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.