El Teatro Real and Road Trip! (4 cities in 3 days)

This post is totally a week overdue, but here it is:

Tuesday:

Madrid - Our whole group got tickets to see La belle at the Royal Theatre! It was basically an adaptation of Sleeping Beauty with music from Tchaikovsky. Loved it! Our seats were REALLY high up, but the theatre was beautiful and had great acoustics. Here's the inside of the theatre:

ROAD TRIP!!!

Thursday:

Burgos - Got on the bus bright and early and drove a few hours north to Burgos. We stopped for a few hours and went inside the cathedral. So far it's my favorite that we've seen.

Santander - We drove a few more hours and made it to Santander, on the north coast. We dropped off our personal effects at our hotel (which was very posh, BTW's), then the professor turned us loose to do whatever we wanted until the next morning. I finally got to swim in the Atlantic Ocean (Well, I forgot my swimsuit so I only really went in up to my knees. But it counts!) After a few hours on the beach, we ended up going to eat at a Chinese restaurant of all places. I wanted to try some authentic regional mariscos but everywhere we went had a several-hour wait. We went back to the beach and walked in the moonlight, then went to bed. Here's the scene I awoke to:

I could totally live there.


Friday:

Oviedo - After a few hours on the bus, we arrived in Oviedo. I didn't really know what to expect with this city, but it was lovely! Apparently it's one of the most expensive places to live in Europe. There was also a whole street devoted to restaurants that serve sidra (cider), El Bulevar de la Sidra (Boulevard of the Cider). I really wanted to try some, but we couldn't find any that was non-alcoholic. Alas, some other time. But we had lunch, had the menú del día: Fabada (a soup made with white beans and chorizo), some chicken and potatoes, and quesada, a type of cheesy cake. Side note: If you ever go out to eat in Spain, just order from the menu of the day. It's cheaper and the food is better. We had a guided tour of the city, and our first stop was the Santa María del Noranco, a pre-Roman summer palace that has since been converted into a church. A brisk half-mile hike up the mountain, and then we saw this beauty:

After that, we walked through the city, saw the cathedral (which was built over 4 centuries, and is a conflation of several different styles), and then got to check out the market. I found this bit of fun:

Heh. I'm Asturian. Anyway, It was a good time. I was all tuckered out after we got back to the hotel at 8:30, so I fell asleep reading Harry Potter y la cámara secreta.

Saturday:

León - We saw the cathedral (which had the most amazing stained glass; unfortunately, no pictures allowed inside), then went to the farmer's market. I saw lots of interesting/scary stuff!

Stay tuned for Brian's next adventure: This week I only have classes Monday and Tuesday, then on Wednesday we're going on a 4-day trip to Valencia and Barcelona. WHEE!!!