I just got back from a weekend in Madrid. I can’t even describe it, there was too much. My mind is still struggling to get a hold of just part of my weekend. We left on Friday with the other US students from la universidad. One of our professors (Antonio) gave us a mini tour of Madrid and we saw all the old buildings, el Palacio Real, Plaza Mayor, los jardines reales and so much more. After the tour we split up and some people went back to Alcalá. I was planning on staying the weekend though, so I ate lunch and walked around more with some of the Arizona crowd. Madrid is BIG. It is a lot like New York City, but cleaner (in some parts) and with buildings that are like 700 years old. The streets are narrow and twisted and there are lots of hills. Most people either walk or take the metro around town; I now understand why people in Spain are so skinny.
We must have walked at least five miles on Friday, up and down hills and all around Madrid, trying our best not to get lost. We found the royal grounds that were created for Phillip the IV. They were very similar to Central Park except for there were much older, grander buildings in the middle and beautiful, old statues everywhere. There were probably 50 twisting paths through the rows of trees and around the lake and fountain. At the lake you can rent a rowboat for the day and we saw many couples napping together in their rowboats. The main walk by the lake was also filled with various musicians playing for tips. Across the way was an old plaza with a 30-foot statue in the middle honoring another King of Spain. We sat on the steps of the open plaza and lay back, taking in the sun and the music. It was the first sunny day we’ve had here and it was magnificent. I still wore a wool jacket and a sweater, but I didn’t need gloves or a hat. I can’t wait to go back on a sunny afternoon and just write. It was so picturesque and relaxing. Spain has such a relaxed culture. No one rushes anywhere and everyone was outside enjoying the sunny day.
El Palacio Real was incredible and I can’t wait to take a tour. What is it with old architecture? What happened to architects in the last 500 years? All the old buildings are so intricate and delicate and majestic. I kept trying to imagine being there 500 years ago, with the narrow streets and the tall beautiful buildings. I’m telling you, old architects knew their stuff. We were going to try to get to either the Prado or the Reina Sofia on Saturday, but we didn’t get the chance. I guess that means we’ll just have to go back.
We stayed with Sharlee’s friend Caitlin, who has an apartment that she shares with her Spanish roommate Roberto. They currently have an extra room, so it was perfect for the three of us plus Caitlin. On Friday night we went to El Kapital, one of the most famous clubs in Madrid. It is seven stories high with four different dance floors, each with a different theme. It was non-smoking, which meant only about 25% of the people were smoking as opposed to the usual 99%. It was very fun, but so crazy. I have never seen anything like it in my life. Of course we managed to not find any Spanish people. We must have met the only Mexicans in Spain, which happened to be the Mexican U-20 national hockey team. We didn’t leave until a bit after six and there were still hundreds of people still in the club. Spain’s nightlife is wild. Of course we wasted Saturday and slept until five. I hate wasting a day, but it is cold here so I haven’t been too hard on myself. That night (Saturday) we hung out with Caitlin’s Spanish roommate Roberto, and his friend. It was very fun because I got to practice my Spanish. They hardly speak any English so it was good practice. I learned a lot of new words, which I’m sure I will forget in about a day.
Sunday morning we woke up and went to the Rastro, which is a giant street fair in Madrid every Sunday from 10-3. It is about two miles long and has a lot of side streets with different themes. Everything is so cheap!! I bought a scarf and a coin purse for 4 euro. I almost bought a grey pea coat for 15 euro but decided against it. I definitely am going to try to go most Sundays when I’m not traveling. Madrid is only a 25 minute train ride and all the shops in Alcalá close on Sunday anyways. There was everything there, from scarves to soccer jersey’s to pots and pans to dog crates. It is really cool. Of course there was tons of jewelry and it took a lot of self-control to resist the booths full of earrings.
It has been hard to travel around Europe thus far because everywhere is very cold and pretty miserable. I am going to try to go to Madrid again next weekend to visit the Prado, Reina Sofia and Palacio Real. The weekend after we are trying to get a group together to go to Morocco, and then the weekend before St. Patrick’s day, Caitlyn, Sharlee, myself and whoever else wants to join us are going to Dublin for the festival that begins on Thursday night. We’ve already booked our hostels and are in the process of booking flights.
I am very excited for these upcoming months, and cannot believe that two weeks have already passed! Tonight all us Americans watched the inauguration (of course it was dubbed over) at the university, and went out for drinks to celebrate after. Today is such a good day…a fresh start for us after these past eight years. It has been very cool to observe all the fuss about our president here in Spain. I am in the process of watching the inauguration again (this time in English). I hope you all are doing as well as I am; I still miss you mucho.
Chau from España,
Kyli
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