Ode to Art

Last weekend, Danielle and I explored Madrid: the Prado Museum, the Royal Palace, Plaza Mayor, Puerta del Sol, Real Madrid stadium, shopping on Gran Via... Then caught a last minute bus ride to Toledo where we saw a beautiful gothic cathedral, bought a bunch of Toledo Gold, and made it back, tired but satisfied, to Santander. Needless to say, it was a busy but wonderful weekend.

It's obvious that Madrid takes pride in its art. I think my absolute favorite part was the Prado Museum. It houses over 3,000 paintings of famous paintings by world renown artists like Goya, Rembrant, and Rafael. Statues of famous figures (Christopher Columbus, Goya, and the author of Don Quijote, Miguel de Cervantes) are spread throughout the city.

There was one thing that I found curious about this (you may not, but I found it interesting):
On our way from place to place on our first day in Madrid, we passed by like 50 shops that sold little statues of Don Quijote for a couple of euros a piece. "How weird," I thought. After about 25 more shops I finally gave in and bought one.

Anyway, my real question: why doesn't the western world idolize famous authors like Europe does? Have you ever seen a monument dedicated to Edgar Allen Poe or Harriet Beecher Stowe? Do you own a little statuette of Washington Irving? John Maxwell? F. Scott Fitzgerald? America doesn't lack famous authors. Yet Pamplona boasts a statue and a small plaza for the American author Hemingway (for his famous book about Spanish bull fights, The Sun Also Rises). Drop me a comment and tell me what you think.

Just thought that was interesting... off to Barcelona!