Two Unique Santander Museums

What to do in the rain?  Visit museums, of course! 

First on the day’s agenda was a stop at the post office to mail Absentee Election Ballots to Cobb County.  I will not miss an opportunity to vote!  We walked into the grand and stately 1915 Oficina Central De Correos de Santander, took a number, had my envelope weighed and postage applied.  Away it went to the USA!

That task accomplished, we started our museum mission.  We noticed the uniquely designed Cento Binto building on our very first day here.  It called to me . . . today we went inside.  The chrome building housing this modern art museum was designed by award-winning architect, Renzo Piano.  It is located on the Bay and marks the beginning of the seaside Pereda Gardens Promenade. 

The current exhibition features drawings by Spanish artist, Juan Muñoz.  Known best for his sculptures of life-size monochromatic figures with matching nondescript clothing and look-alike happy faces, this collection of thematic drawings, many of them done on pages of a sketchbook, feature black drawings on white, white drawings on black background, and drawings on objects.

The first item in the exhibition is a stunningly weird depiction of a man’s left eye drawn on a large concrete half-sphere perched on a stand atop a pedestal.

The exhibit, called The Nature of Vision of Illusion, was my favorite.  This dramatic piece of art is an entire room in which panels of monochromatic curtains stand on three sides. The curtains look real.  Visitors are often tempted to touch to make sure the floor-to-ceiling panels aren’t real fabric.  In front of the panels stood a group of three of his very peculiar but unique common-man figures – all looking very much alike with expressions showing expectant happiness.  My, it was a lot to consider.

The museum allowed no photos; I borrowed a couple of the most interesting pieces.

Feeling good about visiting the Binto, we decided to walk the Promenade to the Maritime Museum.  Just as Stan accommodated me in visiting the Binto, I had given in to Stan’s wishes to visit this place.  What a delight!  It was excellent!   This beautiful museum made us think of the similar Maritime Museum we visited in Bordeaux.  Intricate models of water crafts from the very first boats to modern-day ships and pleasure boats were artfully presented in order like following a timeline through the ages.  The unexpected highlight of the visit was the aquarium – we had no idea the museum included an aquarium.  It too was modern and keenly designed to make a visitor feel like they are walking through the water looking into the natural habitats of ocean fish and sea creatures.  Adult admission to this fantastic museum and aquarium was only 5 Euros . . . try to visit an aquarium in Atlanta or Tennessee for that.

Late lunch/early dinner today . . . late for us but a 3:30 lunch is very popular here, so is a 10 pm dinner. We found Marlena’s recommendation, Restaurante Los Picos de Europa. We found Spanish food at last! I had the most delicious salad I’ve had in months. It was a gorgeous plate of crisp fancy greens, tomatoes, raisins and walnuts with sautéed mushrooms in a wonderful Balsamic dressing. Stan had a dish of home-style green beans, and we both had long-time roasted ribs basted in a mustard and honey sauce. I could have made my complete dinner with just the salad and Stan’s green beans but not today. The ribs were delectable!