The Devil Wears Prado

Madrid, the capital of Spain is a completely different city than from Barcelona or any other city in Spain I have been too. Madrid is a relatively new city in terms of the history in Spain. Madrid became the capital of Spain in 1560 after Toledo was sworn off being the capital after a 1521 revolt by some farmers. Bad move, guys. So Madrid does not have all the Roman and Arab history as much as Andalucia does. However, in Madrid there are some fantastic museums such as the Reina Sofia, which is home to works by Dali and the famous Guernica painting by Pablo Picasso. However, the other massive museum there is the Prado. The Prado is home to some of the best Spanish artists, royal paintings, and El Greco works along with Velazquez. One of my favorite paintings is a Velazquez, Christ on the Cross. Madrid has a fantastic Metro system which I navigated with ease. I am the conquistador of the Metros. Other cool things I saw in Madrid, the Plaza Mayor, the Puerta del Sol area, the Parque del Retiro, that is like Central Park of Madrid. I went to a 7 story nightclub/discoteca called Kapital. Es muy caro! I also visited one of the biggest and one of the most well known stadiums in Europe and the world, Santiago Bernabeau, the home to Real Madrid. I went on a walking tour to the above places with my Spanish 1607 teacher who used to live in Segovia and has been to Madrid more times than she can count, so she's an expert on the city. In Madrid, I had the best Chinese food in my life thus far. Yes, Chinese food. Speaking Spanish in a Chinese restaurant is a definite cultural blend.

The hotel I stayed at was currently undergoing renovations while we stayed there, so it was basically gutted out except for the hotel rooms, it had this Animal House, Extreme Makeover vibe to it. On Sunday, we took the AVE back from Madrid to Sevilla, better than sitting in a bus for 6 or 7 hours. Madrid was a lot of fun, however I prefer Barcelona as my favorite Spanish city.

P.S.
*I forgot that The Burial of the Count of Orgaz is in a chapel in Toledo along with his body.
* I saw Goya's frescoes and the chapel he's buried in Madrid.
* Madrid's Prado has very famous works by Goya too.


Well, I have to get back to my week of being busy then it's off to the Canary Islands and Tenerife.

Madrid Trip Cont.

Day 2 was on to the Hapsburg palace of El Escorial and Segovia. The palace of El Escorial is massive and is where all the kings and queens of Spain with the exception of a few are buried. El Escorial is quite a contrast from the other palace I saw, which is La Granja de San Ildefonso. It's a Bourbon palace modeled after Versailles minus the bajillion mirrors. Out of the two, La Granja is my favorite which contains some phenomenal gardens. La Granja and El Escorial are some pretty good examples of 18th and 17th archeitectural styles of the period. El Escorial has a cold, feel to it, while La Granja is very warm and...French. All of the art contained or most of it is in the Prado in Madrid.

Segovia is also one of my favorite cities in Spain now. Segovia has the famous aquaduct built by the Romans in the 1st or 2nd century after Christ. Also, Segovia is phenomenal for it's Alcazar and the Cathedral. The Alcazar is one of the castles that the Walt Disney castle is modeled after. I had lunch at a place that sells Durums, or Turkish versions of burritos. I met a retired couple and their friends who were from Alabama and the other couple was from Houston. The couple from Alabama had been to Europe going on 21 times. After they left, I wound up talking to a group of students who were living near Madrid and going to a soccer academy. They were between the ages of 13-17, some from the United States and some from else where.

After Segovia, was on to Madrid.

* P.S. I went to a pre-Roman Catholic mass in Toledo. It was done in Latin and in Gregorian chants.

The Devil Wears Prado, The Man from La Mancha and other things.

Feliz Martes!



I'm back from a solid trip to Madrid and the surrounding areas and on to another week of school. Like my dad once said, "I went to a party and school got in the way." Except the party here, is study abroad. However, all is well with school, so I'm pretty stoked about that.



Let's recap a week worth of travel in Madrid to a condensed post.



Last Tuesday, I set off for Madrid at 6:30 am on a bus bound for Calatrava, Almagro, and Toledo, the first leg of a five day adventure across Castille-Leon and Castille-La Mancha. The first stop traveling was to the Castilla de Calatrava La Nueva or the New Castle of Calatrava. This castle was built in the late 1100s or the early 1200s by the Knights of Calatrava. This castle was pretty cool, because it was on one side of an expansive valley across from the ruins of an Arab castle. Guess who won that battle? This castle was never successfully invaded and according to historians, the Arabs took one look at this castle on the hill and were like..Nope, not gonna invade this one. The views were amazing from the top. On the way to the castle we cut through mountain passes that reminded me a lot of Colorado and Guadulupe Mountains in Far West Texas. Our next stop was on to the tiny town of Almagro.



Almagro is home to a theater from the late 17th century of which it is a national monument. Apparently I didn't know Spanish theater was a big as it was and pretty popular for plays by Lope de Vega who far out wrote Shakespeare in the number of plays. Almagro also is home to several interesting things, for instance, pickled eggplant tapa. Also, free tapas with a purchase of a beer. I had a tapa that was "cuello de cerdo" covered in olive oil and other some peppers. It was interestng to eat to say the least. On the way to Toledo, we stopped by the famous windmills of Castille-La Mancha and was a setting in Don Quixote. The windmills in Spanish are called, los molinos de viento. It was pretty interesting to see the windmills and see that they are actually larger than they look. It was cool to see the contrast of the old windmill and the modern, windmills of today, against the horizon and across the valley from one another. Some things only need to be updated and not reinvented.

Finally, after a very very long day of bus riding, We stopped for the night in the town of Toledo, home to ancient sword making techniques (where I purchased a Toledo-made dagger), the Spanish Inquisition, and the setting of Edgar Allen Poe's, The Pit and the Pendulum. Toledo is one my favorite Spanish cities I have been too. It's beautiful at night and in the day time. Very medieval. Also, I spent St. Patrick's Day in Toledo. Going to an Irish Pub in Toledo, seems odd to you? Well, wherever there is an Irish man, there will be a bar. It was packed, everyone manages to be Irish for a day, regardless if you are 100% Spanish or not.

Discovering the Waterfront

Hi all,

It's been a busy, rather slow week here in the wonderful, wild adventures of Lance. Slow and busy in the same sentence is quite dichotomous isn't it? This week had been spent gearing up for the big Madrid trip that I leave for on Tuesday.

This weekend was probably one of the least busy weekends for me that I've had since I arrived in Sevilla. I'm trying to save some money to put towards other trips and things. Saturday, I went to the beach city/port of Cadiz, Spain. Cadiz is muy importante for several reasons: The birthplace of Julius Caesar, being the oldest inhabited city in Europe (founded in 1100 B.C.), and the world famous Cadiz Carnaval. Cadiz is only and hour and a half away from Seville and by walking around in the city, it has a very very very old feel to it. The city is built on and around city walls that drop into the ocean below. I went and saw the Cathedral, with it's impressive dome, the Roman Theater which literally is built in between apartments, and the Castle of Santa Catalina. The Castle of Santa Catalina was cool, because it was also used as a fort during the Napoleonic Wars. Inside there was a little art exhibition featuring the working of Enrique Gran and also a little place with some maps of the city of the time period and weaponry from the early 1800s. I really enjoyed Cadiz, it's a laid back beach city, but has some areas that are in the water that have rocky outcroppings that could pass for Maine or elsewhere. I enjoyed the beach of Cadz it's self, the sand was fine and grainy, which was nice. Definitely soaked up some sun and hung out with some people from the school and met some girls from Finland and one girl who was from Finland, but was born in Estonia. I probably walked 5 miles that day. On my way back I grabbed a cab to the bus station, where my cabbie thought I was from the UK, the conversation goes as follows:
(Side Note: Most people over here in Spain, assume I'm from the UK with my hair color and beard.)

Conversation

Cab Driver: Hay arena en la silla.
Lance: Mi desculpe senor
Cab Driver: Tu hables un poco Espanol
Lance: Si
Cabbie: Tu eres Ingleses?
Lance: Si
Cabbie: De Donde Eres in Inglaterra? Manchester, Liverpool, etc....
Lance: Soy de Liverpool, No me gusta el tiempo ahora en Inglaterra. Hace muy frio siempre.
Lance: Me gusta los Espanoles para Liverpool F.C. Ellos esta mas mejor que Chelsea and Real Madrid. Torres es buenissimo.
Cab Driver: Claro, Hay no playa in Sevilla, ja ja.
Lance: Si, solo el rio.

Also, apparently the gypsies have cell phones and they are loud and annoying on them.
Listening to flamenco at dusk, riding on a bus back to Sevilla was almost movie moment.

Today, was spent on a group excursion to the Museo de Bellas Artes (Museum of the Beautiful Arts) This is one of the most important museums for Renaissance and Baroque art outside the Prado in Madrid. The museo contains important pieces from Sevillano painters like Velazquez, Murillo, and others. I visisted there earlier in the semester, but I really enjoyed the museum again.

I'm gearing up for the Madrid trip on Tuesday and I come back on Sunday. I will have plenty to write about when I return. We are gonna visit Segovia, Toledo, La Granja, El Escorial, Madrid, Calatrava and a few other places in the Castille-Leon/Castille La Mancha area.

Until next week...

Help Help Me Ronda

After a long night of fun, I woke up the next morning and hopped on the bus to the town of Ronda with my roommate, Warren, our friend Faith from school, and her friend Abby. At first when we got to Ronda we didn't see what the big deal was until we started walking around and exploring more. Talk about some scenic and amazing views. The bridge in Ronda that connects the old town and the new town is 200m to the bottom, or 600 feet! The view was spectacular from the bridge, over looking the other part of the town below and the river. Our group befriended a group of students who are taking a year off, before they start college in the fall. One was from Palo Alto,CA named Andrew, Jenna was from North Carolina, and Becca was from Chicago. We walked and wandered the town with them until they and our group went separate ways. Faith, Abby, and I went hiking on a trail among the ruins of an old castle and through abandoned houses and and a former power plant. You really could get some good views from our hike. The scenery was quite breathtaking everywhere we went.

Flamenco!

I was a first timer to flamenco on Friday night. After living in Sevilla for two months now, I had yet to make it to a flamenco show. (Side note: Happy 2 Months in Sevilla to me.)

Flamenco is the Andalusian and Spanish dance to what two stepping represents to Texans.

I started off first in the Barrio Santa Cruz to find a place that my Spain guidebook listed called "El Tamboril." I went, asked someone for directions, only to find the place was locked up for the evening. However, things don't cranked up and rowdy over here till midnight or later. So my next course of action was to head to Triana to find a "semi-secret" unmarked bar on Calle Pages de Corro. Apparently it's not so semi-secret cause Casa Anselma was definitely packed to the brim on Friday and a German camera crew from Berlin was filming something for Deutsche television. Pretty cool.
Casa Anselma is run, by Anselma who hosts these flamenco shows nightly along with her friends. It's very authentic and local, judging as I was the only American in there that night. Over the course of two hours watching flamenco, I talked to a couple from Zaragoza, in northern Spain, in between Madrid and Barcelona, they are down here for work. But they liked me so much, they bought me a few drinks. You have to admire the generosity of the Spaniards.
Flamenco is inspired by Arabic flavor, Gypsy dances, Spanish, and influences elsewhere. It's very much the heart and soul of traditional Spain.
In addition to the flamenco show, I explained how to two-step in Spanish to the couple. Music and dancing transcends language barriers and international borders.
At the end of the evening the show ended with a singing-prayer-ballad to the shrine of the Virgin Mary. Quite different, yet moving at the same time.

I Dont Speak Portuguese

Sorry for the delay in posting, It was a busy week and weekend with exams and a 4 day trip to Portugal.

Lisbon is an amazing city to visit, it's very modern and clean. It's quite a contrast from Sevilla, because in 1755, Lisbon had an earthquake that completely changed the layout and construction of the city. Only 10 million people live in Portugal, but more who speak Portuguese live in their former colonies. I really liked the city, it was very easy to get around and manuever on the Metro system and walk. It's quite a different walking experience than Sevilla.

I learned some Portuguese and learned the Spanish and the Portuguese hate each other. Case in point, while we crossed the border and stopped at a rest stop, a Portuguese woman and a Spanish woman arguing over something started hitting each other. I literally thought a war was gonna happen at the rest stop. Another example is when I was trying to find the Castle of St. George and I stopped to ask a kiosk vendor how to get to the castle, the conversation is as follows.

Me: Excuse me, do you speak English?
Vendor: *Blank Stare*
Me: Perdon, Hablas Espanol? Necesito direcciones al Castillo de San Jorge.
Vendor: PORTUGUES!
Me: Desculpe! Desculpe! Obrigado.

On to the fun part of my blog. Here's the adventure segment.

The first day was spent at 7:00 am on a bus and riding 6 hours to Lisboa. We only had two sites to visit that were mandatory, El Torre de Belen and the Jeronomite Monastery. The Torre de Belen was closing when we got there unfortunately. However, the Torre is famous for the defense of Lisbon when the Tower was in the middle of the river before the quake. The Jeronomite monastery is where a certain explorer named Vasco de Gama is buried. The rest of the time in Lisboa was free-time.

That night was spent looking around the downtown of Lisboa and then out to dinner eat at a Brazilian style steak house called Chimmurao. I ate there twice in the weekend.

Day 2 was spent at the Lisboa Zoo, which was in the heart of the city and was surrounded by apartments and great views of Lisboa on a tram that ran through the park. I always have a good time at a zoo. After that, I caught the Metro and went to the Castel de Sao Jorge. This was a castle with a 360 view of Lisboa and a view of the Atlantic, port, and the city. Simply incredible. The pictures don't do justice.

Day 3 was spent at the Oceanarium, which has the 2nd largest tank in the world as so I'm told. Very fun time there with my amigos and after that we had to hustle back and make it to the bus to visit the town of Sintra, a town 30 min away from Lisboa, but totally different. It was nestled in the hills. Sintra was the name of a poem by Lord Byron and apparently Hans Christian Andersen lived there for a time. I visited another Castle, which was awesome. The walk was intense to get it to it and while I was walking, clouds and rain rolled in, but it made the walk and the castle seem high above the earth. Again, pictures do not do justice.

After the castle stop, I had a glass of Port wine in a tavern. Port wine is a very sweet and potent wine. It's good, but not one of my favorites. The specialty wine I liked in Portugal was "vinho verde" or green wine. You can't buy it in the United States. I also tried Portuguese beer. Yeah, it was kind of nasty, the worst I've had thus far in Europe.

But that was the end of my adventure and back to Sevilla on Sunday on a very long bus ride.

I started my week again. I wonder where I'll go this time...