Yesterday was our first visit to the city of Madrid! I know that may confuse some of you, since I have been telling everyone that I live in Madrid. No, I have not been lying, and no, I have not just been a hermit for the last week, as is evident from all the pictures I have been taking. I technically live in Alcalá de Henares, which is a suburb of Madrid. So mis amigas y yo have only been partying it up here in Alcalá so far, but now that it is September and our unlimited train passes are now fully operational, we will most likely be spending the majority of our time in the big city.
We met at the train station at 9:00 am yesterday morning and picked up our guide Antonio Caballos (yes, his last name is horses) at one of the stops along the way. I was already a bit starstruck before even getting into the actual city of Madrid, because being the small town Boise, Idaho girl that I am, I am extremely unaccustomed to large modes of public transportation. Hopefully by the end of these three months I will be a train and metro professional! Antonio Caballos showed us around the train station a bit before we switched to the metro to take us all the way to the Puerta Del Sol, which according to several sources is one of the prettiest stops in all of Madrid.
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| En la Plaza Mayor |
As soon as we got off of the metro and out into the beautiful sunshine, not only did I find the Puerta Del Sol very appropriately named, but I was almost overcome with awe. The wonder and awe that I am actually living in Europe came over me so unexpectedly I found it difficult to express myself, in English or Spanish. Antonio Caballos began to walk us around some of the highlights of the city, providing brief explanations of each place and its significance to Spaniards in general while also providing his own well-informed opinion. I didn't quite catch all of what was said since all 18 girls were there as well as Mr. and Mrs. Cluff, making it harder to hear and concentrate on what he was saying. However, I will share some brief explanations in the captions of the pictures that I include with this post that will hopefully do these amazing sights some justice.
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I love European architecture, people
really do live in buildings this beautiful! |
After we finished our tour, Antonio Caballos left us to eat our picnic lunches that our Mamitas packed for us (mine was a bocadillo con jamón, aka a ham sandwich) in the Plaza de Isabel located by the Opera. From there, we split into smaller groups and went shopping. I practiced some self control and even though I was very tempted to act immediately on certain deals, I only bought one pair of earrings for 3 euros at a small outdoor kiosk. I continually had to remind myself (with the help of mis amigas) that we will be here for three months and so there is no rush for me to buy absolutely everything that catches my eye. Anyone who knows me at all is very aware that I have absolutely NO problem with finding things that I like when I shop, and shopping in Europe has definitely been stretching my self control. I am forcing myself to be frugal right now so that I can buy things later that I know I cannot live without, like a Real Madrid fútbol jersey. :)
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| El Parque de Buen Retiro (Kensie off to the right) |
After our shopping and window shopping, we walked over to the Parque del Buen Retiro, which I consider to be the Central Park of Madrid. We walked and mostly sat for a few hours there, because we have all started to embrace the siesta and it was our normal nap time. The park felt like I had stepped into a painting, it was absolutely gorgeous! I will definitely be going back there and taking possibly hundreds of pictures, especially pictures that I can use as references for later paintings. I also hope to spend an afternoon sketching there one day before it gets too cold.
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About to enter one of the many entrances into
the Museo Del Prado |
After that came one of my favorite parts of the entire day and one of the most anticipated moments of this trip: visiting the Museo Del Prado. For this museum, there really are no words. It is by far one of the most celebrated museums in the world and now I have only a small inkling as to why. We were there for about an hour and a half yesterday after our student identification cards got us in for free, and I was able to see only a small fraction of the wondrous works of art kept within the building's many rooms. We plan on going back several times so that we can eventually see all of the Prado to a more full extent rather than trying to swallow it whole without having time to enjoy the small bites of rich culture it has to offer. After that we headed back to Alcalá on the train and I conversed with a random woman in Spanish, which was a small victory but it made me want to shout out and do an awkward victory dance right then and there because I can already tell that my Spanish is improving! Hasta luego, mis amigos :)
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