6:30am came way too early. Jenny and I walked to Hotel Sevilla Center to start our spring break journey! We got on the bus and I slept until we were woken up to get off the bus near Andujar. I went to a gas station and got some snacks, and then 45 minutes later we got back on the bus. Finally after what seemed like an eternity, we FINALLY arrived at the Castilla de Calatrava la Nueva.
The approach to the Calatrava was absolutely terrifying. We were in huge tour buses going up skinny roads with a drop off the side of a mountain to this castle that was on the top of the mountain. I got some video footage of the terrified looks… we really didn’t move during the bus ride because we were afraid to tip over!! After hiking up the hill and feeling the burn, we finally reached the castle. Douglas had us stop in the “stable” room entrance, which was about 20 degrees below the outside temperature- mind you, we were all in heavy coats. Douglas stopped and talked about the Calatrava for quite a while and then we explored the castle and saw the beautiful views!
This place really reminded me of Itálica because it was a lot of Roman ruins. After, we got on the bus and headed toward Almagro, a town that is known for it’s 17th century theater.
We arrived and walked to the town square that happened to be full of Spanish kids… Then we went inside the theater and Douglas talked about where the women and men were allowed to sit…then students in Dr. Poch’s English class memorized and recited poems for the us and the parents. After we had a poetry recitation, we went outside and ate lunch. Mamá made us bocadillos, so we didn’t have to spend any money! After lunch we went around the square and looked at the shops, Almagro is known for lace, so went to look for lace! Unfortunately, we were there during siesta time, so the majority of the shops were closed. A couple of my friends got garters for friends getting married, but I don’t know anyone getting married and I didn’t think getting myself a garter for a wedding that isn’t going to happen for quite sometime… so I didn’t get anything. Apparently lace is really common to use during weddings in Spain- the bouquet of flowers that the bride carries has a lace handkerchief around it. Anyway, I didn’t find anything that I loved, so we headed back to the buses and headed toward the windmills of Consuegra. The windmills of La Mancha were so neat! These are the windmills that Don Quixote supposedly fought. Got some cool pics and then headed on to Toledo. When we got to Toledo we unloaded the buses and packed inside the hotel lobby. Chaos, yelling, stepping on toes, and lugging luggage upstairs later, we settled in our room and rested for a little while before walking around Toledo for the afternoon. The first thing we did was walk around the city to try and find food. We found this amazing chinese restaurant and ate there and then headed back to the hotel for the night. Of course we only had internet in the lobby of the hotel- but it was FREE!!!! So, I got all my stuff and went down the lobby and skyped with my mom and some friends for the rest of the night.
Day 2, March 17
Got up way too early to go to Mozarabe mass in the Toledo Cathedral. This was crazy. It was chanted in the Latin and I totally had no idea what was going on. Of course we got there late and everyone stared at us when we walked in and it was just awkward. They passed out the books that said what they were saying and it was even still hard to follow! After trying to stay awake during this mass, we walked to Iglesia de Sa Tomé to see El Greco’s The Burial of Count Orgaz. This is one of his most famous paintings. It was really cool, but really weird… After the Iglesia, we walked around the shops and admired the swords and knives, and definitely tried the Marzipan, which I actually liked! Toledo has a lot of metal working shops with lots of gold filigre and other pretty items, I bought some of the gold metal work and got a discount for being a Tech student because the owner is friends with Dr. Stratton! How cool is that! After, we met and got on the buses to head for Madrid. We were supposed to go to El Escorial, but our trip got cancelled. When we got to Madrid, we found out we were split up into 2 hotels and had more mass chaos while trying to disembarque. First stop was the hotel with mostly guys, so Dr. Inglis had all the boys and men get off to completely unload the buses to find their suitcases and then reload the buses with all the rest of our stuff and then they went to their rooms and we headed to the next hotel. Dr. Inglis decided to unload all of our stuff and stick it on the elevator while we climbed the maze of stairs to retrieve our luggage from the lobby level. Um….worst design of a hotel EVER. We climb up 5 levels of stairs to find out everyone off the buses and our luggage don’t fit. My room was called and my roommates had their luggage, but I didn’t, so I waited in the packed lobby for my suitcase- then started freaking out that someone stole my luggage on the street…but then I walked down the stairs and found my suitcase and went up to my room. After that insanity, we unpack and decide to walk around Madrid. We walked around the city and took come cute pictures at several Plazas and then headed back to eat some dinner. There was a VIPS next door with WiFi, so I got my computer and went to the restaurant! I got 45 minutes of free WiFi and got to use my computer!! After dinner, we went back to the hotel and passed out!
Day 3, March 18
Yet another early morning, we headed downstairs for breakfast, which ended up being ONLY bread, but there was at least fresh squeezed orange juice! After stuffing ourselves full of bread, we headed out to the buses and set off to La Granja de San Ildefonso. When we arrived, we walked up the hill to the Spanish Bourbon castle and it starts RAINING. UGH!!! I didn’t bring my umbrella because it was raining… so we get to the castle and wait to go inside, we took a tour- very awesome castle! There were amazing chandeliers in every room and the paintings on the ceiling were so beautiful! We went outside and looked at the fountains and took pictures.
The weather was amazing when we got outside the castle, so our pictures turned out really well! We went and visited the church on the grounds and there was a room filled with cases of bones of royal people. GROSS!! The burial process of the Spaniards is really strange, you stay buried under the ground for several years and then after, they practically grave rob you and stick your bones in a box the size of the largest bone in your body- your femur. GROSS!!! After realizing I was looking at clear boxes of human bones, I quickly left that room and headed back toward the buses. Our next stop was Segovia and upon arrival we hiked up the hill to the Roman aqueduct. This was super cool! They run for about 3 miles and still function, although they aren’t used today. We climbed the stairs up to the top and took some beautiful pictures of the landscapes of Segovia! Then we went to find some lunch, we found a restaurant with a daily special that was relatively a good deal, and so we went there! I was surprised to find that what I ordered ended up being HALF of a rotisserie chicken and an entire plate of veggies. Needless to say, I was STUFFED after and had NO intention of eating ever again in my life. Then we walked to the Alcazar of Segovia, which is the castle Walt Disney copied for his signature castle. Me, being the Disney lover I am, HAD to visit this place!! After about a 15-minute walk, we found the Alcazar! Our first thing was to climb the tower- 152 steps. I paid to go up the tower… I didn’t realize I was paying for a WORKOUT!!! But, it was totally worth it- the view was amazing!
After, we toured the castle and then headed back to the buses! We got back to Madrid and did not eat dinner. I was still stuffed from lunch, but I did get some fruit. My roomies at the hotel and I watched part of Alice and Wonderland on the computer- weird movie… we fell asleep before it was over!
Day 4, March 19
We decided to sleep in and headed down to breakfast for 10:15 and then went to the Prado Museum.
This is outside the Prado in the gardens!
We definitely walked around the Prado for 3:30. This was the museum of death. It was absolutely gigantic and stock full of paintings. There were some amazing works in there and I definitely enjoyed it, but 4 floors and 2 of them with 23942830492830942834 paintings… it’s just overwhelming and exhausting. After we made it through the Prado, we went to Burger King and got burgers! After we finished lunch, we went back to this other museum with a Monet exhibit. Monet!!! YES!!!! We looked at his amazing works and at the gift shop I got 2 prints!! I can’t wait to put them in my apartment!!! Then, we went and got some ice cream and went to the other part of the Monet exhibit! After, we were so exhausted that we went back to the hotel to relax. We walked to this Chinese restaurant where they make the noodles in front of you- the food was so amazing and fresh! After we walked back to the hotel and met up with some friends to hit the town! We got all dressed up and went to this 7 story club- Teatro Kapital, but they wouldn’t let us in because we didn’t bring our passports with us… sorry, but I’m definitely NOT about to bring my passport to a club and get it stolen while I’m dancing…so we figured we would try that club the next night with our ISIC cards. For the remainder of the night, we decided to walk around the Plaza de Sol and find another place, but as it turns out, you need an ID card to get in to any place in Madrid, so that was a fail. We went back to the hotel and immediately fell asleep.
Day 5, March 20
**Free day
First thing, we headed to the Real Palace of Madrid and found a super long line, so we waited for about 45 minutes outside in line and then got in! Before we entered, we took pictures in the plaza in front of the Palace and a group of people walked by and said, “Hey! Americans!” and they were obviously excited and Americans too- and ended up being from Texas and all went to SFA- how random!?!
So, they took our group picture and then we headed into the Palace. We went through several rooms in the Palace to find richly embroidered walls (yes, the walls were silk and embroidered), many clocks, beautiful chandeliers, ornate ceilings, and the throne room! It was so awesome to see where the royal family actually lives. Walking through, it just doesn’t seem like anyone could actually call that place “home”. There were plaques in each room explaining the purpose and one said it was the place where the King performed the getting dressed ritual daily. It’s just so strange that even getting dressed in the morning is a ritual when you are the King.
This is a picture of the Palace at night!
After touring the Palace, we went to the Armory and saw the weapons and armor used by the kings! After the Palace we walked around and found a fruit stand and got some delicious fruit, then headed back to the hotel to make pancakes for lunch in our kitchenette in our room! We finished up Alice and Wonderland… weirdest movie ever… and then headed out to enjoy our last day in Madrid! We started our afternoon by going to the Museo de Sorolla, an awesome art museum of works by Sorolla- a Spanish painter.
The museum was actually in his house and had many of his works. It was really neat because most of the landscapes he painted were of places we have visited in Spain, so I actually had photographs of the places he painted! So incredible! After, we went to Plaza Cibelles with the huge post office building and the Bank of España around the corner- so pretty! After we took the pictures, we decided to walk around and browse the shops and then head back to the hotel. Cat and I wanted to use the internet on our computers, so we went to McDonalds to use the free WiFi and then met up with the rest of our roommates for dinner at a Cuban restaurant- the food was delicious! After dinner, I went to Starbucks to use the WiFi again and then went back to the hotel to go to sleep. I definitely need my sleep because MOM and DAD are coming tomorrow!!!!!!!!!! :D
Day 6, March 21
12:00 Meet at Atocha Station to take the AVE back to Sevilla—the high speed train
Random stories and recollections of this trip:
When Kim, Torian, Cat and I went to El Corte Ingles to buy some fruit and snacks for the hotel, we were appalled by the amount of people in the supermarket. We were walking around trying to find all our foods, and we couldn’t find eggs. They sold out of eggs- who does that?? Anyway, we got over that and were waiting patiently in the long lines- the difference between El Corte Ingles and Walmart (other than variety and sheer price difference) was that there were about 10 check out lanes and they were mostly ALL OPEN!! Anyway, we were getting close to the front, we all split the food up and we were each holding 2 items and another lady opens the lane next to us, so we start moving to the next lane, but the lady in front of our group runs to beat us and isn’t holding anything. Cat, the first in the group puts her stuff on the belt and the checker lady lets Cat go first because her stuff is on the belt- while this is happening, the woman who is holding nothing’s boyfriend person shoves a FULL basket under the dividing lane from the other lane and straight up cuts us- WHO DOES THAT???? We couldn’t believe that this was actually happening. So as Torian, Kim and I are waiting each holding 2 items, they unload their 45 items onto the belt. We were incredibly irritated. Who does that??? So, Torian and I start verbally expressing our feelings in English (which they obviously don’t understand, but can definitely tell by the tone of our voice that we are NOT happy) They just take their sweet time and we are left to wait. At first I was incredibly ready to start hating Madrid Spaniards, but then the man’s ID card said Italy, so these Italians have no common courtsey.
I’ve decided Madrid is definitely not my favorite place in Spain. I love that it’s a big city with hustle and bustle and all that, but I have never been so scared to be pick pocketed in my life. Quite a few people on our trip got pickpocketed, phones and money were stolen, not something I want to be dealing with. My friend Meredith and her family are in Madrid for spring break, but Meredith and I didn’t get to hang out much because we were both legitamately scared for our safety in using the Madrid subways and walking alone on the streets.
I’m used to seeing the occasional PDA in Sevilla, usually in the malls and in more public places the PDA is worse, but in Madrid… I think in my frame of vision, at least 30% of every picture I saw in my mind included a kissing/PDA couple. We were gagging at some points. I mean really, is it necessary to just be gross like that in public??
When we run into people on the streets, it’s common American courtsey to apologize, but these people in Madrid seem to be aiming for you to get run off the street and say nothing as they plow you over.
I’ve gotten really good at pretending to know NO Spanish, that way when the beggars, people trying to sell you stuff, and other people in the streets try and talk to you in Spanish, you can keep the dead, I have no idea, I recognize nothing, look on your face and keep moving with no problems.
When we were inside the Real Palacio, one of the rules was that you couldn’t have your camera-period. So, I put mine away along with everyone else and walked through the Palace… well, one of the guys with us, John, found a guy in a tour group wearing the same jacket as him and wanted a picture with him, so he discretely gets out his camera and tries to get a picture and the security guard runs over and asks him for his camera, so we are all thinking he’s about to get arrested, but he some how smoothly manages to convince the guard that he was checking a text message on his phone (don’t ask me how he did this, especially in Spanish) and then the guard ran away and we thought he was going to get backup or something. Nothing ended up happening, but wow, that was a close one!
When we were in the Plaza Mayor, we came across a heavily overweight man dressed in a Spiderman suit trying to get money. This was too funny to pass up. Let’s start with the mask- the Spiderman suit didn’t fit over his head completely, so he had this random red fabric thing covering the bottom part of his face; the Spidey suit was definitely from the 80s and faded, his HUGE gut was portruding from the suit and he to top it off, he was wearing black crocs. We definitely took pictures with this guy. He spoke English and asked us where we were from and then was like OK picture time: we did the spidey pose, a fly to Texas pose, and then a “sexy” pose. It was the funniest thing EVER. Then we switched and the guys posed for pictures. It was SO incredibly funny!
Mommy and Daddy came to visit me in Sevilla!!! This is us standing in front of the Catedral and Giralda! This is the largest Gothic cathedral in the world!
Hope you enjoyed reading!
Love,
Merick :)
