So today was a fairly simple day. Go to the cathedral, the park, museum of memory, then eat. I’m really glad we got to go to the cathedral too. I’ve seen some cathedrals in Spain before and they are massive, even compared to the one we saw today, but I appreciated the use of space that this cathedral had. Like adding the crypt underneath the alters (I think). Which I also though the crypt was really cool how it shows a transition from the clean white marble, to the rougher, tan marble and wood hand rail ends and steps. I’m curious on why the hand rails were purple too. The only reason I could think of is it was supposed to be a wine like color, and the wood ends are like the wooden cups that Jesus would have drank from. Other than that it’s a mystery to me. The park we went to today was actually really cool, we took a walk around the whole thing after doing a sketch and it had some real interesting trees and features to it. It was a fun time. The memory museum today though. That got a little deep. On an architectural standpoint, I though it had really good spacing between each display and the path you would follow was easy to go through. As for my emotional state, it made me feel numb. I couldn’t read almost everything in the museum, but the images speak for themselves. Knowing that an entire country was changed in a single, devastating day, makes you think for a moment. I don’t know exactly all of the details, but I got enough to understand that a lot of people were torn apart during this time. Wether that be because they lost someone dear to them, or had to leave everyone dear to them. The museum captured what was to be felt and understood about its history, and I’m glad I was able to have this experience be a memory that I won’t forget.
Museum of memory
Picture outside the crypt
Picture inside the crypt
I also found the Museum of Memory to be very impactful. When we learned about it in class I was not sure I wanted to go, but I’m so glad I ended up going because it gave me great insight into something I previously had known nothing about. It is crazy to think that this tragedy was so recent. Seeing the news clips in the museum brought attention to the fact that this happened only a few decades ago. I ended up going through the museum by traveling through the first floor to the third and then to the second. This sounds like a weird order to experience a museum, but I’m so glad I did it this way because being at the top floor allowed me to look at the entirety of the photos hanging on the wall. I preferred this because it allowed me to see all of the people affected by this tragedy as opposed to seeing it on the second floor through the box in the center. These photos were the most difficult part of looking at the museum because amongst the many photos of people were blank frames of individuals who were lost with no record or account. To think that people lost their lives, and there is not even a record of it or a photo to remember them by, is sickening. Because of this, I also left feeling very numb, but I am very glad to have gotten insight into this awful tragedy.