So, Semana Santa has now come to an end. From the beautiful city of Madrid to engagements to Easter processionals, it was all in all an amazing experience. I saw in total three processions last week out of at least 12. Despite the overwhelming crowd of people, they were incredible. We saw marching bands, banner and cross bearers, and these massive structures depicting the later life and death of Jesus that were so heavy that they had to be supported by about 30 people. At the last processional, there was a Mary statue and a Jesus statue, and the carriers actually ran at each other so that Mary and Jesus met in the middle of the Plaza Mayor in downtown Caceres. It was very cool.
Madrid was incredible, as I´ve already said. I can´t wait to go back in May!!!
I found out that a friend of mine from NC got engaged and then Kerry got engaged two days ago, too!!! She is the only person I know who got engaged in a foreign romantic country. How do you top that? We also had two dinners at the piso, American style. The first time, we had barbecue chicken, baked m & c, mashed potatoes, and absolutely delicious apple cobbler. One of our Italian friends ate with us, and my mom and Sandra went absolutely nuts over him. The same happened again the second night when a German friend was over. I don´t know what it is about European men that messes with women from the western hemisphere, but I think they were enchanted lol. That night, we had bacon, scrambled eggs, strawberries, and pancakes...with actual syrup!!! Mom brought it for me from home. Me gusta Aunt Jemima. She also brought me a massive bag of chocolate, skittles and starburst, shoes and clothes from home, perfume, makeup, etc. You name it. She brought it for me. Thanks Mom!
So we´re now halfway through the semester, but I´ve still got a few extra weeks to spend with Spain and my friends here. However, even if I had a lifetime, it still wouldn´t be enough time here.
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Monday, April 5, 2010
Madrid Day 4
Hola. This is our last full day in Madrid. We're leaving in the morning after breakfast, and I am so so sad. Even though there are too many people here, I already miss this city, and I wish I could stay longer. There's still so much that I haven't seen that I want to see. Today, we went to the bus station to get tickets to Caceres for Mom and Sandra. We weren't sure if they'd have them tomorrow. It was a bit far away, so we decided to take the Metro. It was my first time. We were pretty confused at first, but it became much easier after a few minutes. We got the tickets and then headed back toward Puerta del Sol.
After walking around downtown for a bit and eating some sort of rectangular pizza for lunch at a little cafe, we walked to the Royal Palace. Actually, we found the cathedral by accident, and when we noticed this massive, extravagant building behind it, we knew it was more than just a tourist attraction. We waited in line for nearly an hour, but it was definitely worth it. Again, I got a student discount, so whenever you're traveling it's always good to ask about that. The palace was absolutely beautiful. I've never seen such lavish rooms, but then again it was remodeled in the 19th c. You see a lot of rooms dedicated to Carlos III, who apparently was a really good king. There's an enormous courtyard in between the palace and the cathedral, and honestly I don't know when I've felt so small. The Armory Room in particular was pretty cool. There were suits of armor, weapons, and life-size (but not real) horses and riders all decked out in their armor (even the horses) and jousts. It was awesome. And now, we can say that we've had tea at the Royal Palace in Madrid. I feel special.
After, we took a new way to our hotel. It seems that everywhere we turn, there's something new and wondrous to behold. Ok, so maybe that last sentence was a bit much, but I'm tired. Once we made our way out into the city again, we decided to go back the way we came. We saw an incredibly long line that seemed to never end. When we finally reached what was going on, apparently some very famous Spanish singer was signing autographs. His name was Sergio Dalma, and I have no idea who he is. But I intend to find out because now I can say that I've seen a famous person. I think. We had dinner at this really nice restaurant. It wasn't expensive or uppity or anything like that. It was just really good. We each had a glass of white wine and cheered ourselves as we waited for our last true meal in Madrid. I'm so glad that my mom and aunt could come and experience this new world with me. I cannot wait to return. And I will.
After walking around downtown for a bit and eating some sort of rectangular pizza for lunch at a little cafe, we walked to the Royal Palace. Actually, we found the cathedral by accident, and when we noticed this massive, extravagant building behind it, we knew it was more than just a tourist attraction. We waited in line for nearly an hour, but it was definitely worth it. Again, I got a student discount, so whenever you're traveling it's always good to ask about that. The palace was absolutely beautiful. I've never seen such lavish rooms, but then again it was remodeled in the 19th c. You see a lot of rooms dedicated to Carlos III, who apparently was a really good king. There's an enormous courtyard in between the palace and the cathedral, and honestly I don't know when I've felt so small. The Armory Room in particular was pretty cool. There were suits of armor, weapons, and life-size (but not real) horses and riders all decked out in their armor (even the horses) and jousts. It was awesome. And now, we can say that we've had tea at the Royal Palace in Madrid. I feel special.
After, we took a new way to our hotel. It seems that everywhere we turn, there's something new and wondrous to behold. Ok, so maybe that last sentence was a bit much, but I'm tired. Once we made our way out into the city again, we decided to go back the way we came. We saw an incredibly long line that seemed to never end. When we finally reached what was going on, apparently some very famous Spanish singer was signing autographs. His name was Sergio Dalma, and I have no idea who he is. But I intend to find out because now I can say that I've seen a famous person. I think. We had dinner at this really nice restaurant. It wasn't expensive or uppity or anything like that. It was just really good. We each had a glass of white wine and cheered ourselves as we waited for our last true meal in Madrid. I'm so glad that my mom and aunt could come and experience this new world with me. I cannot wait to return. And I will.
Madrid Day 3
Sunday, we had a continental breakfast in the hotel. It was actually pretty good. After we all got ready, we walked down Gran Via, the main street in Madrid, to Plaza de Cibeles, which is where you can find the Prado Museum. El Paseo del Prado, the street where it's located, is absolutely beautiful. I've absolutely fallen in love with that area. The Prado was so cool. I saw so many famous paintings such as Saturno, Las Meninas, El Coloso, and El fusilamiento de Torrijos y sus companeros en la playa de Malaga. The latter is my favorite and is one of several that I found that I really appreciate. You can get discounts, too. I got one because I'm a student.
After the Prado, we went to the Botanical Gardens just behind it. Very little was in bloom, so it wasn't as impressive as it will be in a few weeks, but it was still so pretty and tranquil. I'd love to just walk around it or sit on a park bench. The weather has been perfect for the past few days. We got discounts here as well. My mom's ticket was the regular price, two and a half euros, mine was just over a euro because I'm a student, and Sandra got in free because she's considered a senior. I can't wait to come back here in May with Bridget.
After the Prado, we went to the Botanical Gardens just behind it. Very little was in bloom, so it wasn't as impressive as it will be in a few weeks, but it was still so pretty and tranquil. I'd love to just walk around it or sit on a park bench. The weather has been perfect for the past few days. We got discounts here as well. My mom's ticket was the regular price, two and a half euros, mine was just over a euro because I'm a student, and Sandra got in free because she's considered a senior. I can't wait to come back here in May with Bridget.
Madrid Day 2
Madrid is so beautiful! I could stay here for weeks and still not see everything worth seeing. Saturday, we went to the Puerta del Sol, which basically means Door of the Sun. It's one of the main plazas in Madrid and it leads into Old Town. There, you can see quite a few interesting characters. Literally. We saw Chewbacca from Star Wars, a mariachi band, a matador, and Winnie the Pooh who apparently tried to hit on me. It was not my most thrilling moment. I also found a bookstore there and got two Spanish books--one about Spanish grammar and one about Spanish verbs. I know that probably doesn't sound too awesome, but you have to remember that I am a grammar freak.
We walked down Calle Mayor, which is just off of Puerta del Sol and has a multitude of souvenir shops. And yes, we did fall victim to a few of them. We also accidentally found La Plaza Mayor. That was pretty cool. It's a giant plaza that's surrounded by a wall on all four sides with massive arches to enter it. We had ice cream just outside it where pigeons were constantly flying dangerously too low over us. I don't like pigeons. For dinner, we ate at the Plaza Mayor. We had white wine, sangria, patatas bravas, and of course, paella. Everything was so good. My aunt speaks a little bit of Czech, so she constantly wants to speak it here. Last night at dinner, the waiter, who was very friendly, had brought her something and she accidentally said thank you but in Czech, not Spanish. What's interesting about this is that in Czech "thank you" is pronounced like "ah-no", which sounds an awful like "ano" in Spanish. "Ano" without the little wave accent over the n means "anus". I don't think the waiter noticed, but you can understand why I laughed. After I explained what happened, my mom and aunt laughed uncontrollably. I really can't take them anywhere.
We walked down Calle Mayor, which is just off of Puerta del Sol and has a multitude of souvenir shops. And yes, we did fall victim to a few of them. We also accidentally found La Plaza Mayor. That was pretty cool. It's a giant plaza that's surrounded by a wall on all four sides with massive arches to enter it. We had ice cream just outside it where pigeons were constantly flying dangerously too low over us. I don't like pigeons. For dinner, we ate at the Plaza Mayor. We had white wine, sangria, patatas bravas, and of course, paella. Everything was so good. My aunt speaks a little bit of Czech, so she constantly wants to speak it here. Last night at dinner, the waiter, who was very friendly, had brought her something and she accidentally said thank you but in Czech, not Spanish. What's interesting about this is that in Czech "thank you" is pronounced like "ah-no", which sounds an awful like "ano" in Spanish. "Ano" without the little wave accent over the n means "anus". I don't think the waiter noticed, but you can understand why I laughed. After I explained what happened, my mom and aunt laughed uncontrollably. I really can't take them anywhere.
Madrid Day 1
The next few blogs about Madrid were written last week.
So I'm sitting here in our hotel room in Madrid. It's about the size of my room in Caceres, but all I care is that there's a bed and a nice shower that I can stand up in (the shower at my apartment has no curtain) and that has a door. I was really nervous about the trip into Madrid at first, but it went pretty smoothly actually. Even though I mostly had just clothes, my backpack was absolutely stuffed. I just screamed tourist. I found the bus station after a lot of walking, and it was so easy to figure out. The almost four-hour ride into Madrid was uncomfortable but bearable. Americans are much taller than Europeans. Therefore, there's less leg room. Once I got to the bus station in Madrid, I went to the bathroom (no toilet paper again) and then got a taxi to the Best Western, which was really close to the airport. It took about 15 minutes to get there and cost about 23 euros, which was much better than I thought it'd be.
I was so excited to see my mom and aunt, and we all had things to tell each other about our travels. We had dinner at this little cafe close to the hotel, which was really good. Iberian spicy sausage sandwich is surprisingly good. By the way, I hated coke and olives before I came to Spain. Now however, since the Sprite here tastes like bathroom cleaner, coke is the only soda I drink, and the complimentary olives that they give you at restaurants are absolutely delicious. Tonight, we had a small plate of fresh olives and sardines. I've never had sardines, so I was a bit hesitant at first, but honestly, they were really good. Spain is changing my tastes very quickly, and I really don't seem to mind because here almost everything is "rico"! Tomorrow, we're switching hotels so that we can be closer to the city and don't have to spend so much money on traveling back and forth. I'm so excited to be in Madrid and to show my family what I've been falling in love with these past two months.
So I'm sitting here in our hotel room in Madrid. It's about the size of my room in Caceres, but all I care is that there's a bed and a nice shower that I can stand up in (the shower at my apartment has no curtain) and that has a door. I was really nervous about the trip into Madrid at first, but it went pretty smoothly actually. Even though I mostly had just clothes, my backpack was absolutely stuffed. I just screamed tourist. I found the bus station after a lot of walking, and it was so easy to figure out. The almost four-hour ride into Madrid was uncomfortable but bearable. Americans are much taller than Europeans. Therefore, there's less leg room. Once I got to the bus station in Madrid, I went to the bathroom (no toilet paper again) and then got a taxi to the Best Western, which was really close to the airport. It took about 15 minutes to get there and cost about 23 euros, which was much better than I thought it'd be.
I was so excited to see my mom and aunt, and we all had things to tell each other about our travels. We had dinner at this little cafe close to the hotel, which was really good. Iberian spicy sausage sandwich is surprisingly good. By the way, I hated coke and olives before I came to Spain. Now however, since the Sprite here tastes like bathroom cleaner, coke is the only soda I drink, and the complimentary olives that they give you at restaurants are absolutely delicious. Tonight, we had a small plate of fresh olives and sardines. I've never had sardines, so I was a bit hesitant at first, but honestly, they were really good. Spain is changing my tastes very quickly, and I really don't seem to mind because here almost everything is "rico"! Tomorrow, we're switching hotels so that we can be closer to the city and don't have to spend so much money on traveling back and forth. I'm so excited to be in Madrid and to show my family what I've been falling in love with these past two months.
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