Europe

With our flight to Madrid today not departing until the evening, we were able to sleep in and head downstairs a bit later than usual for breakfast.

After breakfast, we relaxed in the hotel for a little while, before deciding to head out to visit the Robert Capa Contemporary Photography Center. Robert Capa (born Endre Ernő Friedmann in Budapest in 1913) was a Hungarian-American war photographer and photojournalist, considered the greatest combat photographer of all time. Forced into exile by political repression in Hungary and Nazi advances in Berlin, he began working in Paris, under the alias “Robert Capa”. Capa’s incredible career included coverage of five major conflicts: the Spanish Civil War, the Second Sino-Japanese War, World War II (including D-Day at Omaha Beach as the only civilian photographer present), the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, and the First Indochina War (where he died in 1954, after stepping on a landmine).

The exhibition of Capa’s work was masterfully presented. Whilst whe was best known for his war photography, his life was much broader than that. He mixed with the likes of Hemingway and Steinbeck, and lived a rich life, despite having witnessed so many of the horrors of war.

After viewing the exhibitions, we went to the associated bookshop and bought some books that detailed Capa’s life, and then headed back to the hotel to finish packing.

We checked out of the hotel at about 4:00 pm, and hopped in the waiting car to go to the airport. After checking in, we went to the lounge to relax before our 7:40 pm departure.

The flight (with Iberia) was very comfortable. We landed around 11:00 pm in Madrid and, after a ridiculously long wait to collect our luggage, we were met by the hotel’s driver, for the trip to the Gran Hotel Ingles.

It was just before 1:00 am when we got to the hotel, so we headed straight to bed after a pretty long day.

Our plan for tomorrow is just to do some exploring around Madrid.