madrid

After 6 hours of class on Thursday I needed some zen time. I headed out to one of my favorite look-outs in Toledo and spent the golden hour listening to Mumford and Sons and doing some journaling. Perfect way to heading off for busy weekend in Madrid.

On Friday afternoon I headed to the Museo del Prado with my art class for our second visit. This visit we focused on Goya. They artist lived for 82 years and throughout that time a lot changed. He lived between 2 different artistic styles, wars, and revolutions. The change of his temperament is striking as one walks through the collections in the Prado. From magnificent colors to a room filled with his black paintings the viewer can feel how the years took a toll on the artist. The change in style and mood over the course of his lifetime is truly remarkable. Here is a sampling of some of my favorite works. 

El Parasol - 1777

Charles IV y su Familia - 1800

3 de Mayo (1808) - 1814

 El Aquelarre o El Gran Cabrón - 1823

After a few hours of lecture by my art professor I met up with some friends from Carleton (btinladies) and we headed back into the Prado to wander some more. As much as I love art museums when I hit hour 4 I was ready for a change of pace. A night out in Madrid was just that. We embraced the botellón en Plaza del Sol with 1,50€ white wine, progressed to a market for tapas, bar hopped, and then followed some crowds to a small (free!) club which ended up being right near our hostel.

The next morning we woke up and did some shopping in the morning. That afternoon we picnicked in El Parque del Retiro and took in the beautiful day. The temperature was probably in the mid 70s, the sun was out, and some of the leaves on the trees were turning. Bread, cheese, salami, fruit, and wine from a hole in the wall supermercado get you a long way on a budget. After lunch I decided to explore the park for a while. It was hard for me to remember that I was in one of the largest cities in Europe. I fell in love.

Some fall colors

Kids chasing down bubbles outside Palacio de Vidrio

After wandering Retiro I headed to Reina Sofía. The modern art museum in Madrid it is home to many works by Miró, Dalí, and Picasso to name a few. Not the biggest modern art fan I quickly realized the 4th floor was not for me and headed to the 2nd where I found the collection from the early 20th century. I spent most of my time in the galleries with works from the turn of century and the Spanish Civil War. Guernica was definitely my favorite of all the of the works in the museum. One of those paintings that you have seen in countless history books and read about for years but never seen. Another part of the collection that I found intriguing was the works from the Franco regime. One way that artists expressed discontent with the government was through incredibly satirical drawings. I recognized some of the images from a class that I took last spring on Spain in the 20th century which was pretty neat. After a full day of exploration we headed back to the hostel to get ready for the night out. 

The next morning I woke up and headed to El Rastro which is a giant flee market that is held every Sunday in Madrid. After finding a hole in the wall café - we indulged in some churros y chocolate and then I headed on my way. I went to mass at a beautiful catholic church right by the Museo del Prado. It has taken a month but I can finally follow my Spanish mass guide book without too much trouble. Exciting progress. After mass I went to catch the bus back to Toledo and ran into some friends that were heading back from Oktoberfest. What I thought was going to be a solo return ended with friends sharing stories of a weekend of adventure. Pretty perfect.

Hasta luego Madrid.

adventures in salamanca

Well I learned a big lesson after my trip to Salamanca this past weekend: get advice from a seasoned expert. A fellow carl, btinlady, and fabulous person in general (Ashley Paquin!) studied abroad in the city last year so I figured I would shoot her an e-mail and ask for some of her recommendations. She gave me an agenda that was to the T. With her advice in hand I headed to the city with my program. Because it was sponsored by my study abroad program it was the classiest trip I've been on while in Spain so far. We stayed in a hotel with PRIVATE bathrooms had real beds and didn't eat bread and cheese for 2 days. Big changes as far as the broke traveler is concerned. We also were led on tours of the city which were really interesting - but got a little long after the 3rd hour. Despite the length, I learned a lot more about the city than I would have if I had just wandered around with a book. 
Salamanca is a University town with about 30,000 students. The alma mater to many - the most notable alum perhaps is Miguel de Cervantes (author of Don Quxiote). The city has served for years as an intellectual hub in Spain and because of that many Spanish authors reference the city. The 16th century work - Lazarillo de Tormes - is a story about the adventures of a boy who was born in the river and began his life in Salamanca. I just finished reading the book for a Literature class and when my fellow classmates and I saw the statue on the edge of the river we were pretty stoked about it. Needless to say, some pictures were taken. 
I could ramble on about how much I love the city for a while but instead I'll share a moment. On Saturday night I headed out with a group of about 8 girls for tapa bar hopping on a street that Ashley recommended. When we made it to the street it was clear we were in the right place. We went to a couple wine bars and indulged in the best tapas I have had in Spain yet. I'm not sure everything that we ate but I know it included shrimp, calamari, cheese, chrizo, and amazing bread. One of the bars that we went to was called: El Café de Chinitas. Everyone in the bar was sipping on drink watching the fútbol game on TV (Barca vs Sevilla). We poured our glasses of wine and began to indulge in some tapas. As I was taking a sip of wine that cost more that 3 euros a bottle (my first while abroad) I started to check out the wall decorations to get a better feel of the place. It took just a moment to figure out that this place had character and a story. This was a local place. And after a realization that the woman in the picture above the bar with a man that appeared to be her husband was the same woman standing over the casserole dishes - I realized it was a Mom and Pop operation. This place had been in business for over 45 years. In the midst of this evaluation I caught one of my friends having the same realization. With a few more sips of liquid courage we decided to go to the bar and test out our Spanish. Denise led it off - asking why the name Chinitas. Note to self for the future: this is a good question. She smiled at us and began to tell us her story. Although we were not 100% on our comprehension this is what I gathered: She opened it when she was our age and the man by her side was her son. There is more but to avoid telling false information I'll stick with the basics. When she asked how old we were the man jumped in with his age - 22. The woman looked at us and just shook her head laughing. We asked her about the food - not surprisingly she makes it all. The conversation went on like this for a while. When we finished our glasses of wine she grabbed another bottle and splashed some more in giving us a wink. Then she grabbed our favorite pincho and brought it over to us. We thanked her for her kindness and kept talking. When the next glass was finished and it was time to move on to the next bar my friend and I just looked at each other and just couldn't stop smiling about what had just happened. 

a salud, a españa, a vida.



Plaza Mayor - regarded as one of the most beautiful plazas in Spain
FYI. Spain has a lot of plazas

 

Old Library of Salamanca University

Side of the Cathedral in Salamanca - can you find the astronaut? 

Sunday wandering