Although I live in Madrid, I haven't stayed here for a weekend in three weeks, so I didn't really know what to do with myself at first! My cousin, Julie, and her friend, Ryan, stayed with me for the weekend, so I cleaned the apartment and did laundry on Friday (big day!) I've also been studying because I have my very first test of the semester on Monday...
I hadn't been to any of the art museums, yet, so I fit those into my not-so-busy schedule. Every museum has a day with free entry or certain hours during the day when it's free, so I managed to get very cultured for free :) I went to the Prado on Friday (with Julie and Ryan) and saw the painting, "Las Meninas" by Diego Velázquez. I studied this painting Junior year of high school in Spanish and never realized it was this famous! It´s the main attraction in one of the bigger galleries in the Prado...
Sitting in high school Spanish class, I never knew I´d see this painting again!
Friday night, a few of us went to a botellón (basically, young people drinking outside) at one of the residence halls and then we went to a club called, Pachá and danced the night away. Saturday was gorgeous-60s and sunny-so a few of us headed to a giant park for a picnic lunch and to study a bit. Today, I went to the Reina Sofia, which is one of the modern art museums. I mostly wanted to see "Guernica" by Picasso, but also saw some works by Dalí.
"Guernica"
The museum also had lots of pieces by Joan Miró (he´s from Barcelona). I know his work because when I work at the front desk at Techline, I stare at one of his paintings!
Friday morning, Kimmy and I headed to Oviedo. It’s the capital of the province of Asturias, about 20 minutes from the coast and the home of Mary Kay, Diego & Oscar! The area is an eclectic mix of Spanish, Celtic and Dutch backgrounds, so at times, it looked very similar to Ireland. There are also lots of Celtic symbols in the culture (including bagpipes!) but they also wear the wooden shoes like the Dutch and speak Spanish (although they have their own dialect, as well).
When we arrived, Diego picked us up from the station and drove us to their apartment. We set up our beds and unpacked a bit and then headed out to meet Mary for lunch. The three of us ate at one of their favorite restaurants; a place that serves traditional food (like Fabadas, which is basically a bean stew). After our 2+ hour lunch (typically Spanish in that respect!), we walked around the city and eventually met back up with Diego and Oscar. We drove to the top of a hill to see Oviedo’s version of the statue of Jesus with his arms spread wide on a mountaintop. It’s not quite as famous as the one in Rio de Janeiro…
On the hilltop...it was a little windy!
We had Diego´s “Asturian Big Mac” for dinner, which is grilled ham and cheese and then a mix of tuna, lettuce, eggs, olives and mayo in between another piece of bread. It was delicious!After dinner, we watched an Asturian film…at least there were subtitles! :)
Saturday, Kimmy was feeling under the weather, so Diego, Mary, Oscar and I went on a driving tour of the region. We stopped in a little village and ate some traditional pastries (no complaints here) and then stopped in a store to see the traditional cheeses of Asturias. We stopped for lunch at a roadside restaurant and then continued on our journey. We headed up the mountain to see a cave where they built a shrine because the Virgin Mary appeared to the first king of Spain before a battle. Since the Visigoths beat the Moors in that battle, they also constructed a church. There is a waterfall that trickles down the mountain and falls into the lake under the cave-the view was stunning.
Afterwards, we headed to the coast. The Cantabrian Sea was very pretty, although a little windy…definitely would not be going for a swim at this time of year!
Cantabrian Sea
Sunday, I wasn´t feeling well, so I passed on the morning stroll and slept until I had to pack for the bus. The five-hour journey home on the bus and through the mountains was less than entertaining on a queasy stomach! Oh well, at least I got to watch Sahara in Spanish-Matthew McConaughey looks good in any language.
All in all, a very relaxing and enjoyable weekend. Many thanks to Mary, Diego, Oscar AND Kimmy!
Thursday night/Friday morning, Lauren and I boarded an overnight bus to Granada.We arrived at about 7 am, so we couldn’t check-in to the hostel.We left our bags and headed to a café for coffee.We then proceeded to walk around the city until the Royal Chapel opened at 10:30.We didn’t realize it, but we ended up walking up Sacromonte (SacredMountain) and got some pretty good views of the city and the Alhambra as the sun was rising.We saw the tombs of Ferdinand and Isabel-which was pretty crazy.Then, we walked around the cathedral and saw a few other plazas, etc.We headed back to the hostel around 1 pm to check-in and nap for about an hour.
View of the Alhambra from Sacromonte
Then, we headed up to the Alhambra.The Alhambra was breathtaking and I have about 100 photos!I loved the Generalife and the intricate carvings on every column.Also, the snow-capped Sierra Nevadas in the background were pretty picturesque.
Pretty proud of this picture!
In the Alhambra gardens
Friday night, we took full advantage of the Granadian (maybe made that word up) tradition of serving a free tapa with EVERY drink. So, for less than two euros, we got a beer and a little bagel sandwich with ham, patatas fritas and a little salad. At another bar, we got empanadas and at another, it was tortilla española! Definitely, could get used to that!
Saturday morning, we went on a walking tour of the neighborhood called Albayzin.It’s on a hill as well, so we were winding our way up, listening to our American tour guide.It was pretty informative and we took some more photos.It’s a really artsy neighborhood with lots of character and great views.
Lauren and Me
We took a bus to Córdoba Saturday evening and met up with some friends for tapas...
Sunday morning, we got up bright and early, but decided to wait until the afternoon to see the Mezquita.Once again, we walked around the city…I think we went everywhere on our map!We saw the Roman bridge and tower, the Castle, many churches, the main plaza and the synagogue.Then, we headed back to the Mezquita and got there in time for mass at 1 pm, so we got in free!The columns looked exactly the same as the slides Sra. Fischer showed us in Spanish III.After chilling in the sun in the OrangeGarden for a bit, we got some ice cream and headed to a park…it was a very full, but relaxing day.
Just like Sra. Fischer's slides
On the bus ride back to Madrid, they played two completely horrible, B movies: "Peacekeeper" and "Deadly Water."Lauren (she´s English) commented that these movies are why people have terrible impressions of Americans…great!
Random new food from the trip: the Ham flavored ruffles…surprisingly, not too bad!
We all love you very much and know you´re happier now that you can be with Grandma. I will always remember your after-dinner shaves and your nightly rosary sessions. I´m sure you and Grandma are enjoying a Brandy while watching "Wheel of Fortune" or "Murder, She Wrote!"
It is now 6:30 am here in Madrid and I have yet to sleep tonight! I was at a viewing party hosted by "Democrats Abroad", so was able to watch live as the good news came in. Am of to bed now, but just wanted to say hello to America :)
Well, I survived Halloween. It’s not AS big of deal here, but people definitely dress up. The one major difference is that people go scary, not slutty here. Our outfits were pretty low-key since we didn’t have the time or energy to get creative. We bought horns and tridents and went as devils…it worked. We headed to Wasabi, because it was the COMITAS party and we could get in free! The club had a couple different groups of dancers-a group danced to Thriller and then there were some break dancers.
"Thriller" dancers
Kaleeta, Sarah & me in our devil outfits
Saturday, I headed to Alcalá de Henares to surprise Kimmy for her birthday. She was having friends over, but I told her I couldn´t come because I would be in Sevilla. That was fun; she had friends over to her apartment and then we went out.
Sitting in high school Spanish class, I never knew I´d see this painting again!
"Guernica"
