Day Trip to Segovia

Today, some of us hopped on the high speed train (144 mph at one point) and headed 30 minutes north of Madrid to the historic city of Segovia. Here's what we saw:


On the train in the morning (Look ma: pictures with people in them!)

The Roman Aqueduct the city is famous for. Built c. 100 A.D., the aqueduct brought water from the local mountains down into the city.

Plaza Mayor, the center of the city.

Very narrow streets are common here.

The Segovia Cathedral. Beau-ti-ful!

I love the inside of cathedrals (and taking undercover pictures of them).

The walls of Segovia. Not an easy place to attack back in the day.

The Alcázar (castle) of Segovia.

Look ma: Me in a picture!

Looking down to where the castle's moat once was.

Inside of the castle. Nice ceilings, eh?

Little men and little women on the top of the walls.

Close up of said little men and little women.

Art on the walls.

Art on the windows.

Throne room--doesn't look too comfortable though.

Very cool collection of weapons and armor.

Cannon!

The nearby mountains on a clear but very cold day.

A nice little trip for sure. That's all for now folks. Until later, hasta luego.

A Spectacular Espectáculo

Some things just sound better in Spanish. For example, would you rather go to the theater to see a play or an espectáculo? Well, our theater class headed to the Sala Cuarta Pared to watch our first espectáculo of the semester on Thursday night and I left impressed, if a little confused.

Of course, the first production we see couldn't be a Spanish language version of something easy to understand, like Annie or Oliver Twist. No, instead we saw La Ventana de Chygrinskiy (or Chygrinskiy's Window for those of you keeping score at home). If I were to give you an in-depth account of what went on, I'd be lying because I didn't understand half of what was said. Part of the misunderstanding was because some of the play was in Ukrainian but most of it was down to the fact that the actors spoke about a mile a minute. You win some, you lose some I guess.

From what I was able to understand, the plot of the espectáculo revolved around five characters living in the same apartment building. One, Chygrinskiy, is a real life soccer player who played a couple of seasons for FC Barcelona before being voted by fans as the Spanish league's worst player in 2010. He's now back playing in his native Ukraine. Still, the dude had a play written about him. Chygrinskiy (spelled a little differently in the play than on the back of his jersey) has a window in his room in which he can see his mother in snowy Ukraine. The only problem is, the play is set in not-so-snowy Spain, which is in fact quite far from Ukraine.



For most of the play, the actors engaged one another in over the top comedy (I understood a few of the jokes, I think) but the play ended on a strangely somber note. I'm sure there was some deeper meaning or take away message, but it completely went over my head.

The theater itself was one of my favorite parts--an old car garage turned into into an "alternative theater." If you're a fan of the show Friends, think one of the small little theaters in which the group watches Joey perform.

Overall, quite the experience. Can't wait for the next espectáculo!

The Coolest Classroom Ever!

Art has never really been my thing. I mastered the whole "coloring between the lines" thing but that's about the extent of my skills. Picasso, Dali, Rembrandt--sure I've heard the names but could I distinguish their work from one another? Probably not. So, even for an art-novice like myself, this class is cool. Art History 496: Paintings in the Prado Museum. Every Monday, our time consists of what I assume what most art history classes are like: a lecture on a particular artist or time period with slides showing relevant paintings. Wednesdays, though, are spent in the Prado Museum, one of the world's best, seeing the paintings come alive. This is sort of like taking a baseball history class (Do they have those? If so, sign me up!) in Cooperstown.

Our first trip yesterday was meant to give us an overview of the museum--it's organized by time period (or if your Goya or Velasquez, you get a whole room to yourself).

Our teacher, Paco, seems to know everything about art (although I'm hardly qualified to be making these judgments). Looking at the paintings through my current knowledge is fun, if superficial. However, once Paco explained the history, symbolism, culture and techniques associated with a painting, it became so much more fascinating. No photos allowed so here's a sample of some of the ones we saw, brought to you by your friends at Google.

"The Garden of Earthly Delights" by Hieronymus "El Bosco" Bosch. Crazy stuff going on here.

"The Descent of Christ" by Roger van der Weyden. The colors are shockingly bright in person.

"Christ Washing the Disciples' Feet" by Tintoretto. The table is supposed to appear like it's pointing toward the viewer at whatever angle they are standing. I don't buy it.

"Charles IV of Spain and His Family" by Francisco Goya. Goya was the royal painter until he did this one--full of satire. Not too flattering I must say.

"A Nobleman with his Hand on his Chest" by El Greco. That about sums it up.

"Las Meninas" by Diego Velázquez. Paco said we'll study this one for a while.

"Saturn Devouring his Son" by Goya. Paco said Goya decorated his house with stuff like this. Charming.

That's all for now. Until later, hasta luego.

Leviticus en Español: Talk about lost in translation!

For all of the exploring and learning I've done in my first few days in Madrid, my trip to a Spanish church this Sunday stands out as the coolest experience so far. My new friend Paige and I set off to find a church that was recommended to her by a girl who studied in Madrid last spring. After some wandering, and with help from a very kind Spanish man at a car wash, we found the church just in time for the service to begin. We were a little apprehensive at first but the pastor immediately walked over to where we were sitting and introduced himself. He began the service by welcoming us by name in front of the congregation (there were about 40 or 50 people there). The worship was great--led by a band of college-age kids who we met after the service and who were also super friendly. Some of the songs were very familiar--just with Spanish words instead of English. And, of course, the first time I visit a Spanish church, the sermon is about Leviticus. It's hard enough to understand in English! There were a few notable differences--the language (obviously), wine with communion instead of grape juice, worship song requests from the audience--but it felt very much like home. What an opportunity to worship with new friends on the other side of the world!

Holy Toledo: An Intersection of Three Religions

Pardon the pun in the title, but it needed to be said (or in this case, written). Yesterday, the group headed out of Madrid for the first time for a day in Toledo, one of the most historic cities in all of Europe. Only an hour southeast of central Madrid, Toledo has a history filled with interactions--both peaceful and not--between Islam, Judaism and Christianity. When we arrived in the morning, the city was covered in a shroud of fog but as the day went on, we were able to take in some great views of the city.

The narrow cobblestone streets criss-crossed the city like they had a mind of their own--some twisting and turning their way for what seemed to be miles, others stopping after 30 feet or so.


Our tour guide said it would take at least three days to really experience Toledo (and I'd love to go back sometime in the next four months) but he'd show us the highlights. We first visited the main Catedral in the city.


While I was amazed by both the size of the cathedral and all of the intricate craftsmanship (painting, sculpting, wood-working), our guía Luis said that the church's collection of paintings is its real claim to fame. Even with my limited knowledge of art, the 20 or so paintings hanging in the priests' dressing room blew my mind--some of them so life-like you half expected them to start walking and talking a la Harry Potter. No pictures were allowed inside (although I tried to take some undercover video that didn't turn out very well) so I posted some from Google.


Next up was a visit to the main synagogue, which was transformed into a Catholic church as a result of the Spanish Inquisition. Now, it's back to how it looked before--a synagogue in appearance but now only used as a museum. Not quite as breathtakingly beautiful as the Cathedral but pretty in its own way and an important reminder of Toledo's history.

Finally, we visited a much smaller church to see El Greco's masterpiece, The Burial of the Count of Orgaz. Painted on a giant canvas, the 15 ft by 11.7 ft piece of art tells the story of a man who has recently died. He is on the bottom of the painting surrounded by a group of church officials--including representations of El Greco himself and his son. The top half of the painting reflects the fact that while he may have died in this world, new life is awaiting him in heaven. Jesus is surrounded by angels and saints in the top half of the painting and the man's spirit is passing from one world to the next. Again, no pictures allowed, so Google to the rescue.

We then spent the rest of the afternoon walking through the streets, doing a little shopping, and eating a delicious lunch at a restaurant overlooking the city. The food in Spain, by the way, has been excellent. Both my señora and my señor are excellent cooks and we've already sampled some fancy restaurants on the program's dime (which really is my parent's dime, but whose keeping track, right Mom and Dad?)

Don Quixote and Sancho Panza

Toledo is also famous for its long history of sword making.

At the town market, you can read about who has died in the last week and when their funerals will be held.

Pots and pans, hanging outside the window. Thought it was interesting. All in all, a grand day in Toledo. That's it for now. Hasta luego, mis amigos.

Un Paseo por la Tarde

Being a little lost never hurt anyone, right? I decided to take a little walk around Madrid this afternoon. I put the map away in my backpack and just went down streets that caught my eye. There will be more detailed visits I'm sure to the places that I saw but it was an excellent overview of the heart of Madrid.

Madrid at sunset.

Catedral de la Almudena

Palacio Real

Un calle near the Teatro Royal. Apartments are everywhere in Madrid.

Until next time, hasta luego.

Real vs. Atlético: Battle for Madrid

What luck: first week in Madrid and the city's two biggest soccer teams squared off in the quarterfinals of the Copa Del Rey. It's not the most important tournament for the clubs but anytime these two get together, there's pride and bragging rights on the line. Some of us headed to a bar near the stadium to watch the game and there were definitely some interesting characters cheering their teams on. Since the bar was next to Real Madrid's stadium, everyone in the place was rooting for Los Galácticos. We arrived a little late and Atlético had already taken a 1-0 lead (through a goal by Diego Forlán of World Cup 2010 fame). The guys in the bar were clearly getting a little antsy--one hombre near us nearly punched a hole in the wall after Real missed on a goal scoring opportunity. Real eventually tied it up, added another early in the second half and scored a final goal in the last minute to head into next week's second leg up 3-1. The atmosphere in the bar was easily the best part of the night: everyone singing and chanting in unison, oooh-ing and ahhh-ing at each chance narrowly missed. Goals were greeted with primal screams, kisses for loved ones, running outside en la calle and more singing. The riot police pulled up shortly before the game ended and the flood of people made getting home via the metro a little rough. All in all a great experience though: looking forward to seeing some Real (think the Yankees to Atlético's Mets) and Atleti games from inside their stadiums soon.

Parque Del Buen Retiro

This afternoon, some of us headed down to El Retiro, the main park in Madrid. It's a beautiful place--complete with lots of monuments, an outdoor exercise park with machines and a tranquil lake. Here are some pictures:







This is the exercise park--with strange arm machines and bike pedals near a bench. I think it's for older people but hey, it looks like a good idea.



Here's a video of the lake at the park. Sorry for the shakiness: I'll work on keeping the camera steady in future videos.