Toledo, Espana and my last night in Madrid

So, as I have mentioned, I have already been in Spain a couple of weeks, but have some catching up to do on relating what happened while I was in Madrid. From Madrid, our tour included excursions to other places outside the city, including Segovia, where we went on our second day, and Toledo, where we went our third and final day in Madrid.

Segovia was very clean and beautiful. It was a nice day and a nice trip. To get into what I considered the "old Segovia," you pass directly underneath the Roman Aqueducts. They rise up incredibly high above you and if you aren't careful, if you don't take a moment to register the fact that you are beneath the original aqueducts, then you'll take them for granted. I am glad to have pictures of them because we didn't have the time I would have liked to just stand and gape for a long time at that architectural masterpiece of thousands of years ago. 

Anyway, once past the aqueducts you find yourself in old Segovia, which looks exactly as you would expect and old medieval city to look like. They had cute little shops lining the streets, with old fashioned lamps linign the way, and a lovely main square. It was much cleaner than Madrid and had a very calm atmospher about it. We got a tour of that area and then finally went to the castle. The castle of Segovia inspired the castle in Disney's Sleepign Beauty, and was incredible. When crossing the bridge into the castle we all stopped and gawked at the mote. It had no water, but was so much deeper than I expected. I got to stand on the draw bridge over a real mote!

The castle was cool, but it what I found strange was they have "redecorated" the place a couple times. For example, it suffered a fire a few years ago, so they brought in an artist to paint a brand new fresco on one of the walls. I don't know why--it seems to me that it would be better to keep the place as it was, and frescos were not part of it back then. Most of it was restored as used to be, which was nice. Huge tapestries hung on the stone walls and beautiful muslim artwork and sculptural work lined the upper walls and ceilings, since it had once been under the posesions of the Muslims before the Catholic kings reclaimed it.

The saddest part of the day--my camera's battery died right after we went past a great church...and before getting to the castle. I was really sad then, but enjoyed it still. They say that sometimes its better to not have the camera, because then you are more focused on the experience than the memory. Maybe its true. I would enjoy going back to Segovia just to take my time and enjoy the city and review the castle.

The next day, in Toledo, many good things happened. The following diary entry reports my day into Toledo, which I had really enjoyed.

January 15, 2011

Madrid, Spain

Regina Hotel

Today was amazing, and since I think I am in for many days like that, I am extra happy. I liked today so much that, despite the fact that it is 2:12 in the morning, I need to record it all before I forget. Today was a day of new places, new sites, new people, new friends, and new experiences.

First of all, I was up on time, which meant an early start to a good day. Had breakfast in the hotel dining room, which consisted of an interesting mix of sliced salami (very tasty), sliced cheeses, crusty rolls, some kind of soft cheese, a choice of cereals, toast, water, coffee, orange juice etc, and croissants. Very simple food, very small portions here in Spain, but it works out just fine. We have all agreed thus far that the majority of what we have eaten here in Spain has been a bread of some sort (and I won’t complain!).

Then it was off to Toledo. I met up with my newest friend Kate for the bus ride. She and I have pretty easily become good friends and enjoy doing similar activities--as I've mentioned before. This makes the transition into feeling comfortable in Spain and around so many new students a lot easier. As we drove out of Madrid, I have to say that I don’t believe I have seen this much graffiti in any other city before. Graffiti is everywhere—on the undersides of highways, on the doors to closed shops at night, on the walls of apartment complexes, and so on and so on. Massive quantities of graffiti appear everywhere, which is surprising to me. Madrid has surprised me in so many ways since my arrival only four nights ago, and it is absolutely nothing to my expectations. But that is a very good thing. I like getting to know that city for what it is and not what I want it to be. In just three days I feel that I have a better understanding of this interesting city, although I have barely begun to truly understand their Madrilenian way of life.

So the following entry is another diary entry from January 17th, about my final day in Madrid. I am a slow blogger it seems, but I am finally catching up! Here is the rest of my last day in Madrid:

Jan 17, 2011

After lunch in Toledo that day, we got to spend time shopping. Our group had about four girls and a couple guys. The other girls really only wanted to actually shop, like for shoes or scarves. I wanted something like a souvenir, but a really nice one. Right now I don’t want to spend money on key chains or shirts that I’ll throw away in a few years, (although now a Spain themed t-shirt blanket would be cool…), but something like the pretty plates I kept seeing in the tourist shops. Luckily for me Kate, who always seems to want the same thing as me and tends to speak up about it first, mentioned how she really wanted to not rush and actually find a souvenir type item. So we ended up leaving the group who didn’t want to wait, and went shopping. The first store I stopped in, full of beautiful handmade pottery and dishes and mirrors and clocks, had my attention. I bought a plate, a small bowl and a smaller bowl as a little set for decoration or use. They are hand painted and crafted there in Toledo. Very pretty! Each dish is a different color. Something like this I figured was worth my 50 Euros since I got no other Madrid/Segovia/Toledo souvenirs.

So then, to keep things fair, I went with Kate to help her find a t-shirt that said “Toledo, Spain.” That turned out to be harder than expected, since all the shirts we found said “Toledo” only. It had to have “Spain” as well since, the ironic part, Kate is from Toledo, Ohio, so anything just saying Toledo would not appear as special when she went home. We thought it was impossible and were running out of time to catch up with everyone else when she found on in a small shop right in the plaza where the group met.

I really liked and enjoyed my time with Kate. We got along really well due to the fact that she wanted similar things to me, and that made it easier to break away from the group and do what we wanted to do. Sometimes I think I feel pressured by the group to go along when the majority rules, especially on a trip where I’m a little nervous to do things alone and they suggest you don’t. So having met someone like Kate made the trip that much more enjoyable. It also reminds me that I shouldn’t hesitate to say what I want just because the group is leaning towards something else. Odds are, there is someone else who will join me or agree too. This is my trip; I need to make sure I get out of it what I really want.

As it turns out, here in Getxo and Bilbao, where I am now, graffiti is still everywhere. When you ride on the metro, the buildings that you roll past are covered. It’s not all bad looking—some of these graffiti artists really create interesting works of art for all to see. Since I have a hard time even deciphering what graffiti says back home, I couldn’t say if the words scrawled in blue and black paints are nice or not.

Anyway, the trip to Toledo via bus was about an hour, and the closer we got to it, the less visibility there was. Fog, thick and damp, hung everywhere and hid the countryside from view. The old city itself is situated atop a hill with a defensive wall built around its edges. The entrance into this city is called la Puerta del Sol (Door of the Sun), and has an Arabian look to it. The whole city is very architecturally beautiful. We did not enter the city here, though and instead parked on a side street from which tall elevators lifted us up to the city’s main level. As I said, thick gray fog was clinging to everything, and looking out away from the city, all you could see was gray instead of the valley and river that our guides swore to us were out there.

We entered into the main plaza of the city and from there were led through a maze of streets to the Cathedral. I’m not kidding when I say maze. Apparently, a guest professor got himself lost in the city while on this tour and they had to leave him behind to find his own way home. He did so just fine, but for several hours he had just disappeared. Ironically, our way to get back to this plaza at meeting time was to ask for directions to the only McDonalds in Toledo. A McDonalds now exists in the main square of an ancient, beautiful city were the streets are cobbled, the walls are crumbling, and the air is thick with mysterious history. That’s not depressing at all!

The Cathedral—La Catedral Primada—is the most important cathedral in all of Spain, took about 250 years to build, ending in 1493. And was it ever gorgeous. I have never been inside of a real cathedral, and this place was stunning. The outside was imposing, with a tower that rises high up into the fog and many faces of sculpted people looking down at you. Inside the ceilings suddenly leap away from you, rising to incredible heights with magnificent arches. Stained glass windows glow with the fog infused light from outside, appearing like shattered jewels set into the dark stone walls. I managed one photo before I decided it was better to respect this church and the other viewers without making obnoxious flashes of light.

Indeed, some areas absolutely forbid the photography of their artifacts, like magnificent bibles with filigree designs, and 200+kg gold and silver relic, the many intense paintings of el Greco on display. But what really got me about this cathedral was the attention to detail in every nook and cranny there. Everything was sculpted, painted, gold plated and grand. Grand is the right word here—and breathtaking. Beautiful sculpted angels soared up the sides of stone facades, gold and alabaster sculptures dominated the center preaching area and more. I loved every minute of it. So much architecture and art in one location blows ones mind, but more than that, I was in a building with so much history and emotion to offer. I would go back just to stare at all of it again, and maybe sketch some of it.

A hall of El Greco’s paintings was included, and I really like some of his work. It is said that he painted souls and not faces. He was never really popular until years after his death, but his art is powerful and centered around very religious themes. I am by no means a regular church-goer or overly religious person, but I really like and appreciate these sorts of places.

From there we made our way to a Jewish Mosque in the Jewish quarter. Apparently, in Toledo, a certain amount of religious tolerance was experienced. The mosque had once been a Muslim holding as well.

After our organized tour, we were free to ourselves for about two hours. My friends and I struck out to get lunch at a local place that Amee had spotted called La Campana. I ordered a pork stew called Carcasuelas, I believe, and it was delicious. Very different and rich, and not watery like our own stews. It was mainly tender chunks of pork, with a tomato sauce and a few peas. Spices are unknown.

Will write more later. I am exhausted! But they day was not over—not by a long shot.

--Caity

An afternoon at the park…

That evening was great too. We all returned to Madrid, and then Kate, Erica, Michael, and a couple other guys all went out for a walk in the Park Presidio in Madrid. This was a Saturday evening and apparently it’s the place to be while the sun is going down. People line the pathways. Street performers and entertainers show up to get tips for their shows. Gypsies have tables lined up to tell your fortune, vendors appear to sell bags of kettle corn and more. There are even a couple established little park cafes were people can sit outside and order food. It was a social hub to be sure, and it was fun. In the center of all of this is a monument to a king; I believe it was called “el Pacificador,” which would mean something like the Peaceful or Peace keeper. This memorial is a huge monument that goes straight up and has a bronze statue of the king on his horse at the top. To the sides you can see half an arc of columns surrounding the statue. The monument is raised up a bit, so that you can look out over the great, man-made lake in front of it. People rent little row boats and row around in the little lake. The youth of Madrid congregate on this monument and overtake its many steps. All of them hang out talking on phones, chatting, wearing sunglasses, watching the tourists take photos of the monument and more. It was packed and really pretty cool to see the community enjoying a Saturday afternoon like that. I couldn’t help but feel we had chosen the right time to visit the park to see this social norm and to enjoy the relaxed side of Madrid’s lifestyle.

Our last night in Madrid…

We left the Park Presidio when it was already dark and went back to the hotel to see who was doing what for the last night in Madrid. I knew many wanted to go to El Capitan, a famous dance club with seven different floors. Each floor has different music and stuff. I didn’t really care. I have nothing dressy here for an event like that, plus, a club doesn’t interest me that much. Who cares? So I suggested returning to the Fontana de Oro that I went to that first night in Madrid. I was happy that, again Kate, was totally down for something much more low key than El Capitan.

At the last minute I bravely invited a few of the guys we had recently met, and was very pleased when more guys chose to come with us four girls to the local bar. On the way there I got a little nervous, fearing this little bar would led them down. I warned them that it was a small time local bar.

To my extreme happiness, my fears were unnecessary. Firstly, this group was like me, not interested in the really crazy big club. And this place was packed! Jam packed in this little bar were tons of Spaniards and probably people of other nationalities too. A local band was playing and just made my night. That made our excursion to the bar far greater than going to any nightclub. I was pleased they all had a good time. I got some great pictures of the band and of us dancing. One guy in particular that I had invited was really nice and it was fun having him become the center of our girls' dance circle--and maybe it was fun to think that he might have liked me too. I don't normally get the decent guys interested in me, just the creepy ones (my friends back home will understand this complaint!)

There was actually little room to really move a lot, but enough. The music was funny. Picture this: an all Spanish band, speaking Spanish between songs, playing and singing completely American songs, inside of an Irish pub. They played Elvis, classic rock, blues, Sweet Home Alabama and all kinds of great stuff. The Spanish apparently completely prefer American music, and you hear it everywhere.

Though we didn’t stay too long, it was long enough to enjoy it and then head home. The last of us to leave were myself, Kate and our new guy friend. It was so much fun! It was tinged with sadness though, since we were all splitting ways the next morning. I was going to Bilbao, Kate to Alicante, and him to San Sebastian (which is only like, an hour and a half away from Bilbao.) I won’t lie, was truly bummed to have made a good connection with Kate as friends, and then to have to leave. 

But all is not lost. We are all together on Facebook and will probably meet up together to go travelling. That would be fun.

I am here in Bilbao now, and getting used to my new place. I’ll describe that later. Must sleep. Have an early start tomorrow.