Protests, Parties, and Paradise

January 11, 2014

Three days in and I have already formed some unforgettable memories here in Spain. We are now all loaded up on a bus for a four hour drive from Madrid to Valencia. The past few days in Madrid have been incredible but I am very excited to get settled in my dorm room and begin classes at la Universidad de Valencia. 

To recap on the past couple days:

On Wednesday morning we took a walking tour of Madrid. Our tour guide was a young women who lived in the city. She took us through all the plazas and historical districts and told us all about Madrid’s history and traditions, all in spanish of course.

All of us on the tour in front of a statue of Don Quixote de la Mancha and his right-hand man, Sancho Panza. 

The plaza del sol is the main plaza in the city. There is a clock at the top of the administration building at when that clock strikes 12:00 on New Years, everyone in the plaza eats grapes together. It is also the location of Kilometer 0, which is the central point of the country and people use this as the base for giving directions or distances between cities.

Plaza del sol

The plaza mayor is located in the historic district of Madrid and it is also the most expensive place in the city. The apartments that surround the plaza cost millions to live in and we definitely did not eat in the restaurants. The plaza used to be used for royal ceremonies, as well as, the main place for beheading people during the spanish inquisition. 

Plaza mayor 

Glass was put up on the side of this bridge because it used to be a popular place for people to commit suicide. 

This is the Palace Real, which is where the king and queen of Spain used to live. It is now just used for royal presentations and shows. 

Palace Real

Precious old man outside the palace.

After the tour we went and ate one of the most delicious things I have ever put in my mouth, churros con chocolate. Apparently this is a very popular late night snack for spaniards after a night on the town. It’s still a mystery to me how they all can eat all of these amazing pastries everyday and still be so thin. Everything in moderation I suppose.

In the afternoon, we went to the Museo..., a total 180 degree change from the art we saw the day before. This was abstract art and some of it was just a little too abstract for me. There was one room filled solely with wooden posts. They were not carved in any exquisite way, just pieces of wood in a white room. How that is art I’m not sure but I bet the artist made a lot of money off those left over 2x4’s. I did get to see the original Picasso piece, Guernica, which he painted during the Spanish Civil War. I fell in love with this painting when I studied it last semester so it was a really special experience being able to see it in person.

That night I went to my first fútbol game, Real Madrid vs. At. Osasuna! The atmosphere was amazing. I felt like I was back at Sanford Stadium surrounded by crazy Dawg fans. Despite the fact that Osasuna is not a very good team, the fans acted like it was a tide up Georgia vs. Florida game in overtime. The entire game they were up jumping and chanting songs that I could not understand. It’s safe to say spanish people really love their soccer. 

The craziest part is what happened when the game was over. After we left the stadium, a protest broke out on the street. It was the spanish anarchists dressed in all black and swastika arm bands. They were chanting and holding up signs labeled CNT, while an army of police stood in front of them with riot shields and clubs. I couldn’t help but stop and try and take a picture. This is the kind of stuff I see on the news not in real life! After watching for a second, I passed through rather quickly scared a bomb was going to go off or something. I couldn’t help but think about the videos I’ve seen of the civil rights riots in America that all escalated quickly into sporadic violence.

Yesterday we left the grand city of Madrid and drove an hour out into the country to the small town of Segovia. The terrain outside Madrid looked similar to a temperate desert, dry and rocky soil scattered with green shrubbery. The view reminded me of parts of Colorado or Utah with snowcapped mountains in the distance, clustered with homes in the arid valley. One thing I have come to appreciate about Spaniards is the modesty in their homes and lifestyle. Unlike Americans who spend all of their money on enormous houses, Spaniards focus their spending on simple pleasures, such as, eloquent and fresh food and wine. 

Ruled by the Romans in the 1st century, Segovia is known for it’s colossal aqueduct that the empire built right through the middle of the city. I was blown away by its enormity. The most fascinating fact about the aqueduct is that the structure was built without any cement or binding substance to keep the structure in tact. After 20 centuries of stability, it’s safe to say that is some impressive engineering.

The Catedral de Sevogia and the Alcázar de Segovia (Segovia Castle) are also two famous structures that we explored. The architecture of these buildings is incredible. What blew me away the most was the intricate detail of the ceilings. In each room they were different, all vibrant with color and elaborate design.

La Catedral de Segovia 

 

Ceilings in the Segovia Palace

Inside the Segovia Palace

We left Segovia in the afternoon and headed back to Madrid to get ready for our first real night out on the town. The spanish do not joke around when it comes to night life and they also enjoy staying out until the wee hours of the morning. Five of us went out with some people that Alexa, Courtney, and Tori met in a bar a couple days before. They were french and polish, studying at the Universidad de Madrid. We went entered into their flat on the other side of town and were met with a barrage of nine different nationalities and languages all in one room. Tori called it the International House of Partying. There were people from England, Finland, Poland, Germany, France, Canada, Argentina, Brazil, and of course the United States. The ironic part was despite all of the different countries, the universal language among everyone was spanish. Spanglish encompassed my night because most of the Europeans wanted to work on their english, while we wanted to practice our spanish.

From the flat we took the metro to a discoteca, which is basically like a spanish dance club. Of course we didn’t leave the apartment until 1:30 am, and then I didn’t get back to the hotel until 5:00 am. Europeans go hard. They were making fun of us Americans when we were going home because they were on their way to yet another bar. Our first night out was a success to say the least. Now I am excited to get to Valencia and see what adventures await me there.