Museo Reina Sofía and the Egyptian Temple

Okay, here goes another attempt at catching up on my blogging! On Wednesday, October 5, we went as a group to the Museo Reina Sofía (Queen Sofia Museum). This museum is mostly comprised of modern art. The highlight was seeing Picasso's Guernica and all of the preparatory paintings in person... it really was an emotional experience. Plus, the original is 25 x 11 feet. Obviously, no pics allowed. But here is a pic from Google:

There were lots of cool Dalí paintings too.

After leaving the museum, a group of us went to this park in the middle of Madrid that has a) a random Egyptian temple and b) a fantastic view of the city. Here are some of the pics I snapped:

On our way back to the Metro, we came across a market, so we decided to check it out. And there I found this joy:

Yes, you better believe it's a set of Russian nesting dolls with Bill, Monica, Hillary, Paula, and... er... a reproductive unit of Bill! Finding it in Madrid just made it that much funnier!

Valencia, Barcelona, and Zaragoza

Two weeks ago, we went on yet another road trip! This time it was to the east.

We drove a few hours to Valencia.

VALENCIA:

Immediately after disembussing (yes, I just made that word up), I noted that the air was breezy and smelled like the sea. PTL. First we saw la Llotja de la Seda (Silk Exchange). I love the spiral columns; check it out:

Valencia was the silk capital of the west, and merchants would come here to trade. Being a Gothic building, there are, of course, gargoyles. There were a few non-G-rated ones. I would post pics but I want to maintain the G-rating of my blog. Ask me some other time and I'll show you. They were funny! :D Here are the inside courtyard and the staircase leading to the second floor:

After the Llotja, we went to the market and saw this beauty:

I'm still not used to looking animals in the eye while I'm eating them.

Next, we went to St. Mary's cathedral, where you better believe the Holy Grail is! Or so legend says. I'd like to think I was in the same place as the famed Grail, so we're going with it. Of course, you had to pay like 15€ to go in the museum half of the cathedral with the grail, so we didn't see it in person. Boo. But it was still a pretty cathedral.

Dome

Altarpiece

Poster advertising the Holy Grail

Miquelete (Little Michael), the bell tower

A buxom water siren showing her goodies.

After that adventure, we went on a bus tour of the city. My favorite part was the Ciutat de les Arts i les Ciències (City of the Arts and Sciences). I REALLY wanted to go to L'Oceanogràfic aquarium, but alas, we didn't have time. But here are some views of the area:

Harp-shaped bridge

 Sweet pool behind the Museu de les Ciències Príncipe Felipe

Random pods in a wall

 Watch out! T-Rex!

 Ceramic teepee

Next, we saw the Museu Nacional de Ceràmica. BTW, Valencia was also the ceramics capital of Spain. I learned a lot about how ceramics are made and colored and like such as. Sorry, no pics allowed inside. But we did manage to sneak one in:

We met up with our group at a restaurant to have paella. Cultural note: drink refills are not free in Spain. So pace yourself through your drink, because it has to last 3 courses. Anyway, we went to our hotel and I crashed within half an hour. Yep, I'm officially feeling old. The next morning, we headed for Barcelona!


 BARCELONA:

I was excited to have two whole days in Barcelona! It's the second biggest city in Spain, and I've always been told it's a pretty happenin' place. When we arrived, we couldn't take our bus tour as planned, so we got a close-up walking tour of El Barri Gòtic (The Gothic Quarter). Our hotel was about an hour outside of the city, so we went back to the sketchiest, most questionable hotel room I have ever been in. Seriously. But, I did get to wake up to this:

The second day, we finally got to take our bus tour of the city! They give you headphones and then you get an audio tour in the language of your choice. And it takes you to ALL the good places. So, it was a good time.

 We took a small break from our tour and found a restaurant. I had a chicken and veggie sandwich and a chocolate mint batido. Yum! Oh, and we found this HUGE jar of Nutella.

After embussing on the tour bus, we continued our sight-seeing. Here are the goodies we saw:

The Forum

The Plaza de Toros (BTW's, as of this month, bullfighting is illegal in Cataluña)

La Sagrada Familia

El Parc Güell - designed by Gaudí

Bird nests built right into the walls

View of Barcelona

The Casa Milà

Cool statues on the roof

Scale model of the Casa Milà

Finally got to swim in the Mediterranean Sea!

I really wanted to walk down La Rambla (the main shopping district) but alas, we didn't have time. I'll put that on the list of things to do next time I'm there!

I woke up the next morning with a nasty cold, so I was all grumpy-grump. At least I got to have my fun in Barça before getting sicky! We were on the bus all day, but we did make a brief stop in Zaragoza. The cathedral there was beautiful, and there was a wedding going on while we were there! (So, no pictures.) Finally made it back to Alcalá and I took an Ambien and went to bed!

Cultural note: In Catalunya and Valencia, they speak Catalán. Similar to Spanish, but not mutually intelligible. Catalunya is all bitter at Spain right now and kind of wants to separate, so you'll actually get nicer reactions from people there if you speak English instead. Just a thought.

Stay tuned for my next installment; I'll tell you all about my trip to Ávila, Salamanca, and Valladolid. Cheers!

The Gardens of Aranjuez

I've got LOTS of catching up to do, so I'm going to tackle it in chunks. Here is the first installment!

Just for fun, we went to Aranjuez. It's just south of Madrid, about an hour train ride away from Alcalá de Henares.

There is a royal palace there, and the gardens are BEAUTIFUL! The Tajo River runs right through them. No pics allowed inside the palace, but here are some of the pictures I took of the grounds:

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!!!