Gira a Castilla: Madrid!

The last couple days of our trip were spent in the capital of this amazing country: Madrid.

The first night that we arrived, we had nothing to do other than wander around half the city in search of cheap pizza just to finally decide on kebabs from the place almost directly in front of our hotel. The next day was spent outside of Madrid rather than inside of it. Our first stop was at the Escorial, palace/monastery/cathedral/private school all rolled into one.

Originally built for Felipe II, he spent half of his ruling time in Madrid in a normal palace and the other half in the Escorial, living in three tiny, bare rooms, basically coming as close to a monk as a ruling king can. The building complex itself was more or less what you would expect from Spanish architecture, so nothing new there. However, two really cool aspects of the Escorial are the library and the crypt. The libary is like most others expect that all of the books are shelved so that the pages rather than the binding are showing. Kind of odd and I don't remember the explanation, but it was neat to see all the shiny golden-edged pages facing out. Another great aspect of the library was the ceiling, which had paintings of all the different academic and philosophic areas. And yes, I will admit that I'm enough of a math nerd that I was double checking their addition in the painted equations.

The crypt at the Escorial holds the bodies of almost all the monarchs and their spouses since Carlos V. The coffins are arranged in such a manner so that the monarchs are on one side of the room and the spouses are on the other. Isabel II is the only woman to be buried on the monarchs' side, with her husband Francisco de Asis being the only man on the spouses' side. The royal bodies aren't placed immediately in the crypt but rather are placed in a "rotting room" first for fifty years to deteriorate down to the bones and lose their smell before going into the ornate crypt. All the spots left are now taken up by bodies still in the rotting room, which means that the currently living Spanish royalty have to decide where they want to be buried.

After the Escorial, we drove out to "El Valle de los Caídos." *

This monument is out in the middle of the mountains and is a memorial/burial ground for troops who fell during the Civil War. Commissioned by Franco, after it was finished, he decided that he too wanted to be buried there and thus, he is.

By far my favorite cathedral in Spain, the monument has a huge 100m high stone cross outside and a cathedral carved into the mountain. With huge soaring stone vaulted ceilings and enormous creepy statues of archangels (which look more like fallen angels to me), the cathedral doesn't really feel like a church.

It makes me think more of a pagan worshipping place that the dwarves in Middle Earth might have constructed for themselves inside the Mines of Moria. Creepy, but a very, very cool creepy.

After we got back to Madrid, we all went out to eat at the Hard Rock Cafe for Erin's birthday.

Quite the undertaking considering the first time the bus we needed came by the bus stop, it didn't stop for us and the restaurant apparently doesn't normally do reservations and the tables weren't set up for a group when we arrived.

However, a good time was still had by all and I had some AMAZING (expensive, but amazing) American food. Mmmmm... yay for Caesar salad and Spinach & Artichoke dip with real tortilla chips that weren't stale. And on the way back from the restaurant, we had a lesson in statistics and that pedestrians are NOT almighty.

Our next full day in Madrid started with a walking tour of the city, passing by the Prado, numerous plazas with fountains, arches, the Plaza de Sol (that's Madrid's city symbol in the background, the bear and the tree),

where Kilometer 0 is located (starting measuring point of all highways in Spain),

the Plaza Mayor,

and the shopping districts. We had lots of free time before meeting up again in the afternoon for a tour of the Prado. During that wandering, not only did Brittany and I find a couple different yarn stores and buy yarn to make a baby set for an American ACA couple here who left early after 2nd semester who couldn't go to Madrid because she got pregnant and was having morning sickness problems (Brittany knit the hat and I knit the booties and did the eyes and feather poof on the hat),

but we also found a used antique bookstore where we spent a good hour. Although I don't have a picture and really wish I did, I found a book in the store that had been written by an "Eugenio Noel." Maybe we do have Spanish relations. Who knows? Another fun shop that I found was this one. It's a good thing that Jacque got married to who she did because now we have a name for that fifth J.

The Prado is a really good museum and the most important in Spain, but I would have enjoyed it more if the tour hadn't been in the afternoon and my feet hadn't been killing me and if I could have taken pictures like in the Louvre. As such, I didn't take advantage of the extra time after the tour to look around more on my own, but since I'll be back to Spain someday, it doesn't really matter, right?

Our last day in Spain only had one scheduled visit - the Palacio Real. However, before heading off with the school, I got up a little early to walk/jog over to the main city park to see the Crystal Palace. Although it was cloudy and crappy weather, the palace was still really pretty and I would totally want to get married there if I lived in Madrid or anywhere close.

After that was the Palacio Real. This Palace isn't the residence of the current kings (although past kings have lived there), but rather is a museum when it's not being used to State functions and such. Apparently the school had only paid for us to visit the Armoury and the Farmacy musuems, but not knowing that, Sasha, Brittany, Amanda (friend from the States who's SMing in Madrid), and I bluffed our way into the actual palace with the permission of the guard to look really quick for our teacher to find out what was going on. Of course, we ended up going through the whole palace at a leisurely touring pace, but I will say that I kept my eyes open for Chelo the entire time.

After the palace, it was more free time to shop and walk around Madrid on our own before loading up the bus and beginning the 4-5 hour trip back. All in all a good tour. Except that I never could find just the right black boots to buy. *sigh*

*pictures of the interior of el valle de los caidos are taken from a random website because we weren't supposed to take pictures inside and i was too lazy to try to be sneaky with my camera.

Gira a Castilla: Segovia

Only one day was spent in Segovia, but that didn't keep us from seeing two different cool castles and one really old aqueduct.

The first stop in the morning (we had arrived at the Segovia hotel the night before and partied late in one of the rooms playing a rather heated game of Mafia) was at the Aqueduct.

This aqueduct was constructed by the Romans sometime during the 1st or 2nd century AD. And not only is it still standing in good condition after two thousand years, this aqueduct was constructed without the use of any sort of cement. It's held together purely by friction and gravity and those sorts of things. I don't know about you, but I'm in awe of the Romans and their engineering. After the Aqueduct, we walked through Segovia on our way to the Alcazar, the resident castle of the area.

A beautiful piece of architecture, rumor has it that this is the castle that Walt Disney based his Sleeping Beauty castle off of. This castle was quite the center of the Spanish realm for awhile, being the residence of Isabel la Católica and hosting random different Spanish court functions. I was a big fan of all the armor etc that was displayed and tried to decide between a knight on either side

or a knight on a horse.

In the end I decided the mounted knight was the one worth my time. :)

After the Alcazar, we had free time to eat and Brittany and I decided that we needed a pastry to go with our lunch. Then we decided that it needed to be eaten in a park in the sun. Then the park decided that it would eat the knee of my jeans and chew on my actual knee. I was not amused. No worries though, I'm all healed up now from the scratches and bruises and the jeans will become shorts in a couple weeks when it's just a little bit warmer here in Sagunto.

We packed up the bus and headed out for Madrid early in the afternoon, stopping on the way at the Granja de San Idelfonso. I'm not sure what exactly was the function of the palace, but I do remember that it was built as a replica (more or less) of the Versailles Palace outside of Paris.

After seeing both Palaces, I think I like the Spanish one just a little bit more. Not sure why, but I do. Maybe it's because as you're approaching it from the street, it reminds you a little of the castle from Beauty and the Beast.

And after the Granja, it was back in the bus for a couple more hours until we reached Madrid!

Gira a Castilla: Toledo

Our first stop during our tour to the province of Castilla, antiguo Toledo is a step back in time with twisted cobble-stoned streets winding their way between shops of jewelry and swords and Don Quijote paraphernalia.

Toledo is probably my favorite "little old city" in Spain so far. That probably has something to do with the fact that it has this great little park that's quiet and looks out over the river and the surrounding hills. And for those that know me, I'm a big fan of the nature stuff. You can keep your big cities and shopping districts for yourself. But I'm getting off-topic. Toledo is a city of a combination of religions. I really don't know/remember everything they told us but basically there's been a mix of Jew, Christians, and Muslims in the city for pretty much all of its history. Or something along those lines.

The first afternoon/night that we were there we had free time to wander the streets before we all met up again to visit the cathedral. Huge and freezing cold, my favorite part of this cathedral was a room with portraits of the different bishops that had presided in the cathedral. Unfortunately no pictures of the inside.

The next day we visited a beautiful church that originally had been a Jewish synagogue built in the moorish style that was later changed into a Catholic church and today stands in disuse. I absolutely love the moorish style with the arches. I think one of the really unique parts of this building is that from the outside it's pretty plain-looking but as soon as you walk in, you're hit by the incredible beauty in the simple white arches.

Afterwards we visited another cathedral with a completely different style. Commissioned by Isabel la Católica, this cathedral has the mark of los Reyes Católicos all over it, including their motto of "tanto mota," which is short for "tanto monta, monta tanto, Isabel como Fernado" which loosely translated means "Isabel is just as much sovereign over Spain as Fernando and vice versa."

Isabel was the queen of Castilla and Fernando, her husband, was the king of Aragón, and after they got married, they pretty much united the country for the first time. The cathedral was originally built with the intention of being the burying place of Isabel and Fernando, but in the end they were buried in Granada (which I'm going to see in a few days! woot!). The cathedral is extremely ornate and a little much for my taste, but whatever.

While there, our professor/chaperone for the trip, Chelo, picked up some bodyguards. And yes, she's really that short. For comparison, Nate, the guy on the right, stands at about 6-2.

And here she is again with all the ESDES guys.

Afterwards we had free time for the afternoon before leaving for Segovia. Brittany and I wandered around in search of cheap lunch which was almost impossible. But luckily, our search took us to the edge of the town to the aforementioned park. And luckily again, we found a kebab place nearby that was open and bought some amazing falafel wraps. We took them with us to the park, found a bench in the sun, and proceded to sit and eat and sun ourselves for the next hour or so with an amazing view in front of us.

It took quite the effort to get ourselves up and moving again to make it back to the hotel to leave with the group.

Oh, and on the way back to the hotel, I met my knight in shining armour. Too bad I had to leave him in Toledo.

On the way out of Toledo, they stopped the bus at a scenic overlook and let us take pictures of the city and the hill it's situated on.

skiing the spanish way

Sunday, Jan 27, the school had a ski day! And for me, for once, it actually was a "ski" day, not just a board day called a ski day because it's more conveniente/easier/more general to say. And why was Joni, the intrepid boarder actually skiing?

Well that would be because it was cheaper. And when you've got the euro workin' against you, you go with the cheaper option. However, since I hadn't been on skis in four years, I went with snowblades, the fun, short ones (that I went ahead and assumed would be easier). The ski hill (and "hill" it was) that we went to is called Javalambre and although is at the same altitude as Bogus Basin (my home mountain) is nothing like it.

Basically a mountain of fake snow and bunny hills with one red run (their system includes green-easy, blue-intermediate and red-"hard"), I imagine it's about the same as Great Bear in Sioux Falls, SD.

Thanks Mom and Dad for never wasting the money and waiting till we had real skiing in Idaho. :P Even though it was January, being that we were in Spain and only an hour and a half away from the Mediterranean, the skiing conditions were like spring...lots of grainy snow and slush.

However, I still enjoyed myself. I think it was lucky that I was on skis instead of a snowboard because the skis gave me just enough of a challenge that I still enjoyed my time even though the snow was crap. The other nice thing about the day was there was a snowboard snowpark competition going on that day so although I did see a lot of pathetic attempts at rail-riding and jumping, there were also some great ones.

Which of course inspired me to do some jumping of my own on the random little jump trails on the "mountain."

No worries, I really am in control although I apparently look out of control, and I landed the jump quite nicely, thank you very much. All in all a good day spent mainly with Allyson (americana)

and random different Spaniards from the church and school (which I managed to not get any pictures of, of course). But I did get one of me and my roommate, who's learning to snowboard and doing a pretty good job of it too, I'd say.

Here're "los Americanos" at the end of the day.

Why, yes, I did go to Rome . . .

Way back in January, while I was visiting Becky in Florence, we decided that we wanted to go see Rome. Or rather, I wanted to see Rome and Becky was nice enough to come along with me and spend her own money even though the school was going to be taking them to Rome later on and paying for everything. Being that we're poor college students, we did a very quick whirlwind tour of Rome, Jan 2-4, Wed-Fri.

After missing the train we were originally going to take, we train-hopped our way down to Rome from Florence rather than wanting to spend two hours waiting in a cold station for the next direct train to Rome. An experience I wouldn't really recommend. We managed to find our hostel and then set off to experience a little bit of the city. First stop was the Borghese Gardens and Art Gallery. The gardens are gorgeous, think of an Italian version of New York's Central Park. Since you have to have a reservation for the gallery we didn't stop in but just tried to make reservations for Friday. Afterwards, we walked around in search of food and ate some amazing sandwiches at a bar where after the bar tender unsuccessfully tried Italian on me, her next choice was German, which also rewarded her with a blank look. Gotta love the mix of people in Europe. :D

Being that I'm studying Spanish, a big stop for me in Rome were the Spanish Steps.

Even though they're really not much, just some steps next to the Spanish consulate, they are the "Spanish" Steps. So I was happy to sit down and pause for a picture. We then wandered through the streets on our way to find the Trevi Fountain.

I love the fact that the fountain is located in such a way that you can't see it from a long ways off down some street. None of the streets directly approach it so you're walking along, and bam! there's the fountain with billions of people. Our night walk continued on to the Pantheon

and then the Piazza Nuova where I had my first really big disappointment in Rome. One of the fountains that I really wanted to see was the Four Rivers fountain. It's a representation of the four most important rivers in the world and unfortunately was undergoing restoration.

Boo. While we were in the Piazza, which had a fair-type thing going on, Becky and I munched on big huge donuts slathered in Nutella before heading back to the hostel for the night. Mmmmmm.....

Day Two in Rome started way too early with a visit to the Vatican. After waiting for an hour and a half in line (glad it wasn't summer) we entered the museum and wandered up and down the halls looking at all the cool old stuff and famous paintings and sculptures and such. One great painting is the "School of Athens" which has a bunch of famous thinkers and such, including Euclid. Yay for geometry!

At the end of the museum is the Sistine Chapel. An amazing ceiling, I must say. That Michelangelo really knew what he was doing. And yes I did take a picture when I wasn't supposed to.

I managed to escape the censure of the poor employees who's job is, as Becky put it, "to be hated," as they tell everyone to be quiet and to not take pictures. After the museum we went into St. Peter's Basilica,

where we did not see the pope but did see Michelangelo's "Pieta." A little bit of a disappointment. I was hoping for something bigger. Outside the basilica, we spotted the Swiss Guard in their funny, out-dated uniforms and then went on our way.

We passed by the Vittore Emmanual Monument (apparently locals call it the "Giant Teeth" or something like that), another monument under restoration,

on our way to try to see the Trevi Fountain in the daytime (which we didn't). But I did throw a coin over my shoulder into the fountain which means that I should be destined to return to Italy at some point in my life. We then went back to the hostel where we discovered that we now had new roommates in our dorm room who were Spaniards (yay!) that we managed to have a conversation with. It's always so nice to run into Spanish people when I travel to other parts of Europe.

Friday began early again with a visit to the Borghese Gallery. This art gallery did not disappoint. Because of the reservation system, it's less crowded than the Vatican and it's mainly all people who WANT to look at everything rather than just rush through the museum to get to the end and see the most important work (think Vatican Museum and the Sistine Chapel). The sculptury there (unfortunately I don't remember the guy's name, started with a "b") was simply amazing. There was a sculpture of Napoleon's sister on a couch that was so well done, the cushion looked real and I wanted to touch it to make sure that it really was made of marble. After the gallery, we went down to the Colosseum. But not before going ALL the way back to the hostel to collect my camera battery that I had left in the charger that morning. Silly Joni. But yay for the Colosseum! Woot!

Pretty amazing structure, although I did think it was going to be a little bigger than it was. We also visited Palatine Hill where we got to wander through ruins and crouch in random holes and take pictures.

After that was the Roman forum which had all sorts of cool and random things like stairs that go nowhere,

the cremation site of Julius Caesar,

the rostrum for public speechs

and the left-over columns from once-magnificent buildings that now are nothing but something for me to try and fail to remember the name of.

We then went up the hill to the big teeth monument I mentioned earlier and had a great view of Rome.

Then it was back down the hill to go visit the prison that held both Peter and Paul. Talk about weird and cool . . . I was in the same place as two men from the Bible. This is the grate that they would have been lowered down through into the prison cell/pit.

Then it was some more church hopping to see different statues that have been deemed important by art scholars but tend to disappoint after all you've heard about them. Michelangelo's "Moses"

and Bernini's "St. Teresa-in-Ecstasy."

Then it was back to the hostel to collect our things, buy some amazing gelato down the street,

and hoof it to the station to catch our train back to Florence.

Ciao ciao Roma!