Well last night I met with my third intercambio, and her name is Aleida. She is a Catalana and has spent her entire life here in Catalunya. She is 24 and studies/works as an architecture. She is extremely nice and outgoing as well. We went to a local bar away from all of the tourists and talked for a couple of hours. She is definitely a very interesting person and I am excited to continue to meet with her. Unlike my other intercambios, Aleida has visited the United States before, and has a few American friends. Unfortunately she hasn't visited Chicago, I told her that she needs to go. She speaks English very well, and has been studying since she was about 10 or so. I'm very happy that she is Catalana, because I am completely fascinated by the culture here in Catalunya, and I love learning about it. Although she really doesn't like speaking Castelleano (most Catalan's don't) so I am going to try and pick up some Catalan, but it is very difficult.
Today I had class which went fairly well. I need to start writing my term paper on Muslim Sicily which should be interesting. The entire IES building is being worked on for some reason, which has been annoying these last couple of days. In fact, some early classes were canceled on Tuesday because the building lost power for a couple of hours. Unfortunately the power was fixed by the time I had my 10:45 class. I went to the gym, and then went to my Oceanography class and since then I have been packing for Sevilla.
Today we had a meeting with all of the students who are going to Sevilla. There are roughly 40 students going, and I still am unsure how the roommate situation will work out. I really don't know anyone on the trip, there are some people that I've met and some others from class. It will be nice to get the opportunity to meet some more IES students as well.
So all week I have been waiting to receive an email with information about our flight, hotel, itinerary, etc..but only received an email with the meeting day and time. Today IES gave us our itinerary, which looks awesome. The catch is my flight leaves tomorrow morning at 7 AM! I need to meet at the airport at 5:30, which means need to catch a bus in Plaza Catalunya by 4:40, or 5. Plaza Catalunya is about 30 minutes from my house, which means I need to leave my house around 4, which I'm not too happy about. But I guess it will be better because we will have more time in Sevilla, so I guess the early flight has its ups and downs.
Sevilla is the capital of the region of Andulucia, which is in the South of Spain. Andulucia is known for its beautiful weather, tapas, and of course its flamenco. The forecast for the weekend looks between 65-70 and sunny every day, which I am excited about. The tapas scene is one of the main cultural attractions of the city, and people literally bar hop to eat different types of tapas.
We got a detailed itinerary which looks interesting. Friday we will check into the hotel and go to the Iglesia del Salvador, the Cathedral, and Giralda(bell tower). The Cathedral of Santa Maria de la Sede is the third largest church in the world!
Saturday we will be going to Cordoba which is around 2 and a half hours by bus. We will then go on a few guided visits to the Mosque and the cathedral. Cordoba, and all of Andalucia was heavily populated by Muslims so many of the architecture is very different than in Barcelona.
Sunday we will be in Sevilla walking through a neighborhood and I believe another museum. We also have a lot of free time, which is nice. I am definitely excited about this trip and will hopefully write Sunday or Monday and put some pictures up. On the way home our flight is split up into two groups, so I will either be returning to Barcelona around 10 PM, or around 12 AM.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Castellers!
Hola!
So I have been extremely busy these last couple of days. Sunday I studied most of the day at a local cafe, and also saw some Castellers for the first time. Castellers are basically teams of men who stand on each others shoulders hoping to build a higher human tower than the other teams. During June a very popular casteller festival is in Tarragona, but on Sunday I got to witness a local one in Plaza St Jaume. There were tons of people everywhere and I decided to follow them to see what was going on. There was music being played all over, and tons of castellers..I believe I saw 4 or 5 different teams.
Tons of people outside the Adjuntment
On the weekends there are stands set up everywhere. They have everything from books to homemade goods.
Not really sure about the importance of these next two characters, but the man actually fell right after I took this picture, which was humorous.
These people put on a performance similar to stomp, except obviously much smaller
People outside of Placa Reial off of Las Ramblas, where there was also music.
This next picture was a man who was playing the harmonica, and had a pet rabbit. This rabbit was seriously dancing to this man's music, it was very interesting.
Yesterday I had a pretty busy day. I went to class, went out to lunch, went to the gym, and then met up with another intercambio I found. My intercambio works here in Barcelona for Kraft foods, and will be going to New York in September on a five year work program! I definitely am enjoying meeting some local Spanish people!
Today I woke up late, and was 15 minutes late to my first class. I went to the gym after class, met up with a friend for lunch, and then had my Oceanography class. I met up with my intercambio through IES and we went to a small cafe and talked for a few hours. Apparently Axel is on a team of Castellers and he preforms on Friday's on the outskirts of Barcelona. He invited us to go, but I will be in Sevilla this weekend, but I told him that I would go to the next one!
I have my first midterm tomorrow, so I must go study. I hope I will post again before I leave for Sevilla on Friday!
Adeu!
So I have been extremely busy these last couple of days. Sunday I studied most of the day at a local cafe, and also saw some Castellers for the first time. Castellers are basically teams of men who stand on each others shoulders hoping to build a higher human tower than the other teams. During June a very popular casteller festival is in Tarragona, but on Sunday I got to witness a local one in Plaza St Jaume. There were tons of people everywhere and I decided to follow them to see what was going on. There was music being played all over, and tons of castellers..I believe I saw 4 or 5 different teams.
Tons of people outside the Adjuntment
On the weekends there are stands set up everywhere. They have everything from books to homemade goods.
Not really sure about the importance of these next two characters, but the man actually fell right after I took this picture, which was humorous.
These people put on a performance similar to stomp, except obviously much smaller
People outside of Placa Reial off of Las Ramblas, where there was also music.
This next picture was a man who was playing the harmonica, and had a pet rabbit. This rabbit was seriously dancing to this man's music, it was very interesting.
Yesterday I had a pretty busy day. I went to class, went out to lunch, went to the gym, and then met up with another intercambio I found. My intercambio works here in Barcelona for Kraft foods, and will be going to New York in September on a five year work program! I definitely am enjoying meeting some local Spanish people!
Today I woke up late, and was 15 minutes late to my first class. I went to the gym after class, met up with a friend for lunch, and then had my Oceanography class. I met up with my intercambio through IES and we went to a small cafe and talked for a few hours. Apparently Axel is on a team of Castellers and he preforms on Friday's on the outskirts of Barcelona. He invited us to go, but I will be in Sevilla this weekend, but I told him that I would go to the next one!
I have my first midterm tomorrow, so I must go study. I hope I will post again before I leave for Sevilla on Friday!
Adeu!
Saturday, February 14, 2009
Montjüic
Ciao!
Finally got to sleep in today and got up around 12:30ish! I met up with my friend Nick and his roommate, and it turns out he is the guy I sit next to every day in my history class which was pretty funny. Then we met up with a bunch of their friends and decided to head to Montjüic. It was a nice metro ride there, and then we walked up the mountain. The weather was beautiful for most of the day, probably the nicest day this week.
Montjüic literally means the "Jewish Mountain" after an important Jewish cemetery that existed during the Middle Ages. This park rises about 215 meters above the port. Montjüic was the main site for the 1992 Olympics, held on its southern slopes, and was completely transformed.
This next picture is the center point of one of Montjüic's light shows. It is Placa d'Espanya and is where the metro took us.
One of the stairways heading up to the Palau Nacional...
.
This following picture is outside the Mueseu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya. Although we didn't go inside, I am going there again with one of my classes. This is the main building of the 1929 International exhibition, and is Europe's finest collection of Romanesque frescoes.
These next photos are just a view from the Palau Nacional...
Montjüic is definitely a very relaxing atmosphere. Everyday they have live music and on Thursday-Sunday's during the summer, and Friday and Saturdays during the winter, there is a multi-colored music and light show. There are small bars and restaurants all over the mountain. This next picture is the man who played some good live music today.
This next picture is of me with some of the city in the background.
If you look to the left you can see the figure that resembles a needle. This is the Torre de Collserola which is located in Tibidabo. This mountain is 517 meters ( 1,695 feet) tall and home to an amusement park, which I plan to visit.
This next picture is outside of Palau Sant Jordi, which is the star of all the Olympic installations. Although I didn't get a chance to go inside any of the stadiums today, I will definitely go the next time I visit Montjüic.
These next pictures are outside of Estadi Olympic de Montjüic
The group that I was with wanted to go back, so I didn't get to see as much as I wanted to. I will definitely return because there are many more parts of Montjüic that I still want to see.
For the first time I saw a thief attempt to pick-pocket someone on the metro today coming home from Montjüic. There were about 10 of us in the group today, and we were spread out all over the train. As we approached one of the stops, a man getting off the metro snatched the wallet out of an American's back pocket. The thief picked the wrong person to rob because these two American men were probably in their 50's and each about 6 foot 5 and easily over 200 pounds. These men saw what happened and grabbed the little local man, who was probably half their size. He easily got his wallet back, and then the thief got thrown out of the metro. It was insane to witness this, and just shows how often people get robbed. This is probably only the third time I've heard of the thieves getting caught. By caught I don't mean arrested, I mean caught by the person they were trying to rob. It definitely will make me keep a better eye on my belongings.
I came home after that and have just been relaxing. I just got done eating dinner and probably will do some studying before I go out. Hopefully I will be able to go to Tibidabo tomorrow, or maybe Palau Guell.
Finally got to sleep in today and got up around 12:30ish! I met up with my friend Nick and his roommate, and it turns out he is the guy I sit next to every day in my history class which was pretty funny. Then we met up with a bunch of their friends and decided to head to Montjüic. It was a nice metro ride there, and then we walked up the mountain. The weather was beautiful for most of the day, probably the nicest day this week.
Montjüic literally means the "Jewish Mountain" after an important Jewish cemetery that existed during the Middle Ages. This park rises about 215 meters above the port. Montjüic was the main site for the 1992 Olympics, held on its southern slopes, and was completely transformed.
This next picture is the center point of one of Montjüic's light shows. It is Placa d'Espanya and is where the metro took us.
One of the stairways heading up to the Palau Nacional...
.
This following picture is outside the Mueseu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya. Although we didn't go inside, I am going there again with one of my classes. This is the main building of the 1929 International exhibition, and is Europe's finest collection of Romanesque frescoes.
These next photos are just a view from the Palau Nacional...
Montjüic is definitely a very relaxing atmosphere. Everyday they have live music and on Thursday-Sunday's during the summer, and Friday and Saturdays during the winter, there is a multi-colored music and light show. There are small bars and restaurants all over the mountain. This next picture is the man who played some good live music today.
This next picture is of me with some of the city in the background.
If you look to the left you can see the figure that resembles a needle. This is the Torre de Collserola which is located in Tibidabo. This mountain is 517 meters ( 1,695 feet) tall and home to an amusement park, which I plan to visit.
This next picture is outside of Palau Sant Jordi, which is the star of all the Olympic installations. Although I didn't get a chance to go inside any of the stadiums today, I will definitely go the next time I visit Montjüic.
These next pictures are outside of Estadi Olympic de Montjüic
The group that I was with wanted to go back, so I didn't get to see as much as I wanted to. I will definitely return because there are many more parts of Montjüic that I still want to see.
For the first time I saw a thief attempt to pick-pocket someone on the metro today coming home from Montjüic. There were about 10 of us in the group today, and we were spread out all over the train. As we approached one of the stops, a man getting off the metro snatched the wallet out of an American's back pocket. The thief picked the wrong person to rob because these two American men were probably in their 50's and each about 6 foot 5 and easily over 200 pounds. These men saw what happened and grabbed the little local man, who was probably half their size. He easily got his wallet back, and then the thief got thrown out of the metro. It was insane to witness this, and just shows how often people get robbed. This is probably only the third time I've heard of the thieves getting caught. By caught I don't mean arrested, I mean caught by the person they were trying to rob. It definitely will make me keep a better eye on my belongings.
I came home after that and have just been relaxing. I just got done eating dinner and probably will do some studying before I go out. Hopefully I will be able to go to Tibidabo tomorrow, or maybe Palau Guell.
NIU
We'll it is officially Valentine’s Day here in Barcelona, and also the anniversary of the shooting at NIU last year. It is mind-boggling to think that it has been a year since the shooting happened, it seemed like it was just a couple of weeks ago. I can't help to think about my Coms class I was in right before the shooting, and also walking in front of Cole hall just minutes before the shooting happened. It's pretty crazy to think about, and I sure am happy that I am alive. I definitely wish that I could have been at NIU the last couple of weeks. I have heard that there have been numerous gatherings and prayers that I wish that I could have been a part of. Even here in Barcelona it is hard to keep my mind away from what happened last year. But I decided that I am going to take it easy this weekend and travel around some parts of Barcelona that I have yet to see.
Anyways, this week has completely flown by! Classes went pretty well, and I had my first Spanish exam today....I still am upset about the Friday classes. For the most part IES is an excellent program that thrives on their education. But they are the only program that I have heard of that makes Friday classes mandatory. Each IES student is required to attend our language class on Friday. I love my Spanish class, the students and my professor. The point is that IES really limits the amount of independent traveling we can do, without being penalized. But it is what it is!
I recently booked my flight to Switzerland at the end of March, and then Dad and I booked our flight to Rome on for my Spring Break! I came to the decision that I want to travel around Spain, instead of going all over Europe. It is the most logical decision because I will be saving a ton of money, and will also be able to enhance my Spanish fluency. I've found a couple people who kind of want to do the same thing, so hopefully I will be able to find some people to travel with! I haven't really decided where I want to go, but I will figure it out this weekend. Next weekend I will be traveling to Sevilla and Cordoba, which are both in Andalucía. I have heard that the people in Andalucía are awesome, so I might want to return if I like it out there.
I met with my intercambio, Axel on Wednesday which was fun. We went to a small cafe close to Plaza Cataluña, and talked for a couple of hours. The other two American students were unable to make it, so Axel and I talked about sports, politics, and music...just about everything. I actually found some other Spanish students through the internet who are looking for an English Intercambio. A professor recommended a website to me, and I have been in contact with a few other students. I will hopefully be meeting with them sometime next week. My goal is to have 3 or 4 different intercambios throughout the semester, which will really help my fluency. One of the guys I might study with also speaks Italian, and also Catalan, which will be interesting. I have been practicing speaking Catalan, and try to greet the locals here in Catalan, opposed to Castelleano. It's an extremely long story, but most of the people from Cataluña don't consider themselves to be Spanish. They give tremendous respect to those who attempt to speak Catalan to them. I will definitely talk about this another time.
I'm considering traveling with Couch Surfing. For those who don't know, couch surfing is basically a way to travel around for free. You literally sleep on someones couch, or bed if they have one. I know that it sounds shady, but I've done some research and it seems to be very safe. I've talked to some people who have done it, and they have made tons of friends everywhere doing it. It is a relatively difficult process to sign up, but it is completely free. Each of the individuals/families that host students have ratings online by travelers who have stayed with them previously. I will talk about this more once I found out more details, but it is completely free!
Well this weekend I hope to visit Montjüic, Tibidabo, and also Palau Güell which are three parts of Barcelona which I have yet to see. I imagine that I will have many pictures to post by Sunday!
Hasta pronto
Monday, February 9, 2009
Class Field Trip to Barri Gotico
Bona tarda
We'll I had a difficult time waking up this morning. My somewhat sleepless weekend has definitely taken its toll on me, and the others that went to Madrid as well. This morning my Barcelona class had a field study around el Gótico. Barri Gothic is the oldest part of Barcelona and is the area is lined with beautiful Gothic from the churches to the government buildings.
We met this morning around 9ish at the Jaume I metro stop and most of the class was definitely lethargic. I have seen most of the area our professor was showing us, but we were paying close attention to the different types of architecture and Gothic in the the area. I thought that our visit was very informational and useful because it helped me to familiarize myself with this area of the city.
This first photo is some of my class in front of the Adjuntment de Barcelona, which is basically Barcelona's council. This is right across from the Palau de la Generalitat. These two buildings are very powerful, and surprisingly there wasn't that much security there. One interesting fact I found out today was that wherever the flag of Cataluña is displayed, the Spanish flag must be displayed right next to it.
These next two photos are an example of Catalán Gothic. Many mistake Catalan Gothic with Roman Gothic, but I learned that they are much different. Compared to Roman/European Gothic of its time, Catalán Gothic is plain. It is characterized by bell towers and flat roofs opposed to the usual spires of other European Gothic. The top of Catalán Gothic has gargoyles opposed to pinnacles. I believe that this church goes back to the 14th century or sometime close to then.
Although we saw much more, I decided not to take any more pictures because I have already posted and talked about the other parts of the city that we saw. After we finished with our tour I walked back to IES with two of the girls that I met in Madrid last weekend. I went to my Spanish class which was long, and then went to get lunch.
We went to this restaurant called Les quinze nits (Catalán) Los quince noches (Castellano) or simply 15 nights in English. Of course they had a menu del dia which was a reasonable price. The restaurant is located in Placa Reial, which is off Las Ramblas.
Placa Reial:
Mi primera plato was some sort of crepe with meat inside. It was very interesting, but good as well. I love crepes so I enjoyed it.
Mi segundo plato was merluzo (cod) and was one of the first times I ordered seafood at a restaurant. I forgot to take a picture of it, but it was a pretty good dish. My dessert was some type of chocolate cake, which was amazing. Obviously it was very rich as well. This was probably my least favorite restaurant I've eaten at for lunch, but was still good.
This next picture is of El Corte Ingles. These are huge in Spain and is a store where you can find EVERYTHING. There are about 8 floors or so and if you go all the way to the top you can see one of the best sights in Barcelona, which I have yet to do. This store literally has everything each floor is different. For example one floor is similar to a Macy's, another is similar to Dick's Sporting Goods, the next a grocery store. If there is something that you can't find at El Corte Ingles then it probably isn't in Spain.
I'm not sure what this next picture is really about, but this group of individuals decided to mediate in the middle of Plaza Cataluna. I don't know if it was some type of religious group but there were a good amount of people just watching them, so I figured I would take a picture? It definitely wasn't something that I see everyday.
I'm looking forward to another home cooked meal tonight. It sure was great sleeping in my own bed last night, and eating at home. Looks like I will have a pretty busy week since I have a field report due, as well as a presentation in Spanish. Tomorrow I am meeting with my intercambio, Axel which should be fun.
Will hopefully post again sometime this week!
Ciao
We'll I had a difficult time waking up this morning. My somewhat sleepless weekend has definitely taken its toll on me, and the others that went to Madrid as well. This morning my Barcelona class had a field study around el Gótico. Barri Gothic is the oldest part of Barcelona and is the area is lined with beautiful Gothic from the churches to the government buildings.
We met this morning around 9ish at the Jaume I metro stop and most of the class was definitely lethargic. I have seen most of the area our professor was showing us, but we were paying close attention to the different types of architecture and Gothic in the the area. I thought that our visit was very informational and useful because it helped me to familiarize myself with this area of the city.
This first photo is some of my class in front of the Adjuntment de Barcelona, which is basically Barcelona's council. This is right across from the Palau de la Generalitat. These two buildings are very powerful, and surprisingly there wasn't that much security there. One interesting fact I found out today was that wherever the flag of Cataluña is displayed, the Spanish flag must be displayed right next to it.
These next two photos are an example of Catalán Gothic. Many mistake Catalan Gothic with Roman Gothic, but I learned that they are much different. Compared to Roman/European Gothic of its time, Catalán Gothic is plain. It is characterized by bell towers and flat roofs opposed to the usual spires of other European Gothic. The top of Catalán Gothic has gargoyles opposed to pinnacles. I believe that this church goes back to the 14th century or sometime close to then.
Although we saw much more, I decided not to take any more pictures because I have already posted and talked about the other parts of the city that we saw. After we finished with our tour I walked back to IES with two of the girls that I met in Madrid last weekend. I went to my Spanish class which was long, and then went to get lunch.
We went to this restaurant called Les quinze nits (Catalán) Los quince noches (Castellano) or simply 15 nights in English. Of course they had a menu del dia which was a reasonable price. The restaurant is located in Placa Reial, which is off Las Ramblas.
Placa Reial:
Mi primera plato was some sort of crepe with meat inside. It was very interesting, but good as well. I love crepes so I enjoyed it.
Mi segundo plato was merluzo (cod) and was one of the first times I ordered seafood at a restaurant. I forgot to take a picture of it, but it was a pretty good dish. My dessert was some type of chocolate cake, which was amazing. Obviously it was very rich as well. This was probably my least favorite restaurant I've eaten at for lunch, but was still good.
This next picture is of El Corte Ingles. These are huge in Spain and is a store where you can find EVERYTHING. There are about 8 floors or so and if you go all the way to the top you can see one of the best sights in Barcelona, which I have yet to do. This store literally has everything each floor is different. For example one floor is similar to a Macy's, another is similar to Dick's Sporting Goods, the next a grocery store. If there is something that you can't find at El Corte Ingles then it probably isn't in Spain.
I'm not sure what this next picture is really about, but this group of individuals decided to mediate in the middle of Plaza Cataluna. I don't know if it was some type of religious group but there were a good amount of people just watching them, so I figured I would take a picture? It definitely wasn't something that I see everyday.
I'm looking forward to another home cooked meal tonight. It sure was great sleeping in my own bed last night, and eating at home. Looks like I will have a pretty busy week since I have a field report due, as well as a presentation in Spanish. Tomorrow I am meeting with my intercambio, Axel which should be fun.
Will hopefully post again sometime this week!
Ciao
Sunday, February 8, 2009
MADRID
!Hola!
I just got back from Madrid a couple of hours ago and I am very exhausted! The weekend was awesome but went by too quickly. I really enjoyed Madrid, besides the weather. It snowed for about twenty minutes....which was pretty depressing considering I was hoping I wouldn't see snow the entire semester! Madrid definitely reminded me more of a city that we would find in the US, it was huge, a lot of traffic and very busy. There was so much happened and despite only being there for two days, I still had the opportunity to do a lot.
Vale, so first I'm going to start from the beginning...
On Thursday I found out that my friend Nick was going to be on the same flight as me. Neither of us really knew where our hostel was located, so we had planned to meet up and get dinner one night. We took the RENFE to the airport, which was nice because it was free with my metro pass. It only took about 20 minutes to get there and it was surprisingly easy. It's definitely great to know for future trips. So our flight was delayed about an hour or so, and we finally boarded. It turned out that one of Nick's friends from home, who is also studying in Barcelona was sitting next to me on the plane. Nick switched with the woman in the middle of us, and all three of us were in the same row! The flight took about an hour, and seemed even less because we were all talking the entire time. After we got to the airport in Madrid we bout metro passes and tried to figure out where the hostel was located. We met a German man named Nils who spoke English. He currently studies in Barcelona but was visiting a friend in Madrid. We were going to all meet up with him and go to the Real Madrid futbol game Saturday night, but it ended up not happening. So we all split up our separate ways to find the hostel.
After I got to my hostel I called Nick to see where they were staying. It turns out that him and all of his friends ended up being in the same hostel!! It was absolutely insane to find that out, and I actually ended up staying in their room because they had an extra bed and the people at the front desk let me switch. The hostel seemed a little bit shady at first, but ended up not being too bad. It was just a small room with four beds, a table, a bathroom, and a shower. The bathroom had an enormous heater in it and literally burned you if you touched it. After we all got settled in we went out to a local bar and met up with some of the girls that arrived earlier. The bar was awesome and was filled with locals who were really cool. We got back to the hostel late and then went to bed and wanted to get up early to eat the "breakfast" the hostel includes in the morning and also walk around and see some of the city.
Picture of the outside of our hostel, which had an excellent location off of Gran Via..
The next morning we got up and ate breakfast and some Italians joined us at our table. They were from Sardinia, and were literally there with 15 people or so. I love how Italians travel with a huge group of people. I was able to speak Italian with them which was fun. It was pretty basic talking, but they spoke Spanish so it was easy to communicate with them since the two languages are so similar. I talked to them about Italy and studying in Europe and they were just great people!
This is a picture looking outside of our room:
The first thing we did was go to the Museo del Prado, which contains the world's greatest assembly of Spanish painting--especially the works by Velazquez and Goya. As I've mentioned before, art really isn't my thing but this museum truly was amazing. It was definitely a bit overwhelming and after three hours there I felt like my head was spinning. The exhibits are arranged in schools, and the oldest works are displayed on the lowest floors. I was unable to take pictures in the museum and they were very strict on making sure that nobody did. But the following picture is of the outside of the museum and also one of the paintings I got from the internet, just to give a visual of what I saw.
These pictures are outside the museum, and then the statues of Velazquez and Goya which are right outside of the Prado museum as well.
This next building is where Franco's police force was located..
And this next picture is called Kilometre Xero, the centre of Spain's road network, in Puerta del Sol.
These next pictures are a couple from inside the palace. The entire palace was literally covered in gold and was something I have never seen before. It must have been amazing to have the privilege of living inside this palace.
The dining room..
I just got back from Madrid a couple of hours ago and I am very exhausted! The weekend was awesome but went by too quickly. I really enjoyed Madrid, besides the weather. It snowed for about twenty minutes....which was pretty depressing considering I was hoping I wouldn't see snow the entire semester! Madrid definitely reminded me more of a city that we would find in the US, it was huge, a lot of traffic and very busy. There was so much happened and despite only being there for two days, I still had the opportunity to do a lot.
Vale, so first I'm going to start from the beginning...
On Thursday I found out that my friend Nick was going to be on the same flight as me. Neither of us really knew where our hostel was located, so we had planned to meet up and get dinner one night. We took the RENFE to the airport, which was nice because it was free with my metro pass. It only took about 20 minutes to get there and it was surprisingly easy. It's definitely great to know for future trips. So our flight was delayed about an hour or so, and we finally boarded. It turned out that one of Nick's friends from home, who is also studying in Barcelona was sitting next to me on the plane. Nick switched with the woman in the middle of us, and all three of us were in the same row! The flight took about an hour, and seemed even less because we were all talking the entire time. After we got to the airport in Madrid we bout metro passes and tried to figure out where the hostel was located. We met a German man named Nils who spoke English. He currently studies in Barcelona but was visiting a friend in Madrid. We were going to all meet up with him and go to the Real Madrid futbol game Saturday night, but it ended up not happening. So we all split up our separate ways to find the hostel.
After I got to my hostel I called Nick to see where they were staying. It turns out that him and all of his friends ended up being in the same hostel!! It was absolutely insane to find that out, and I actually ended up staying in their room because they had an extra bed and the people at the front desk let me switch. The hostel seemed a little bit shady at first, but ended up not being too bad. It was just a small room with four beds, a table, a bathroom, and a shower. The bathroom had an enormous heater in it and literally burned you if you touched it. After we all got settled in we went out to a local bar and met up with some of the girls that arrived earlier. The bar was awesome and was filled with locals who were really cool. We got back to the hostel late and then went to bed and wanted to get up early to eat the "breakfast" the hostel includes in the morning and also walk around and see some of the city.
Picture of the outside of our hostel, which had an excellent location off of Gran Via..
The next morning we got up and ate breakfast and some Italians joined us at our table. They were from Sardinia, and were literally there with 15 people or so. I love how Italians travel with a huge group of people. I was able to speak Italian with them which was fun. It was pretty basic talking, but they spoke Spanish so it was easy to communicate with them since the two languages are so similar. I talked to them about Italy and studying in Europe and they were just great people!
This is a picture looking outside of our room:
The first thing we did was go to the Museo del Prado, which contains the world's greatest assembly of Spanish painting--especially the works by Velazquez and Goya. As I've mentioned before, art really isn't my thing but this museum truly was amazing. It was definitely a bit overwhelming and after three hours there I felt like my head was spinning. The exhibits are arranged in schools, and the oldest works are displayed on the lowest floors. I was unable to take pictures in the museum and they were very strict on making sure that nobody did. But the following picture is of the outside of the museum and also one of the paintings I got from the internet, just to give a visual of what I saw.
These pictures are outside the museum, and then the statues of Velazquez and Goya which are right outside of the Prado museum as well.
And these next two are just a couple of the paintings inside of the museum..
This next building is where Franco's police force was located..
And this next picture is called Kilometre Xero, the centre of Spain's road network, in Puerta del Sol.
I went to Plaza Mayor after that, which basically forms a rectangular square. This square is very Castilian and many activities used to go on such as bullfights, executions, and pageants.
Since Madrid is the capital it is obviously very passionate about its culture. There are literally flags on every corner, in front of every building...seriously everywhere...
One huge difference that I noticed between Madrid, and Cataluña is how much easier it is to understand Castilians. Catalans have a much stronger accent, and it is often difficult to understand them. The Castilians speak clearly and are very easy to understand. It also was nice that everything is in Castilian, and not Catalan.
After Plaza Mayor we wandered around towards Plaza de Oriente which was relatively close. This next picture is me outside the state of Felipe IV.
We ate some lunch at a pretty fancy restaurant, but it was menu del dia, so it was pretty cheap for a full course meal. This next picture is arroz con leche, which is a popular dessert that I ordered. It's funny because in my last Spanish class we studied a song called "Arroz con Leche" which is basically a children's song in Mexico. So I had to order it, and it was delicious! I'm not sure what is exactly in it other than milk, rice, sugar, cinnamon but I will definitely eat it again.
After that we went back to the hostel to shower and relax before dinner. We all went to a local restaurant and had some pizza for dinner. It was actually pretty good and we had the entire basement to ourselves, which was pretty cool. Here are a couple pictures of the group that I was with during my trip to Madrid:
After dinner we all kind of split up. All of us guys went to a local bar and just relaxed and the girls went somewhere else. A couple of hours later we took the metro to another part of town because Nick had some friends from back home that were studying in Madrid. We just went to a local bar for a while and then headed back to the hostel.
Saturday morning we all got up and got breakfast at a place close to our hostel. Then we split up because I really wanted to see Palacio Real because I heard that it was amazing. Palacio Real is Madrid's lavish Royal Palace and is located on a high bluff over the Rio Manzares. For centuries the palace was occupied by a royal fortress, and was used by the royal family until 1931. Although the present king lives in a more modest Zarzuela Palace outside Madrid, the Royal Palace is still used for state occasions. These first few pictures are outside the palace, where I was allowed to take some pictures. Of course inside we weren't supposed to take any pictures, but I still managed to sneak a few.
View from the back..
Palacio Real...
These next pictures are a couple from inside the palace. The entire palace was literally covered in gold and was something I have never seen before. It must have been amazing to have the privilege of living inside this palace.
The throne room...
The dining room..
After the palace we went to El Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia. This was another enormous art museum that had so much to see. I really didn't feel like spending hours at another museum so I just saw the most famous paintings there. The museum is filled with amazing works from Picasso, Miro, and others as well.
The most famous single work of the 20th century was Picasso's Guernica. The painting is a Civil War protest commissioned by the Spanish Republic Government in 1937. Picasso found inspiration in the mass air attack on the Basque town of Gernika Lumo by German pilots. This painting was previously in a New York art gallery until 1981 because Picasso didn't want the painting to return to Spain until democracy was re-established.
For dinner we went to a nice restaurant that was also close to our hostel. It wasn't possible for us to get a large table, so we split up into about 4 tables or so for our group. We split 3 appetizers, and 3 entrees between the three of us, and the food was pretty good. We ate chicken, lamb, and salmon for our entree.
This next picture is two out of the three of my roommates in the hostel. To my left is Nick, and Steve is to the right. Jake didn't come out last night because he had a fever and seemed to be getting the flu.
After dinner we went back to the hostel for a little bit before we went out. This next picture is of the group in the girl’s room, which was next to ours.
We went out to a club, Kapital which had 7 floors. It was extremely expensive and nobody bought anything there. But the place was huge and there were some Real Madrid futbol players who I saw on one of the top floors. After getting back pretty late, I had to get up at 6:30 this morning to be at the airport before my 9 AM flight.
I got up on time, paid for my hostel and took the metro to the airport and got there very early. I slept the whole plane ride which was only an hour, and I had the luck of getting the row to myself. Although I enjoyed Madrid, I wish I could have had more time there. I only got to see a very small part of a huge city. Madrid is much different than Barcelona, and I have to say that I like Barcelona much more...especially the weather! I couldn't wait to get home to shower and have breakfast, and get a home cooked meal tonight. I just realized how spoiled I am with my family here, and how lucky I am that I am living here. It definitely is nice not having to pay for my food in Barcelona!
Now I have to get some studying done, will hopefully post sometime this week!
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