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July 16th 2011

Published: July 16th 2011

Plaza de la Villa

Disclaimer
Sorry, everybody for not keeping this as up-to-date as I had hoped. I'm writing to you about halfway through the program when we've already done most of ourCIDE scheduled excursions. I'm trying to catch up and hopefully that can happen ASAP so I can fill you in on more everyday things. Then, fingers crossed, I can make it more of a daily thing with shorter, yet hopefully just as interesting, entries. Again, I apologize I've kept some of you waiting. Now let's begin...

Getting There

For the first time traveling on my own, my flights went exceptionally well. For my first flight I went to put myself on a waiting list for an earlier one and made the cut (yea buddy). Thank God for that since the other flight would have only allowed me a few minutes to get to the far away next gate which would have made for a mad dash through Newark airport with some heavy luggage in tow. Instead, I grabbed a snack and enjoyed the first of my many eavesdroppings into Spanish conversations.

After some time in Newark (and a granola bar later), we boarded the plane headed for Madrid. Once I

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huge fresh food market near Plaza Mayor

got on I came to the realization that there were quite a few Spainards heading back who actually seemed to outnumber the Americans on board. It wasn't anything startling, but it was a little preview of how I would feel once in Spain-a little overwhelmed by the language and its people. I got another taste of how I was going to be approached in Spain when everyone on the plane spoke to me in Spanish. Apparently I have quite the Spanish look to me (dark hair, medium height, and tan skin), so natives assume I am Spanish too. I have no complaints about that. In fact, I was quite flattered, and, as of late, I've noticed that the people are more friendly and patient with me if at first they think I'm Spanish. Unfortunately, when you're out with a group of 100 other students who are all speaking English in the most tourist spots in Spain, that's a little harder to pull off, but more about that later...

Seven hours of reading, sleeping, and tolerating the constant rocking in my seat because of someone pressing the television touchscreen buttons on the back of my chair later, we arrived in

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Irish pub in Spain

Madrid. No problems were caused with customs, but I was a little bumpy with my Spanish. Some of the signs had words that I hadn't recognized before or did recognize, but didn't quite remember what they meant; however, that wasn't my biggest worry. At that point I had gotten through all the travelling, and so then it was a matter of finding the university. They said they would have a Deusto sign and so when I didn't see one at first I panicked a little. I looked for other people who looked like Americans, hoping they were other students or faculty in the CIDE program, but that proved useless seeing as I was at an international airport. Everyone was from different countries (duh), so it was hard to distinguish who I should have been looking for. Luckily I saw a large group of people my age gathering around some older adults who were holding folders and documents. Turns out, they were our faculty and gruop leaders who led us to buses to take us to our hotel. And at that moment, I had finally made it!

Once we got to the hotel we waited for our room assignments. I

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statue on Palacio Real

was paired with a girl from my school in a room with a nice view of the pool, but we didn't have much time to bond or get to know one another as we were quickly ushered down to a soon closing lunch. There I had some of my first tastes (literally) of Spain. The buffet line had ham everywhere and there was a large basket full of bread, two things that are in excessive abundance in Spain no matter where you go for whatever meal. I also came to the quick realization that water was going to be hard to attain. We had "drink tickets" to get any drink we wanted from the bar, and since water wasn't (and isn't) provided on tap, we had (have) to order it. Thirsty days were ahead.

Meandering Madrid

Following lunch, we met in the lobby of the hotel once again to get on the buses and head into town. The 20-30 minute bus ride through the busy streets past the shops and some critical government buildings took us to a quaint park. From there, we made our way to our Palacio Real. Before I get to that though, I

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Plaza Mayor

must mention the "invisible" people we ran into. They're people who sit out on the streets with costumes that conceal their heads and completely cover the rest of their bodies to appear as if they are headless. One was sitting on a chair on the street and beckoned a couple members of our group over to take a picture. Little did they know that once they did, they had to pay the "invisible" for taking the picture, and so we all noted that taking pictures with some of the performers, even ones we'd run into later dressed up as Minnie Mouse and a bizarre dog, should be avoided unless we wanted to pay the price.

Palacio Real

Going into Palacio Real was so cool. It was absolutely gigantic. Not only was its size impressive, but its surroundings were amazing as well which immediately hit our group with the importance of history on Madrid and the just the significance of the city itself. The center in between all the buildings where they used to hold concerts and meetings on whether people should be burned at the stake was expansive. The view of the gardens below, which stood opposite of

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across the street from Palacio Real

the entrance) was fantastic with so many shades of green and plants placed in geometric designs which was a influenced by the Moors when they ruled Spain. The inside was even more beautiful, although I don't have any pictures of it. No flash photogs allowed. It would be quite the task to describe it though. Just think big palace, generations of royal families coming to live there whenever there was an important event going on in the capital, countless spacious rooms, a lot of old but beautiful intricate designs and artwork, and a whole lot of money to put it all together. The thought that someone took that much time and put that much effort into each room, even into each piece of furniture was incredible. I wish we had some sort of headset or tour guide to lead us through the palace. I think it would have made me appreciate it a lot more. I also wish I knew some other little interesting little tidbits about the place other than just "Rey Carlos dressed here." Nevertheless, I was blown away.

I also took a little detour after the main palace self-guided tour to the armory across the square.

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ice cream excitement

There we saw all the different types of knight armour and weaponry that was used to protect Palacio Real. That was not a small room either. I was surprised at how many models there had been, each with a different feature to improve the outfit for its different type of function (ie-rifleman, knight on a horse, etc). The armour was also extremely well-made with the crests welded into each one and was even made for the horses. The weaponry was also remarkable. I just can't seem to get over how detailed and ornate everything was made to be back then. I guess the country would give anything to save the king and queen (and make sure they looked good doing it).

Plaza de la Villa

Next, we went to Plaza de la Villa. It's the oldest plaza in Madrid that was at first I think used for things that Plaza Mayor and Puerta del Sol are now used for. It was just a cute little square of buildings from different eras in Spain's history that was so small that our guide almost missed it as we passed it on the street. Given that it was hot and in

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"invisible" person

between locations on the tour, it was also here that people tried their first of many ice creams in Spain. I'm told they're delicious, but I haven't had the chance myself to try some yet given my stomach's reaction to milk and dairy. Although, one day, I will try one for myself. Instead, I was a little bit more interested in a Ch&Ch place across the street which, true to its name, sold chocolate y churros. Unfortunately I didn't get any because the group was already falling behind with its recent ice cream discovery, but perhaps one day I'll run into that place again and get some.

Plaza Mayor

A few minutes away is Plaza Mayor, probably my favorite plaza in Spain so far. It, like the rest of the places we had been to in Madrid excluding Plaza de la Villa, was a large space. It had tapas (pinchos or pintxos are in the Basque region only apparently) bars, restaurants, cervezerias (beer bars), and apartments surrounding the inside of the plaza. On the square we found more performers, some stranger than the "invisible" people if you can imagine, and vendors trying to sell everything from flying light

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Plaza Mayor

up contraptions to jewelry to gum. It was full of people, full of life, and everything seemed so laid back. I could definitely see myself sitting there for a while being completely content hanging out with a big group of friends or even simply people-watching. I haven't found a plaza quite as appealing yet and wish that I could have spent more time there. Good thing we would go back...

Puerta del Sol

On we went to Puerta del Sol. Here we were told it was Spain's version of Time's Square. They hold a lot of events there and while we were standing in the middle of it all, there was a protest being held (although I'm not completely sure what for). From this center extend all of the major streets of the city, so it is a key location for getting anywhere else in the city (and also a great common place to know for later if you were to ever get lost since anyone could either direct you in what direction to go in from there or to there). Again, there were a lot of shops, but no place like Plaza Mayor to just hang outside

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Palacio Real

restaurants to enjoy the night or afternoon in the city's environment. I guess that happens with the events they hold that I mentioned earlier. For instance, they celebrate New Year's every year there with a countdown and at the stroke of midnight, all of the people in Puerta del Sol eat a grape for each ring of the bell (which, according to my Culture professor, is much harder than it sounds). I'd like to be there for that fiesta!

After that our trip was over and we headed back to the hotel for dinner and some free time...my next entry. Right now, I'm going to explore Bilbao for some more material (hopefully) to be included in a future entry. Solamente en Espana. Hasta luego.

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