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Published: January 8th 2011
It's day two in Madrid, which I must say has been quite a bit better than yesterday. I decided to sleep in a bit this morning (umm...drank too much and couldn't wake up early...sorry mom aren't you proud?). I started my morning...afternoon with a coffee and milk and a scrambled eggs and veal, then headed straight for the Palacio Real. The good thing about going to all of these places right after you graduate is you get a student discount, and since I still very much look like a student I have no problem getting discounts! The price to get into the Royal Palace was 3.50 euros, which was worth it despite the long line. The Royal Palace is emblematic of the old city and rests on the terrain where the Muslims built their fortresses in the 9th century. There is a great view of the old city from the side, where there is a steep drop off (making a great offensive location of course). From what I remember from the audio-guides mix of British and American commentary (they probably didn't want to offend either dialect...what about the Australians!), the Muslim's fortress burned down which later opened up room to build
96 (?) Portraits
I really enjoyed this collection of portraits, which included a portrait of almost all composers, including Gustav Mahler, Jean Sibelius, and Paul Hindemiththe palace. The inside of the palace is beautifully ornate with woven silk decoration on stucco walls, containing 2,800 rooms each with their own specially quality. My favorite room was the Stradivari room, which contained 5 stringed instruments from the 17th century by the famous string maker, Antonio Stradivari, whose instruments are still played today by famous musicians.
The great thing about this hostel is not just the people (there are tons of people living here), but the easily accessible kitchen which I prepared a pork sirloin which local mushrooms and avocado. The grocery stores here are also extremely cheap! A huge bottle of juice, box of mushrooms, avocado, tomato, chips, pork cutlets, and a can of mussels cost me only 9 euro, not bad!
After my meal, I went straight to the Art Museum Reina Sofía, which houses a lot of famous works by Salvador Dalí, Pablo Picasso, and Joan Miró, including the well know Picasso work La Guernica. La Guernica was incredibly huge and was guarded by two security guards and a boundary of tape which, if entered, would offset a noise. If you don't know the story behind it, La Guernica was painted in an
La Guernica
Here's a pretty bad photograph of La Guernica...but you get the picture of the size attempt to gather sympathy for the Republican side of the Spanish Civil War in 1937, depicting the horror of the Nazi Condor Legions bombing of the ancient Basque town of Gernika in 1937.
Well...thanks everyone for following my blog. Hope to keep updating you on more things! Feel free to message me with any thoughts or suggestions.
~Zach
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Scott Smits
non-member comment
Day two
i want to know what you were drinking to make mom and dad proud. Also, have you run into any Texans yet. Susan and I are always amazed when we run into people over in Europe that are traveling from Texas. Sounds like you are having fun. Keep sending updates. To bad you couldn't meet up with us in Prague in March. When is your first concert.