). Seats sized like people: the seatbelt was only like 1″ from not needing an extender, the armrest went down easily, and even though the flight was completely full I did not feel too close together.
I ordered ahead the Muslim vegetarian meal because that sounded more interesting than the two published options. The standard meals looked fine, but I did love my meal that was a curried tofu and a mixed vegetable (mostly cauliflower) over some surprisingly tasty rice. It came with a salad, roll, and fruit salad – and was served with reusable metal silverware.
A dark airplane with three or four people huddled around one seat about ten to fifteen rows in front of my seat
The flight did have a call for medical assistance mid-flight was diverted briefly to the airport in Santiago de Compostela for a medical emergency, but we refueled and we’re back on our way pretty quickly.
The morning snack was a bagel meat and cheese sandwich that probably should have been served warm but was cold. My special sandwich was roasted vegetables on white bread, which was tasty and delightfully not soggy, but also would have benefitted from a condiment – pretty much any condiment.
To get to my Airbnb, there was a bus and then a subway. Finding the pickup spot for the bus was unreasonably hard. And then the ten trip transit pass I’d bought with specifically the extra fare from the airport did not apply to the bus. Luckily I could just pay with a credit card.
The awning for the churro place next to the sign for arriving buses at the transit hub.Churros being freshly fried to order
The transfer from bus to Metro ended up being a big bus depot / roundabout. The weather was gorgeous, so I stopped at the churro stand for three freshly fried sticks (with powdered sugar and cinnamon) and a small cup of hot chocolate to dip them in. It was… not the best I’ve ever had (those were at a little cafe outside the contemporary art museum), but they were still fried dough and chocolate out in the sunshine while on vacation!
The Airbnb is cute. I did not get pictures during the daylight. But maybe tomorrow.
It’s next door to an Equadorian restaurant, Perla del Pacífico, and they left the keys there (because his mother is working there?) I went there for dinner. Their “second best soup in the world” (encebollado – a bonito and onion stew) was indeed very tasty.
Starter with plantain chips and a spicy salsaThe encebollado with a side of more plantain chips and popcorn
It was rainy tonight, and I was trying to think of something to do with the four zucchinis I’d bought (because that was the smallest quantity available). And I decided I wanted it melty with ground beef and a brown sauce that wasn’t tomatoes.
On the left of the plate is a bunch of vegetables, especially zucchini, cooked with ground beef. On the right is brown rice.
I picked a couple peppers and some green onion from my porch.
So I started with the (small-medium) zucchini and sliced it lengthwise and then cut it into fine slices. And I tossed that into the pan with some olive oil. And I pulled out a quarter pound of ground beef from the freezer and lay that on top to thaw.
Then I pulled out a couple mini sweet peppers and a partial onion from my refrigerator, gave them a medium dice, and threw them in around the beef (which now was ready to be flipped to the other side while stirring everything around.
So that was my base. To that, I decided to add a generous drizzle of oyster sauce and some cooking wine. And then I finely cut up the peppers from my garden: a spicy purple one and a firm jalapeño. By now, the beef was fully broken up into small pieces and nearly cooked through.
So I still was puttering and decided to add some garlic and ginger. And I sliced the scallions.
Then I remembered to think about my starch. And I think it probably should have gone with noodles, but it was a little late to start them now. And I had a quart of cooked brown rice prepped already.
So I pulled about about a quarter cup of rice and warmed it in the microwave for a minute and threw the sliced scallions into the skillet.
On the side, I’m eating some daikon and carrots that I quick pickled in seasoned rice wine vinegar.
It is so good! And very satisfying. Would make again.
I haven’t been to Pennsic in about eight years, but I had been planning outdoor cooking experiments and making garb the whole time, so I had too many options to pick from rather than too few.
One of my big goals was to get photos of all my Pennsic garb, but like always, I hardly ever had my phone out and ended up with very few pictures from the two weeks.
My first packing plan was to only take the hottest weather clothing and use the extra space for more cooking plans, but then I was lucky enough to check the weather forecast twelve hours before I would leave because it had changed a lot from the long range forecast! Apparently we’d be getting all the weather, including some cooler temperatures.
And once I was there I hardly even cooked because one of my campmates has devised a whole meal plan for war and I could barely offer help with dishes and some side dishes.
When I was cleaning out my refrigerator if perishables before I left, I turned all of the lingering perishables into quick pickles.
Eight small rectangular plastic containers with locking lids that could be stored in a cooler without leaking. They’re numbered to match with the descriptions below.
I was working with five big carrots, one and a half daikon radishes, 1 garden cucumber, 8 persian cucumbers, 1 purple onion, 1 yellow onion, 3 Vidalia onions, and 2.5 heads of garlic
1) carrots, daikon, yellow onion in black vinegar 2) cucumber and purple onion in red wine vinegar 3) a chunk of ginger in the bottom, carrots, and daikon in rice vinegar 4) carrots and cucumbers in rice vinegar 5) carrots and cucumbers and purple onion in rice vinegar with a dried chili 6) carrots and daikon in seasoned rice vinegar 7) fine matchsticks of daikon and carrot in rice vinegar 8) Vidalia onions, garlic cloves in malt vinegar
My other preparation ahead of time was to make little gifts I could give to camp mates and people displaying their Arts & Sciences research in competitions. I’m very proud of myself because I always forget tokens of appreciation.
Proof of concept before assembling then at scale
I bought tiny glass jars with corks, and then I special ordered some washi tape to make a personalized label – and ended up getting the spacing perfect!
So I made 80 bottles
A few years ago, a retired former coworker of mine gave me some flavored salts that she had made (mostly with dried citrus zest), and that seemed like a reasonably stable gift that most people would not be allergic to. And I have been harvesting and drying more thyme from my garden thanks can use it give away, so that was that I decided to flavor my salt with. As for which salt to use, I’ve been very excited recently to have found a coarse salt that ALSO has iodine, so that was my choice (and yes, I did tell people about the iodine). And that was VERY well received as a gift. I’ll need to think of something similar to do next time I go.
Early setup with a purple vardo, a bell tent, and my wee modern orange tent behindEarly setup with some olde tymey canvas tents and a more modern canvas tent in front
I took some pictures of setup the first couple days because I am amused by the tents with the big vehicles next to them. My car went to parking as soon as I finished getting my rent up and stuff inside. I don’t know if you can see it in the pictures (I can because I know it’s there), but we camp with a small river that has been cut in the middle of the space. I ended up having to park on one side and carry my stuff to the other side. But the advantage of having a river is that when we set up our shower, we don’t need to dig separate drainage! (But we do need to clear the weeds and from the trench to make sure it flows smoothly)
Campmates setting up the shower walls
I didn’t end up taking any classes this year. I’ve had a very low activity couple of years, and I was finding that just hanging out near camp, staying hydrated, and slowly stretching and strengthening really helped. But there were people I had wanted to see, and I did get to see them regularly and I also got spend time hanging out and sewing during the hottest party of the day at my favorite temporary Turkish coffee shop: Kafe Merhaba!
Low stools and cushions make for pretty comfortable seating, but there are also picnic tables and benches outsideIt’s in a rented party tent, but they drape other fabrics to make it softer and breezier
The only cooking experiment I did manage to do was making white rice in an unglazed clay pot over a charcoal brazier. And it didn’t happen the way I thought it would (with two steps at two different heat levels), but instead I just guessed that it was time to peek and see how it was and it was a already done. Did I remember to time the process? No. So I have no idea if it can be replicated. Did I take pictures to document the experiment? Nooo… But I think some of my camp mates did.
More tents! Look how pretty. This is near the end of the first weekCamp mates chatting and getting things doneOur stunning camp ice maidenWe have just started a fire in the fire pit!Siblings sitting around in the shade reading a book and doing some leather crafting.The shade it’s good both to hide from the sun and to shelter from the rainNow it’s a full encampment and everyone is here and set up. My tent is almost completely hidden behind the bell tent.
It was a lovely and cozy two weeks spent with some great people I only see when I can get to this event, but there’s no other group of people I would rather camp with.
I did do one new thing this year. I volunteered to help with scoring the A&S competitions (both the main one and the one out together by the collegiate discord. Since I’m still fairly new, my task at the big competition was to review the comments given by the team of judges to make sure they were not rude and did not contain offensive language. It was a fun team to work with, and I’m glad the competitors get to have that level of protection.
Preparing for the collegiate A&S competition with a check-in for the judges
For the college level competition, we only had three entrants and almost a dozen judges eager to support the collegiate participants. We decided to switch from a competition to just giving commentary and feedback because all three were spectacular and there wasn’t much point in trying to rank them.
I think I’ll try to help out with both of these in the future as well.
