My third day

 Friday, March 27, 2026

My plan today is to visit the Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, where the Guernica is housed, along with a priceless collection of Dalis, Miros, Magrittes and so many more exquisite paintings. Again the morning is brisk and sunny and this time I note, walking down a busy thoroughfare, many cozy breakfast places, but also interesting fabric stores, of which I take a mental note, for a second look at a later moment.

The museum is a vast concrete construction, not immediately easy to find your way around in, but I find the Guernica - huge, amazing almost 4 metres high and 8 metres long. I'd had a memory of seeing this painting in the MOMA many years ago, but whatever I saw was not this one. In my memory the one at MOMA was also in a separate room, but on a much smaller scale. 

What you don't see in the picture is the quiet semi-circle of people contemplating the painting at a respectful distance, watched by the two guards sitting one on either side of the painting. 

Eventually I tear myself away and go find the other greats, the Magritte

and the Miró

and the weird and amazing Dali, this one entitled The Great Masturbator

As I wander along, I am troubled by - of all things - a recurring message on my Apple Watch alerting me to the accelerated beating of my heart. I find a place to reach out to my doctor in Rio, who drily says, You need to go to a hospital. Using ChatGpt I locate what seems to a suitable place, and turn myself into their emergency department. I get hooked up to various bleeping monitors and undergo a series of exams. At one point they begin to talk about keeping me for the night, and even ask when was my last meal, but eventually my heart resumes it's normal beating and my blood pressure subsides. I've been messaging with my doctor throughout this and eventually have to call Victor, to share these startling news, while he's having his breakfast.

After 6 hours they finally deem it safe to let me go, with instructions about medications and recommendations to avoid stimulants such as alcohol, coffee and spicy foods. Goodbye Spanish wines and hello apple tea! I am starving and head to the Mercado São Miguel to buy a delicious smoked salmon wrap, which I later devour in front of the screen on a call to Oswaldo, when I can tell him about my day.