MADRID!!!

After being MIA for the past week while in Madrid, I have returned to Granada in one piece to recount my adventures and tell the world what an AMAZING place Madrid is and how much fun we had on our trip there. Wow it was great!

*****

On Tuesday (31 Jan) we had to get up super early in order to walk over to where the bus was going to pick us up. We were on the road by 10 and made it to Madrid in about 5.5 hours. It was a pretty good trip for a bus ride. We were in one of those really nice buses with the plush seats that recline and all that so it wasn’t too hard to endure the long trip.

The scenery was definitely different from what I’d been used to seeing in downtown Granada. There were great views of the mountains and the countryside and for a while there we saw nothing but olive trees for miles and miles (or should I say kilometers? heh) There was even some snow on the ground left over from the weekend before when it snowed. I think I may have forgotten to mention that last weekend. Oops! Well, I guess I’ll say it now even though it’s a little late-it snowed here the last weekend in January. It was kinda cool, but as it is in Hillsboro/Portland it didn’t really stick and if it did it didn’t last that long before it melted. It was neat to see it snow here though. :)

So as soon as we got to Madrid we drove straight to the Prado. It was incredible to drive through the city and see all the huge buildings and monuments that are totally characteristic of European cities. All I could think was that there I was, little old me in this huge, historic city...I was quite impressed.

When we arrived at the Prado we went right in and spent 3 glorious hours looking at the works of Goya, Velazquez, and El Greco among others. Not a bad way to spend the afternoon, eh?

What caught my eye most about the paintings of Goya were the eyes. He had a knack for painting extremely expressive eyes and when you looked at his works you felt like you could figure out, fairly accurately, the personality of his subject and their mood at the time of being painted. I was pretty struck by many of his portraits. It’s so remarkable how some people have so much talent and are able to paint such striking and lifelike work.

El Greco was one of my faves. His paintings have always interested me and after having studied them in high school, I was looking forward to seeing the famous works that I had only read about in books. What was most stunning about his paintings was the height of the canvases. They were huge and extremely elongated (vertically, of course). The room his work was in had a very high ceiling but still it seemed like the frames of the paintings almost touched it! I had never noticed it before but if you look closely at his paintings, he has a very characteristic and peculiar way of painting people’s fingers. In many of his paintings the two middle fingers of one hand are close together while the outer two are spread in the opposite directions. (Think the Star Trek hand sign but put the two middle fingers together). I have no idea why he did that but now I really want to find out!


The man of the hour though, was for sure Velazquez. There was an entire room dedicated to his most famous paintings which of course, included Las Meninas I had also studied Velazquez in high school and was excited to see them up close. I will admit that I was quite impressed overall, but Las Meninas wasn’t what I had expected it to be. Of course I had seen it in books and for the most part, had a good idea of what it looked like, but when you’re actually standing there in front of the painting you can see all the details that the pictures in books don’t capture. For example, Las Meninas was blurrier than I had expected it to be. It wasn’t a very sharp painting and if I hadn’t seen it in person, I would never have known how it actually looked. It was beautiful though, blurry or not.

There was also this great temporary exhibit by Fortuny and others that was so incredibly lifelike that you would think that he was a photographer instead of a painter. They were mostly landscapes and many of them were on very very small canvases (i.e. 4X4 inches). As I said before the precision involved in painting them was extraordinary and it made you wonder if he had used a toothpick or a needle to get that much detail in such a small painting.

After taking pictures of every angle of the museum, we headed to our hotel to finally unpack and rest a bit before dinner.

The hotel was fabulous. It was called the Hotel Alexandra and it was located right off of the Gran Vía, which is basically the main street of the city. All the theatres and restaurants and shops of the big city were located along that street and it was great to be so close to all the action.

I shared a triple room with two other girls, Chelsea and Diana, and we had a great time the entire week. After unpacking a bit we decided to walk down the Gran Vía to explore in the time we had before dinner.

We had a group dinner at this great restaurant called El Pajar. It was nice to finally be together with the entire group of AHA students and thankfully we all fit in that little restaurant. We ate there a few times over the course of the week and each time they fed us extremely well. On the first night we had vegetable soup followed by veal and fries and pears for dessert. The thing is that I had never had veal before and it wasn’t until after we had left the restaurant that I was informed that that was what we had been served. At our table we at first thought it was chicken, then some kind of pork, but we would have never guessed veal. After keeping an eye out on the restaurant menus for veal, I came to the conclusion that it’s quite a popular meat, at least in the Madrid area. It was interesting I suppose, but I’m not sure if I would have it again. A group of us went walking after dinner and explored a little more of the city while looking for a café. By the time we made it back to the hotel, we were all exhausted from the long day. It was fun though.

Madrid totally reminded me of NYC. It had all the hustle and bustle of a big city like that and all the stores and even all the restaurants (Starbucks, Dunkin Donuts, McDonald’s etc.) that you would be able to find in an American city made it seem like another big, globally influenced city. All the people too-they made it seem so big and alive. It was really cool to see all that first hand and be one of the people that were walking around downtown Madrid.

*****

Day 2 (1 Feb) started out with a lovely little hotel breakfast. It was so funny because I hadn’t had cereal for breakfast (or any other meal!) since before I came to Spain, so to see two containers with cereals that could be compared to Corn Flakes and Raisin Bran was slightly odd, but it was nice to be able to try something slightly different from the usual Spanish breakfast of toast and jam. They say that cereal is starting to catch on here as more varieties become available in the stores, but I would dare to say that cereal, as a food for breakfast, is still very much an American tradition. Along the same lines, I was quite horrified to find out that they do not have pancakes (or syrup) here. Here´s the rather alarming story...

We were sitting at dinner one night and I was at a table with the director of the AHA Granada program, Mark Bennett, who is a fantastic coordinator and did a great job of organizing this trip (as well as everything else that has to do with our stay here!) and we were talking about how we (the students) were getting accustomed to the food here. Long story short, somehow we got to talking about breakfast foods and I was talking about pancakes and Mark told me that there isn’t such a thing here.

I couldn’t believe it. Honestly, the closest thing they have is crepes and they don’t have syrup either. I was in utter shock because I guess I just assumed that somehow the entire world (or at least countries in Europe for some reason) would know about pancakes and other similar foods (waffles, etc.) and even if they had other things that they ate more consistently, they would at least have the knowledge of what it was and if one day they had the craving, they could make themselves a short stack. Maybe I’m biased because I grew up having pancakes every Sunday for breakfast (a wonderful tradition of my dad’s), but I was very disappointed that there are no pancakes in Spain. So sad. I feel like I should remedy this great travesty by asking Feli if I can make breakfast one day. Introduce the pancake to Spain. Put my name in the history books...Okay, okay, I’m being melodramatic now and for sure there are people who know about and probably eat pancakes in this country, but I’m just saying that it’s weird that as a whole, the country is not aware of pancakes as a possible breakfast option. Bummer for them!


Back to day 2. though…

It was also nice to be able to get up and be able to take a warm shower. One thing I’ve noticed and in talking to other people in the program I’ve come to the conclusion that Spaniards are quite fond of those water wand things that you can detach and use in the shower. At least the one at the hotel was mounted on the wall, but still, quite an interesting detail, eh?

We made our way over to the Reina Sofia and spent the morning looking at more great works of art.

I must say that I don’t think I have ever really been touched by a work of art. I mean I find most art beautiful and captivating in its own respect and I commend the artist for using their talents to create such a work, but I’ve never really gotten moved by a work of art before.


Picasso’s Guernica changed all that.



It was an amazing, truly magnificent painting. Standing in front of it was more powerful than it could ever be from seeing it in a book. Just the expressions of the women, the chaos, the simplicity, the incredible emotion that Picasso captured in it was incredible. I also didn’t have any idea of how many sketches Picasso did before he actually painted it. There was a whole room of the sketches and drawings he did in preparation. It was incredible.

There were also some amazing Dalí and Miró paintings. The Reina Sofia reminded me of the MoMA in NY and of the two, the Prado and the Reina Sofia, I would have to say that I preferred the Prado, though the Reina Sofia was impressive in its own right.

We all met back up at El Pajar (our “official” restaurant) for lunch and again were stuffed to the brim with good food. We had this great dessert called Torta Helada which reminded me of an ice cream cake only without the cake. It was ice cream with layers of thick chocolate flakes. Quite good I must say. :)

That afternoon we all went on a group tour of Madrid and hit up all the main sights. It was a really nice afternoon and we made our way all around the city. Little did I know that this walk was preparing us for the massive amounts of walking that we were going to do over the next couple of days!

We had free time for the rest for the night after we got back from the tour, so we went to dinner at this place called Marzano. It was strange to get to order what we wanted for the first time in a month. We all got pizza and it was delicious!

While walking around afterward, the three of us saw that there was a ballet playing in one of the theatres and so we investigated to see if we could get tickets. We found that we could get some pretty good seats for Thursday so we bought those and that night we went to see a movie in downtown Madrid at the Cine Rex (don’t you just love the name?) It was called La Vida Secreta de las Palabras (The Secret Life of Words) and it had won 4 Goyas the week before. The Goyas, by the way, are the Spanish equivalent of the Academy Awards, so we figured it had to be good. It was pretty interesting and now I want to see it in English because I think because it was such a symbolic and profound movie, I missed a lot in the translation and would need to see it again to make sure I had the story straight. A Spanish director directed it but it was filmed in English with English actors and then dubbed for the Spanish audience. I have heard that the director (Isabel Coixet) gets a lot of criticism for filming in English and not Spanish.

*****

Day 3 started out with the group going to a place just outside of Madrid called El Escorial. Phillip II had it built during his prosperous reign and for the most part it was to serve as a monastery. The royal families’ living quarters were fairly austere and simple. Nothing too pretentious which seemed odd in the palace of the Spanish king who ruled over half the world...

It was an enormous building. If I remember correctly, something like 6 football fields could fit in it. Pretty huge. As I mentioned before, it was fairly modest, but there were a few luxuries afforded such as the doors that, since they were a gift from Austria and hadn’t cost the King anything, were allowed to be put in the palace. They were made from 16 different kinds (thus shades) of wood and were beautiful. They used the pieces (and we’re talking small pieces) to make designs and patterns in the wood. Again, I couldn’t believe that someone had the patience to put one of those, let alone all of them, together. Some other highlights included some more El Greco paintings and the fact that Phillip’s bedchamber was built adjacent to the chapel so that he could hear Mass from bed.

We then drove over to the Valle de Los Caidos. Franco built this monument after the Spanish Civil War to commemorate his victory, although when he received criticism from abroad, he said that it was supposed to honor all those who had fallen in the war.

I must say that it was one of the most horrible places that I have been. I mean it was beautiful but it just gave off such a weird vibe and you just couldn’t help but think of what Franco stood for and what his victory cost the Spanish people. Such conflicting feelings.

This monument is built into a rock on top of a mountain. There is a huge cross on top of the hill and then below is the monument built underneath in the mountain. When you look at it from the outside it’s incredibly impressive and picturesque, especially since there are evergreen trees everywhere and there are excellent views from all angles. It is very peaceful since it’s so far away from a city it seems like a beautiful tranquil spot.

When you enter the monument however, it is completely not like that at all. You lose all the peace that you gained outside and it gets replaced with this weird feeling of almost disgust. See this monument is a church but it almost seems to be sacrilegious. The lighting is very dim and the decorations have not only a religious meaning but a political one too. The symbols seem to represent darkness more than life and for a church, it just seems strange. The guide told us that Franco had used prisoners from the losing side to help construct it and that still today when Spaniards visit it there is a mix of emotions and feelings toward this monument.

Anyway, to get an idea of how big this place is, the Pope at the time refused to consecrate it because it was bigger than St. Peter’s. After Franco added a divider to separate the huge front hall from the actual church, the Pope agreed to consecrate it. It was interesting too, to learn that Franco fashioned the cross that was by the altar and to see his grave. There are also 50,000 men buried here as well, symbolic of all that died during the war. Though I was glad that we went and saw it, I didn’t really like it and don’t think I would go back to see it again.

After we returned to Madrid, a couple of us went on a walk to the Parque del Retiro which is basically Madrid’s "Central Park". It was kind of far away but it was worth it. It’s a pretty big park and it was neat to just explore a bit and check out a typical non-tourist attraction of the city.

Since we had to be at the ballet that night, we went and got an early (think normal time in the States!) dinner at this place called Istanbul. I had a falafel kabap and it was delicious. I just can’t get over how much I love the food here (although this for sure wasn’t Spanish, it was still something that I hadn’t tried at home)

Anyway, the ballet was amazing! It was called El Sur and was put on by Víctor Ullate Ballet. They danced to flamenco music and the story was about a woman living with domestic violence which, unfortunately, is a really big problem here in Spain. When we watch the news it’s not uncommon at all to hear stories about women who are killed by their husbands. You hear it at least once a week. It’s pretty sad. The costumes were beautiful and the dancing incredible. We had pretty good seats and were able to see and hear very well. I can’t believe I went to the ballet in Madrid!

We went to Starbucks afterward because Chelsea had a craving and because you can’t get Starbucks in Granada (a sad but true reality for coffee lovers). Since I’m not a huge coffee fan, I got a hot cocoa and was really surprised to see the difference between prices and sizes here compared to prices and sizes in the US. I paid $2.80 Euro for a “tall” hot cocoa and ended up with a cup that was smaller than the tall in the US. The next size up was in-between tall and grande in the states...hmm. I was slightly upset that I was paying more for less, but I got over it quickly enough. :)

*****

3 Feb was our trip to Toledo. I’m not sure how long it took to get there, but it wasn’t very long, maybe an hour or so. We got there and made a trip around the city in the bus. There is a river that surrounds the entire city providing natural protection from enemies in centuries past. We took a tour of the city with a guide and saw all of the Jewish, Islamic, and Christian influence. In the Iglesia de Santo Tomé we saw the great Greco painting El Entierro del señor de Orgaz which was pretty neat. I have become quite a fan of El Greco on this trip. We also went to this incredibly old museum that housed artifacts from the Visigoths that inhabited the area centuries ago. So much history!

We had a few hours of free time so we were able to have lunch at one of the little restaurants that dotted the city. The place we ended up going to was called El Pescador and was your classic Spanish restaurant, serving the 3 course meal at midday. I had paella (of course!) and salmon. It was delicious. I don’t think I’ve had bad food while in this country, seriously, everything is so good! Plus, it was super reasonable. I was impressed.

When we got back to Madrid, a couple of us decided to take the Metro to the Plaza de los Toros. That was fun. :) I love riding Metros in big cities for some reason. Mexico City where you have to fight to get a seat because there are so many people, NYC where it’s only slightly confusing to find the right line you want, Stockholm with its really comfortable seats, and now Madrid. It was pretty cool to just get on and ride and of course people watch (one of my fave things to do) You could see all sorts of people going various places. I loved it!

The Plaza de Toros was really neat but unfortunately it was getting dark when we got there so the pictures I took didn’t really come out that well and weren’t able to show the very artistic and detailed tilework. There was a circus going on there that week but I was told that starting in the spring they have bullfights every day for a while and then periodically during the summer.

We made it back to the hotel just in time for our group’s meeting with the Argentinean poet and writer Noni Benegas. She was exiled to Spain during the years of unrest in Argentina and has stayed ever since. She spoke about living in exile and read some of her work. It was funny how some of what she said about her home country paralleled to me. She said that memories of what you left behind get stronger because that is all you have of that time. It’s true. I find myself holding on to memories so detailed and real, just because I don’t have it here with me. She also said that in your new place you can afford to take risks because you have nothing to lose-no one knows you and you can risk everything without worrying that you will lose anything. Furthermore, she mentioned that while you are feeling alone and solitary you use that to create new ways of “surviving” and that becomes your creative outlet. You take your feelings and transform them into something artistic and creative and use it as a way of coping with your loneliness and anxiety. Good lessons for someone who had to start over to a point.

*****

4 February was our final day trip to Segovia. To me, Segovia appeared bigger than Toledo but when I asked about the populations of the two cities, I was told that actually Toledo is bigger. Go figure.

We went on another city tour and of course we stopped and saw the Aqueduct. It was amazing. To think that almost 2000 years ago people were able to construct something so magnificent without cement or anything similar is incredible to me. Such ingenuity. Wow.

In our free time, quite a few of us went to the Alcazar, where Ferdinand and Isabella lived. We also went and saw the Cathedral which was beautiful. I just couldn’t get over that I was there that’s for sure!

We finally made it back to Madrid after a long and exhausting day (we walked so so so much!) After resting a bit, we ventured out for our last night in the capital city. We stumbled upon this random Italian restaurant called La Bambola and I ended up trying black spaghetti with prawns. I’m not a big seafood fan but the menus were Italian dishes described in Spanish and we were trying to figure out what everything meant in English. Waaaay too much translation that’s for sure. So somehow, even though I’m not a big fan, I got pasta and prawns but hey, it was pretty good and even though I probably would not order it again, I can now say that I have eaten black spaghetti. Heh. We even splurged and got Tiramisu for dessert. Yum.

*****

On Sunday (5 Feb) we weren’t going to leave until 10:30 so that gave us time to get up early and go to the big open air market called El Rastro that is in downtown every Sunday. Think PDX Saturday Market with a bit of garage sale and flea market type stuff thrown in there and you have El Rastro. Lots of pashminas and oddly enough batteries, and there were clothes everywhere! Kind of a cool way to end the trip.

So now we’re back here in Granada. I’m feeling pretty ready for this semester which started yesterday. I have 3 classes on Monday/Wednesday and 2 on Tuesday/Thursday and we get Fridays off completely. So every weekend is a 3 day weekend. Sweeeeet.

More on classes and all that stuff later, I just wanted to get a couple comments about Madrid posted before too much time went by.