Advertisement
Madrid
Puerta Del SolHola!
After a week of reviewing for finals and trying to gain some color I took an overnight bus to spend the day at the Capitol of Spain, Madrid!
Arriving at 9 AM, we had the whole day ahead of us to explore the city and enjoy the amazing 90 degree weather. Right away we started at the main plaza, Puerta del sol. With it's lively characters (literally, Mickey and Minnie) beautiful fountains and fish designed Metro entrance, it is one of the most unique spots in Madrid. At part of the Plaza is the 0 KM mark, the exact center of Spain which was one of my favorite spots. On the way to the Prado Museum we passed many statues, and one really great one of Neptune in the center of a roundabout. Getting to the museum early was perfect to beat the crowds and getting in for free for being a student was just the cherry on top!
Once inside the museum a map is necessary to navigate and understand what "country"'s artist you are actually seeing. It was amazing to finally see the works of Spanish artists like Velasquez, El Greco, Goya and many others
Madrid
El Oso I have been learning about since starting to learn spanish. My favorite to see was Las Meninas, which is so much larger in real life than on slide shows! The detail in all the paintings is so unreal.
Next on our stop was to the neighboring Royal Botanical Gardens, which had been forgotten, taken down, rebuilt, destroyed and restored over and over again in past decades and today they host feild trips, young and old couples, tourist and locals alike under it's shady trees and to rest on benches surrounding duck filled fountains. A cute little shop with flowers, seeds and floral kitchen decorations welcome visitors into this calm and beautiful oasis. Winding trails and signs explaining the flora and fauna keep the park alluring and educational and the open spaces are perfect for tanning 😉
Next stop was to head around and see Plaza Mayor, with the completely painted Casa de Panaderia and popular cafe's and shops this is a great place to kill some time and enjoy Madrid's churros con chocolate, or in my case gelato (go figure!) After the Plaza we ran into San Miguel Mercado, a block completely dedicated to local foods, sweets, fish
Madirid
Neptune and the largest pans of paella I've ever seen. It works like a buffet where you can get a plate of paella at one stand, calamari at another, and then frozen yogurt or a smoothie at others and sit along the edge and enjoy people watching the crowds dodging the birds flying in and out. Last stop on our round Madrid self tour was the Royal Palace, and my goodness what an understatement. While we didn't go inside of it, I was still amazed at the sheer size and extravegance of the gates that surround it. Across from the Palace is the Plaza Oriente with more maze-like gardens surrounding a four sided fountain that faces the Royal Theatre, on the way back to square one....or KM Zero... in Puerta del Sol.
The Grand Finale of our trip was being able to go see one of the first Bull Fights of the season. The stadium Plaza de Toros seems enormous from the outside, especially crowded with an excited audience and venders outside anxious for the "show" to begin. When walking in you have the choice to rent a seat, yes rent, which makes sense since all the "seats" in the
stadium are of stone. The seats are sold off as they were back in the day, seat in the sun being the cheapest and the ones under cover or in the shade being more. When the fight begins the whole crowd is very excited and takes a moment of silence to all those who have been hurt in the ring. The bullfight is not at all what I expected. I understand that it is a tradition and a sport in the eyes of the Spanish, but parts of the "game" do not seem very fair. Leaving personal opinion of it aside, it was great to see the show and thrill the crowd gets when the Toro suceeds in his task, of killing the bull. 6 fights occur during one sitting and 3 different toros are judged and compete for the top competitor of the day.
It was a great trip to see some amazing art, catch some sun, and see a unique tradition of spain!
Back on the home front on Sunday we celebrated our Cinco de Mayo, yes on the 13th! Listening to mexican music we enjoyed sipping our margaritas and chopping down on guacamole nachos and
a great chicken cheese nacho goodness cassarole! To walk off the mountain of calories consumed we decided to take a trip up to the the highest point in Barcelona, Tibidabo. From all around the city you can see this "castle" on a hilltop and I've always used it to redirect me when I get a tad lost, and after taking a metro, train, funicular, and bus I was surprised to learn that my compass this whole time has been the cathedral that sits ontop of the mountain! Also atop this area is a rickety but extremely awesome theme park fit with rollercoasters that follow the road around the mountain and classic rides like the Pirate Ship and Carosual! Sunset from Tibidabo was a great way to end a wonderful weekend and being able to see the city lights come on as we hiked our way back down was both enchanting and heartbreaking at the same time. So much time has flown and when I got to look down at Barcelona I felt just how big of an impact this fantastic city has made on me!
Thanks for taking the time to read this week!
In love with
my vibrant city,
Air
Advertisement
Tot: 0.172s; Tpl: 0.017s; cc: 9; qc: 47; dbt: 0.1312s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb
Sharon Hare
non-member comment
WOW!
Dear Erin, All I can say is "WOW" about the picture of you with the caption "I love Barcelona". It is amazing. What views you saw on that hike! Wonderful writing and pictures, yet again! Feel like I was there with you and that is a gift to be able to do. Skyping with you last night was the best birthday present! I love you and am counting these last 10 days down......... Love you so very much, MOM