España 2011: Madrid, Segovia, Toledo and the Escorial- A Great Weekend!

I apologize ahead of time for the numerous errors in this blog post, I am very tired and under a bit of a time crunch to finish it. This past weekend I went to Madrid, Toledo, Segovia and The Escorial with my program. We left Friday morning around 9 and arrived in Madrid a little after 2. Our first stop was the Prado Museum where we saw famous works from Velazquez, Goya, Greco etc. We were there for about 2 hours because the museum is absolutely huge and then we went and got STARBUCKS! A soy, vanilla latte has never tasted so good! We next headed to the hotel where we had a little free time before having a group dinner at a nearby restaurant. The hotel was quite nice and it was great fun sharing rooms with friends and being able to hang out. In Spain no one enters into each other’s houses unless they are a family member or a lifetime friend, therefore, it has been awhile since I have gotten to lay around with my friends watching movies and whatnot. It was quite refreshing.

Our second day in Madrid, we went with our program to the Escorial. The Escorial is the largest building in Spain which was build during the 16th century over the period of only 21 years by the king of Spain, Phillip II. There were a few main motives behind the constructing of the building. The first was that he wished for a beautiful place for his father, Carlos V, to be buried. The second was that he wished for the Escorial to be a symbol for Spain. The building is made up of a few major sections including a Basilica, a grand library, a monastery, a school and housing for the current Royal family. The Basilica is located at the middle of the building which is located in the middle of Spain. By that I mean the Spanish consider the Escorial to be located in the middle of the entire country. Therefore, by placing the Basilica in the middle of the building which is in the middle of Spain it demonstrates how the Spanish society is centralized around Catholicism. Also, at the time Philip II was using the religion to unite the Spanish people. Just a little history lesson for you! My favorite part was the tombs. The majority of the Kings and Queens of Spain from the period after Phillip the Second are buried in the Escorial in a beautiful room decorated with gold and marble. After leaving the Escorial we went back to Madrid where my friends and I did a little shopping then we went out to dinner at a place called Casa Minga. It served the best chicken that I have ever had in my life. It was slow roasted with Salt and Olive oil yet it was tender and delicious. We also drank the house made Cider, which was pretty good as well. That night we had another lovely evening hanging out in the hotel room attempting to find Disney Channel on Spanish television.

On Sunday our program took us to Segovia. Segovia is about an hour north of Madrid and it is a city with a lot of medieval influence. The main sites in the city include the roman aqueduct that continues for 15 Kilometers or about 9 miles, the Castle which is the same one that was used in Disney´s Snowwhite and the Cathedral. Segovia was a very pretty city and we got a walking tour of it from a guide that had lived in Segovia his entire life making it was quite interesting to hear his perspective of the city. Once returning to Madrid we had a free afternoon so my friend and I went for a run (our Half marathon is this Sunday) and then we went to a Mexican restaurant in the Chueca district for dinner. Chueca is the primary restaurant district in Madrid and there are restaurants for blocks and blocks. We walked around Madrid for a little bit and took some pictures then we called it a night.

On Monday we went on a walking tour of Madrid with the same guide from the Escorial and Segovia. We walked around the city past many of the main monuments including the Royal Palace and the primary square, which is known as Puerta del Sol. After eating a group lunch of Paella with whole lobster, crawfish, clams, mussels and mini crabs we had a short break then we went to the Reina Sofia, which is the primary contemporary museum in Madrid. I enjoyed this museum more than the Prado because we got to see La Guernica, which was painted by Picasso. We also saw works by Miró, Dalí and other very popular contemporary artists. My favorite painting is in the Reina Sofia therefore it was very enjoyable to see that. It is call The World. I am sure many of you have seen it before but I have attached an image of it as well. After the Reina Sofia we worked our way back to the hotel and then went out for an early dinner around 8 at an Indian Restaurant. Monday was Halloween. Therefore, we all went back to the hotel and got ready for the night. I was a nerd and I wore glasses, a yellow and grey argyle sweater vest, bright pink suspenders and Halloween socks with awkward pants. We had a great night. We went to the largest discoteca in Madrid called Kapital. It has seven floors and they guessed there was anywhere between 10,000 and 15,000 people there that night. We had a great time dancing into the morning hours. All in all it was a great Halloween and it was quite a bit of fun to see the Spanish interpretation of the holiday. Most of the Spaniards dressed up in scary costumes with face paint and fake blood.

Tuesday morning we woke up and left the hotel to head out to Toledo before returning to Granada. Toledo was definitely my favorite city that we have been to thus far. The city was absolutely spectacular. While we were there we had about six hours to wander around the city. Therefore, we went to Greco’s house where we got to see not only where he did the majority of his paintings but also we all got to see many of his famous works. After visiting Greco’s house we went to a monastery in the city. It was beautiful and there was a historical art exhibit going on inside. Our next stop consisted of eating some delicious chocolate cake before going to an Italian restaurant for lunch. One of the great parts about being in Madrid is that we were able to eat a larger variety of foods, this was some therapy definitely needed for my taste buds. We finished our time in Toledo by going to the Cathedral and I believe it definitely makes the top of my list for the prettiest cathedrals I have visited. It is hard to describe, therefore, you should look at the pictures I posted of it.

The weather is definitely beginning to change here. I have officially put away my shorts and brought out the sweaters, jackets, pants and gloves. I don’t mind that it has cooled down because during the first month it was uncomfortably hot, however, dryers do not exist in Spain. Therefore, it can take weeks for your clothes to dry because they hang dry outside and the past week we have been getting huge (and I mean HUGE) rainstorms. The streets are beginning to flood and my clothes are nowhere near being dry. My mom finally realized that it was supposed to rain for the next week straight so she brought all of my soaking wet clothes in from outside. My clothes are everywhere in my house. Pants hanging from windows, shirts from chairs, it’s just quite a site. I am to the point where I had to go buy more socks today because mine are dripping in my bathtub still after being washed on Wednesday.

During my time in Madrid I reached the two-month point in my program and I only have six and a half weeks left in Granada after this weekend. I can hardly believe it and I am not quite sure how I feel about it. The next six weeks bring with them a trip to Florence, a Trip to Sevilla, Skiing in the Sierra Nevadas (Ski season actually starts kind of soon), a trip to Portugal and a Trip to Barcelona and we shall see where else the wind takes me during my free time. This weekend I have my half marathon as I mentioned above. I am also not completely sure how I feel about it either. We shall see! Love you all and take a look at my pictures posted below!

El Escorial